IPL, Improving Skin Quality

Now is a great time to consider starting a series of three IPL treatments (usually scheduled three to six weeks apart). IPL is one of our favorite ways to lighten and remove sun spots and age-spots as well as other blotchy areas on the face, neck, chest and hands. IPL also lightens and reduces redness, rosacea, dilated blood vessels and broken blood vessels in the face, neck and chest. In addition to evening out your complexion, IPL improves skin texture through collagen stimulation and can also improve pore size and reduce flushing. Your skin will feel immediately tighter and have a little “glow.”

Intense Pulsed Light is not really a laser, rather just as it sounds it is little pulses of light. Most commonly thought of for hair removal, IPL has proven noticeable results for greatly improving skin quality.

You’ll need to set aside an hour or so for your IPL appointment because Laurel will first apply numbing cream to the treatment area (which takes about 30 minutes to take full effect). The procedure itself also generally takes about 30 minutes. Depending on the setting, you can feel the heat of each pulse – it can be as extreme as a rubber band snap, but any pain very quickly subsides. Sometimes there is some immediate redness but that also goes away, usually within an hour.  You should be aware that your age-spots and sun damage could well look a little worse before they get way better. Usually for 3-7 days  blemishes will be closer to the surface before they greatly minimize or disappear altogether leaving your complexion more even and toned. You will notice improvements with each treatment.

Once you’ve undergone the series of treatments, an annual IPL treatment is a great way to keep up your youthful complexion, epically in Colorado where the sun can be punishing! It is interesting how different client prefer different skin quality treatments. In many ways, the results of a peel are similar to those of IPL. Yet some clients like the fast results you get from a peel, while others prefer the more moderate improvements seen over time with IPL. We’d love to hear what you prefer! We are always doing our best to offer our clients excellent choices.

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