Last month, I paid a visit to Rebecca Treston, famed aesthetic laser specialist at Hortman Clinics on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. The reason? My skin was thirstin’ for a BBL and Moxi laser sesh to get my skin (and jawline) snatched just in time for the summer. Here’s what went down.
All about BBL
Treatment number one was BBL, or Broadband Light Laser therapy. This skin laser uses broad spectrum wavelengths of light to penetrate deep into skin. It promote collagen production, destroy hyperpigmented skin cells, and literally gives lyfe to your complexion. After all, with firmer, plumper, and more even toned skin, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish, amirite? If you’re a ~former~ sun worshipper (because we know Cosmo ME readers know better), this is a great option to minimise fine lines, wrinkles, and sun spots. It works best for those with fair to light skin tones. Btw, if your skin is melanin-rich, you can opt for similar results with the Clear and Brilliant laser.
Before Rebecca started with BBL, a cooling gel was applied to my skin. This works as a conductive agent to allow the laser to penetrate in my skin. For those who are a lil’ sensitive, topical anaesthetic can be applied beforehand too. The BBL treatment took around 25 minutes and Rebecca targeted my face, neck, chest, and the backs of my hands. Fyi bb, I highly recommend getting your hands treated if you find yourself cruisin’ around Dubai often. The skin on our hands is thin AF and the sun shows them no mercy.
Ready for treatment and excited for healthier-looking skin.
As far as pain goes, it was minimal. The laser flashes a bright yellow-orange light that makes me jump each time it’s emitted. Other than that, BBL is pretty gentle.
All about Moxi
If BBL is a primary school, Moxi is post-doctorate. Seriously. This laser treatment dials up all the factors in a *major* way. Moxi creates little micro channels into your complexion to stimulate collagen production, encourage and promote new cell growth, and minimise the signs of hyperpigmentation. It’s a great tool to correct uneven texture and smooth out skin and give skin a more flawless-looking base. I personally like to combine BBL and Moxi as I consider this a double threat towards getting my healthiest-looking skin.
Moxi works well on every skin tone. The pain factor is real (more on that in a minute) so it’s essential that your face and anywhere else you get the laser, in my case, neck, chest, and back of hands, gets smothered in topical anesthetic. Trust me, you want to be as numb as possible because even then, you’ll feel it.
Rebecca doesn’t play when it comes to the anesthetic.
The entire session lasted around 20 minutes and throughout it, I was moderately uncomfortable. The laser itself feels searing hot and my skin felt more and more sensitive to it throughout the session. Luckily, it’s not unbearable.
Aftercare
Immediately after my dual laser sessions, my very red and raw skin received the most wonderful gift. A tube that continually had cold air blowing out of it. In addition to this little slice of polar-dise, a wonderful cooling mask was placed on my skin for about 30 minutes. My skin felt like it was on🔥 and the gel mask felt like an absolute treat. After it was removed, I was covered in a broadband SPF, told to stay out of the sun, and before I knew it, I was on my way.
Some girls enjoy the breeze on trips to Mykonos or Bali, I catch it at Hortman Clinics.
In the two weeks that followed my skin went through a few different phases as it healed. Initially, it felt as though it was sunburned, and I used only moisturising products on my skin like squalane oil and face creams loaded with hydrators like glycerin. I avoided active ingredients like vitamin C and retinol since they’d be way too irritating to my ultra-sensitive skin.
One week into healing. To avoid the sun, I stayed indoors and binged every season of Love Island.
A few days after the treatments, my skin took on a sandpaper-like texture. This lasted a little over a week. I made sure to keep SPF 50 on it throughout the day and avoided the sun as much as possible.
Results
Two weeks after my visit to Rebecca, my skin looked the best it’s ever been. Smooth, even, and plump, I couldn’t stop ~shamelessly~ admiring it in my selfies. I noticed that not only did the overall tone and texture look great, but it also seemed to be lifted and tightened too. With my newly snatched jawline, I was ready for the summer holidays.
Healthy skin is happy skin.
For more information about Hortman Clinics, click here.