Sheila Magazine

sheila I feature ZAPPED! I am booked in to trial this treatment months ago, but a trip to Bali even with sunscreen permanently smeared on my face, puts an end to it and I am forced to postpone until winter. Subiaco's Assure Medispa aesthetician, Anna takes one look at me on my return from Bali and announces that my skin is too dark for the procedure. I go away, tail between my legs, and vow to be more vigilant with my sunscreen application. Come July, I am sufficiently pale and venture to see Anna again for a pre-test. She explains again, that it is dangerous to perform IPL on people who have recently had excessive sun exposure because the skin will absorb too much of the emitted light, possibly resulting in burns. I am glad my skin is pale enough to treat and instantly, I recognise that Anna is very skilled. I know I'm in good hands. I expect the patch test to hurt. It has been about six years since I was last treated with IPL and still the memory of the stinging flash is clear in my mind. But when she zaps, I am pleasantly surprised. The sting is only half as bad as I remember. The area of skin that is tested "lifts" almost instantly, meaning my pigmentation is already more pronounced and it looks as though I've been eating milo and some of the chocolate is stuck to my skin. I return the next day for appraisal of the patch test and the full procedure. I've taken two Nurofen Plus to take the edge of the pain. Unfortunately codeine, also makes me a gibbering mess and I start waffling on to anna about anything that pops into my mind. She sets me up for the treatment and silences me with the first zap. Flash! It's uncomfortable, there's a small sting and you can see the light even through eyelids that are taped shut and protected with goggles. With barely seconds between flashes, before I know it, anna has almost treated my whole forehead. I'm thinking –"wow this does hurt a bit and is that burning hair I can smell?" But I daren't speak for fear the laser will end up in the wrong place. Zap, flash, boom…more and more bursts of light hit my skin and I realise there's a backlog of ouch which is swelling and peaking with each new shot. Anna goes past my mouth and I feel the energy run through my teeth, particularly the one that has a filling. But thankfully it is over before I even register what is going on. The zapping hurts more in the boney areas of my face and Anna announces that the worst of it is over. "WOW THIS DOES HURT a bit & IS THAT BURNING HAIR I can smell?" I feel my body start to relax and try not to focus on the accumulating burning feeling, which really is no worse than a case of bad sunburn, and let's face it, if I hadn't been through that before I probably wouldn't be lying here right now. I only have myself to blame for this discomfort. From now on I am wearing zinc 24/7. Anna removes the tape from my eyes and appears to read my mind. She leaves the room and returns with icepacks. She lets me lie a few minutes on the treatment bed, my face covered in the ice. It feels deluxe, like walking into a cool room after spending Boxing Day on City Beach. When anna finally coaxes me out the door, I am struggling to concentrate on anything else but the burning feeling. I can't remember where I parked my car. Somehow I get it together but driving back to the office I send my husband a text message – it simply reads "ouch". By the time I down a few more nurofen and stop to moan about the whole thing to a friend, the pain is slowly crawling backwards. In fact, as I am talking about it, I can feel it has virtually retreated completely. I look at the clock and realise it is exactly one hour since the treatment ended. The next day I wake up with what looks like a very dirty face. Maybe the kids have sprinkled Milo on me during the night. I still manage to go about my daily routine and I don't feel compelled to cover the marks up with makeup. During the next few days, my face looks the same. My husband thinks it's funny but after teasing me for a bit, he says "but weirdly, your skin also looks like its glowing." After 5 days the brown marks have risen and they start to rub off in the shower. The new skin underneath is much more evenly toned and it looks a damn sight healthier. After 8 days, I have a whole new face. I don't need to wear makeup at all because there's no brown patches to cover up. If I look hard, I can see a few stubborn, lighter marks and I am told these are much deeper in the layers of the skin. I contemplate repeating the procedure to see if I can get an even better result. One thing is for certain, this will become a regular part of my beauty regime. One hour of discomfort is a very fair trade off for the results, which are so visible, everyone is commenting on my new complexion. Book me in again, Anna. SHEILA JULY 2012 85

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