I had IPL today . It's brilliant, it does everything you'd like a facial to do (but it never does). Specifically, it's for getting rid of tiny red capillaries and hyper-pigmentation. In my case the hyper-pigmentation was caused by spots - I had acne from when I was a teenager until into my 30s. I was left with dark marks where the spots had been. I have mostly got rid of the acne now via first, a topical antibiotic prescribed by my doctor (zineryt), and I've had 3 sessions of IPL and been using Obagi since May. My skin looks better than it has in years.
IPL is intensed pulsed light, which is zapped into your skin using a special machine. The therapist applies some cold aloe vera gel and blows cold air on your face then goes over it with the IPL machine. The machine can be set at different frequencies to target red veins or pigmentation, and it is set at a level appropriate to your skin type. You can't have it done if you are suntanned. It feels a bit unpleasant - the bursts of light are very intense and there is a hot feeling, but it's momentary. There can be a slight burning smell as well, I think this is the fine hairs on your face being slightly burnt by the light. That sounds awful, but afterwards you expect your skin to be really red and angry but it's not, just a bit pink. You can apply make up immediately and there's no down time.
It's brilliant because it delivers a lot of benefits as well as reducing the red veins and pigmentation. It makes your skin look really radiant and glowing, a bit tighter and the texture is better. The therapist I go to reckons it kills bacteria in your skin too. The first time I had it done I called her a week later just to tell her how pleased I was with the results.
Obagi is a skincare system from the States. It's prescription-only, so you need to get it from a clinic where there is someone authorised to prescribe (like a prescribing nurse). You use quite a few products together in a particular order, and different ones during the day and at night. They are mostly creams which contain hydroquinone, and there's one with Retin-A. It's all explained on the website I think. There's more than one system available, I used Nu-Derm. It's horrible to use for the first few weeks and I nearly gave up - tightness, redness, peeling, etc - and I got a few bad spots at first , but it really does transform your skin. I've been using it since May and it's made my skin tone much, much more even - it glows and looks so much healthier, clearer, less jaded and dull. I always had to plaster on the foundation and spend ages applying concealer but I hardly need foundation now. It's nice getting up in the morning with no make up on and feeling so much better about my skin.
I suffered for years with spots and always hated my skin. It made me miserable and none of the shop-bought products made much difference. Obagi isn't cheap but the products really last for ages so it's not as bad as it seems at first.