Hello all
Well, today I had IPL on the red veins that I have round the edge and underneath my nose. These veins have annoyed me for a while, I feel I have to pack on a fair bit of concealer round that area, which then comes off the second you blow your nose, and of course the side of your nose tends to be an oilier area so it never seems to stay put. Without makeup you just look red, and with it it gives a sort of packed on look. I recently started using colour corrector in green which was better than layering up with normal flesh coloured concealer, but the problems of it coming off remained.
So I decided to have IPL! Basically the same thing that they use for laser hair removal, tattoo removal, etc.
I have pale, untanned (at the moment skin) which is the best sort for this kind of treatment because the laser zones in on colour. You can't have the treatment when you are tanned (even fake tan) because it will zone in on those pigment particles and burn you (or some such). So its a good time of year to have it done - all of last summer's colour long gone, but none yet built up.
She was able to do the area as a "patch test" as it was such a small area - so it cost me a mere £25.
She applied a gel to the area, put goggles on me and on her, and zapped me. It hurts like buggery. But only for the splitest of split seconds. If it was any longer it would be unbearable but its so quick. It kind of makes you jump and wince.
The whole area was done in about 8 zaps. She then blasted the area with really really cold air to minimise redness and hot feeling.
I was lucky in that the red veins all blanched straight away. Sometimes this happens, sometimes they die off over about a fortnight, sometimes they stay. But I was a good candidate for the treatment really due to skin type and location etc.
I am now at home, preening in front of a mirror because I can't believe how easy and cheap it was to remove this problem! My skin now looks so even and white and I feel like its taken years off my appearance. I think I'm starting to believe Lisa Eldridge who says uneven skin tone is more ageing than wrinkles themselves.
I wish I'd done it years ago! I highly recommend it, and its a great time of year to do it.
Hope that was useful to some of you.