The best way to look your best at all times starts with having amazing skin without makeup or filters.
After all, the better the canvas is, the better the finished product.
Sounds simple right?
Until you go to find the skincare routine for you and promptly get lost in an overwhelming amount of information on the internet. Conflicting advice abounds and which way leads to the desired “glow” isn’t exactly clear.
To cut through some of the confusion, here are the top skin care procedures that can jumpstart your glow, maintain it, or help you regain the youthful look time has taken away from you. This isn’t your normal skin care routine list. Instead, this goes beyond everyday basics to next-level skin care.
Most people automatically categorize skin care procedures as something reserved for Hollywood celebrities – or people with large wads of expendable cash. While this may have been true at one time, it isn’t true today.
Nowadays skincare procedures are more accessible, while also being less invasive. Which means more people have access to them and they don’t require an overnight stay or long recovery period. We’ve come a long way since Botox and nose jobs.
Why would you need a skin care procedure?
There are several reasons you could want to go beyond basic skincare and undergo a skin care procedure. This can range from wanting to improve the look or tone of skin, treating damage, or it could be a part of how you care for your skin.
Skincare procedures can be for your face (what most people will associate it with), but there are also procedures for the rest of your body. After all, skin is your largest organ – and it’s also the most exposed, so it really does pay to take care of the skin you are in.
Skin care procedures aren’t just surgical either.
There are plenty of non-surgical treatments, which will provide results and are more affordable. Non-surgical skin care procedures require little downtime (recovery), have a quick treatment time, and can provide results (treatment specific) that will last from 90 days to over a year.
However, surgical skin care procedures may be an option for you, depending on what your needs are and your skin condition.
Surgery is more permanent and only has to be done once (where non-surgical treatments may require a series of treatment sessions).  You may wish to reshape a particular area of your body, or perhaps your skin has significant sagging which you’d like to address.
Since surgery is a major decision, it is best discussed with the surgeon who will be doing the procedure before the final decision is made. It is still a popular option, and one which has only gotten better over the years with various advances in medicine and technology.
The most popular non-surgical skin care procedures for 2019:
Microdermabrasion can be used on the face or the entire body, where the top layers are exfoliated off mechanically and then vacuumed away. This is a fairly gentle process with no downtime and can be combined with other treatments.
Dermabrasion is a more intense exfoliation where skin is removed a layer at a time until the effective depth is reached. This does require both an anesthesia for comfort and some downtime for recovery.
Peels can also be done to effect the skin appearance and come with three levels of classification; light, medium, and deep. The level of peel simply refers to how many layers of skin are removed and intensity of the ingredients. The more intense the peel (chemical peel vs light peel), the more likely there will be a need for downtime and possibly anesthesia for comfort during the procedure.
IPL treatment can be used to address skin discolorations such as sun spots or pigmentations, wrinkles, or blemishes (also categorized as advanced skin changes). Â IPL is an acronym for Intense Pulsed light and Radiofrequency. This technology is also used to remove hair or repair broken blood vessels (spider veins), making it suitable for procedures on other parts of the body besides the face. This procedure is quick, has no downtime, there is no need to numb the area, the effects are cumulative- meaning they add up over time. It is also a good complimentary therapy to other procedures.
Laser treatment also offers a wide variety of different skin care applications and has the ability to completely resurface the skin. There are two types of lasers being used in skin treatments; ablative and non-ablative. Ablative lasers will remove the outer layers of skin, encouraging new skin to heal and replace it. How deep the laser penetrates can be customized by the light wavelength and will be determined for each person. Non-ablative lasers don’t break the skin, instead they use heat below the surface to encourage collagen growth. This will help restore the tone and firmness of the skin. Non-ablative treatments have no downtime yet may require more treatments than one with an ablative laser.
Microneedling is yet another popular option. This treatment triggers the skins natural healing response by inducing “injury” to the skin with tiny needles. These injuries are microscopic but are enough to create the physiological response of healing via collagen production and new skin cell regeneration. Microneedling can be used on a variety of skin concerns and is considered generally safe for all skin types but it can take several session for results and may not be as dramatic as the more aggressive treatments.
All of these options should be discussed with the cosmetic surgeon performing them and a thorough consultation is necessary to determine the best option for you.
Combine any of these skin care procedures with a solid daily skin care routine and you will be on your way to the best skin you can possibly have.
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