Spa Dermacella (514) 472-0417

All skin types can become deeply dehydrated; regardless of how thick or thin your skin is. Some people think that that if their skin is very oily (in which case, it will often be a thick skin type), that they have nothing to worry about when it comes to ageing. Unfortunately, this idea is a fallacy; although I will say that they will tend to get less deep wrinkles than their thin-skinned counterparts.  Still, we must all keep our bodies hydrated for our health, hygiene, and of course, aesthetics.

When you get superficially dehydrated, the signs of tiny wrinkles start to appear with a lack of supleness in our skin. Typicaly, there’s many dead skin cells that become apparent (they’re called squames), and you can feel a tugging sensation when you have different facial expressions.  Overall, your skin looks dry and brittle. For thirty-somethings who have thick textures of skin, you can easily solve this issue with an exfoliant and a good cream (not lotion, which can be pumped out of a bottle; a cream is thicker and is typically purchased in a jar).

For all other skin types (including those in their thirties), and those over forty, you have more chances of facing deep dehydration, and this will prove to be a huge ageing issue. There are signs of deep wrinkles and the tonicity and firmness of your skin is lost.  There is a lack of elasticity to the point where it appears flaccid. If these are signs that you recognize, the ageing process has begun. Basically, the link between the dermis and the basal layer of the skin becomes weak, so your skin doesn’t look fleshy and full.  But hold tight, there are solutions.

IPL stands for “intense pulsed light“; a technology that not many people know is quite different from a typical laser. It works on a different light pulse than laser in the sense that laser uses a spectrum of red light treatment only, while IPL uses a spectrum of many colours of light, including red light (but it also has a filter to remove red light if a treatment is being performed on a darker skin).

In our natural skin renewal process called the keratinization process, our cells develop more slowly from its basal layer to its desquamating layer (top layer) of skin as you age. Unfortunately, the more time it takes to get those basal layer cells up to your top layer of skin, the less new your skin cells look.  Worse still, as you age, your cells’ liquidy cytoplasm starts to get grainy and hard and actually lose their nucleus altogether earlier on in the skin layers than when you were younger. Also, little “bridges” called desmosomes that keep your cells tightly packed together start to become lazy and stretches out too much; making your cells too wide apart so they’ll start to flatten instead of looking full. As the cells are less packed together, they start pushing towards the surface looking very unhealthy. This results in a dehydrated, dull, and let’s face it, wrinkled look.

In your twenties, the keratinization process of your cells moving from the basal layer to the top layer of the skin should typically take about 30 days long; which is why a really good cream might take that long to produce adequate results. However, when you age, the process slows to about 45 days and sometimes more, and that’s what gives you an aged skin look where creams can only do so much.  

Collagen, elastin, and fiberblasts can be found in your papillary layer of your dermis. Allow me to explain, because these three keywords are the secrets to looking youthful. Elastin is a fiber that gives tonality and firmness to the skin, while collagen is a fiber that gives hydration and tonality. Fiberblasts help regenerate new collagen and elastin, and will help mend those fibers that are not fully functional. As you get older, this production, like with almost all production, slows. IPL helps stimulate the production of all three.  

IPL’s yellow light absorbs into blood targets and is used to coagulate any vascular irregularities (think red veins), while the red light targets abnormal pigmentation marks (brown spots), and then the combination of both lights stimulate collagen production to improve skin structure and reduce fine lines and laxity. Ultimately, production can be increased by up to 48%, while evening out your skin tone and helping to shrink larger pores and ostiums at the same time. 

At a good spa, your treatment should be finished off with an elastin or collagen mask.  While IPL opens your pores and ostiums kind of like a skin vapourizer, you’ll have a short period of time before they start to close back up. During this time, you can manipulate your skin by having a good collagen or elastin mask to seep in as deep as possible so that it can help reestablish your skin’s integrity even more quickly.  Beware: some spas don’t operate in your best interest; bovine collagen is no longer legal and should never be used because it can pass on diseases to its recipients. A good collagen comes from anything marine, so if you’re allergic to seafood, stick with another kind of mask like propolis, which is great for treating dehydrated skin.

There’s no downtime to IPL use, however you cannot be taking any medication that is considered photo sensitive. If you are, IPL can have strong negative, albeit temporary, effects on your skin; so honesty with your confidential aesthetician is crucial.  You also can’t go in the sun for 10 days before or after its use, so anything surrounding your vacation time is limited, but wintertime is a great time to try out this treatment.   At most spas, you should also go through a medical evaluation in order to determine if it’s safe for you to start IPL.  If everything checks out, then you should be able to begin treatments immediately.

Ideally, you should have 1 treatment on a monthly basis to help keep your collagen rejuvenated.  However, right after receiving this treatment, I would strongly recommend going out that evening; you will look fabulously youthful and vibrant. Treatments range in price from $100 to $350 Canadian at different medical and aesthetic establishments.

Have any of you had any skin rejuvenation (aka photo rejuvenation)  treatments? I’d love to know your story! Please comment.