I Had My First Ever Advanced Skin Treatment And It Was Not What I Expected

Full disclosure: I’ve never had an advanced skin treatment, I haven’t even had a facial if we’re talking about professional skincare. Sure, I’ve contemplated it as I look in the mirror at what seems to be a monster’s face complete with blackheads, redness and a few gross pimples here and there. But I never know where to begin, looking online I see millions of services I know nothing about and immediately close the tab on my computer in confusion. This is where SILK Laser Clinics came to my rescue. With a broad range of services (from peels and microdermabrasion through to the more intensive microneedling), it was really relieving to have someone tell me what to do with my skin who actually knew what they were talking about.

So when I was offered the chance to head to SILK Laser Clinics Rundle Mall to try their new Dermafrac Microdermabrasion Treatment, which promises to rejuvenate, clarify and hydrate your skin, I jumped at the chance to have someone make the decisions for me and give my skin a little TLC before summer comes and my life is filled to the brim with parties, events and days in the warm sun.

Before we begin, I’ll tell you a little bit about my skin. I’ve never been able to tell whether I fall into the ‘oily’, ‘dry’ or ‘combination’ categories; I’m a sucker for advertising, and until now would slap anything on my face that isn’t too expensive and promised results; I’m way too lazy to have a skincare routine; and sometimes I think that the fact I don’t wear makeup every day counteracts a good regime (hint: it doesn’t).

Now, I like to think of Glam Adelaide as a judgement-free zone full of love and sunshine and all things nice, so as I post this bare naked photo of my face before treatment for the world to see, be kind:

So I headed into SILK Laser Clinics Rundle Mall for my first ever advanced skin treatment. As I walked to the appointment, slightly slipping because it was raining, I contemplated what I was in for and imagined my face radiating beauty as I exited the clinic into the cool spring air.

I was greeted by the lovely Tamara who gave me a couple of forms to fill out. Most of it was boring personal information, so I won’t go into too much detail, but one section has you fill out what your problem areas are that you’d like to look at, I ticked ‘redness’, ‘pigmentation’, ‘congestion’ and ‘dryness’ and off I headed into the skin treatment room.

The room was full of these wacky futuristic machines and I wondered what my face was in for, though Tamara instantly put me at ease that I wouldn’t be in any pain.

We began the session with a quick cleanse before we moved on to the Observ 520 machine, and let me tell you, this thing is NUTS and if you ever get a chance to do it, I highly recommend it because it’s a wild ride.

Basically, you put your head in here:

It then photographs your face and will basically tell you everything you need to know about your skin, and all the secrets you’ve been trying to hide from your technician (like the fact that I apply sunscreen probably three times a year tops because I don’t like how it makes sand stick to my hands, shh).

As we went through my photos all of my secrets were exposed. The first photo showed what my skin looked like in direct sunlight, not too bad. The second showed my underlying redness, basically I looked like I’d done a hardcore workout. The third photo was where it got really interesting, this photo showed me the textures, tones, where I was losing elasticity and collagen, and all of my congestion. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting: yes, I was congested; yes, I was losing elasticity on my forehead and under my eyes (I rub them a lot); and yes, my texture overall was a bit bumpy, but Tamara assured me everything was fixable.

Now, I like to think I’m able to shock people with my myriad of strange obsessions and the fact that I’ve seen over 35 seasons of The Bachelor/ette, but I, like many others, generally don’t enjoy having people find my face shocking… though the fourth photo shocked me and Tamara. Looking at me, you’d say, “yeah, you have a few freckles, but your skin is pretty bare overall”. Well, this photo will shock you too:

Those are all of my underlying freckles. Now, you may know about freckles already, but these little buggers are sneaky and don’t come to the surface of your skin for 7 whole years. These are all the guys who are going to have leading roles on my face within the next 10 or so years. Crazy.

The fifth photo was my hydration, it wasn’t great, my face is like the Sahara. The final photo they show you was what my face will look like in 15 years that I aptly called ‘my old lady photo’ every time I referred to it.

Not as bad as I expected at all.

After that wild ride, Tamara put a fruit enzyme mask on my face. The enzymes break down the dead skin cells on your face, similar to the way those jazzy fish in Japan eat the dead skin off your feet.

Once she removed the mask, it was the moment we’d been there for, the machine people travel from interstate for: the Dermafrac machine.

Tamara explained to me that they use a different microdermabrasion head for every treatment, while most places that have diamond heads change them every few weeks. This way, you know you’re getting 100% abrasiveness and hygiene every single time you go in.

Basically, what this little machine does is suck your face which is called ‘lymphatic drainage’ and it also exfoliates the surface of your skin. I’d known about microdermabrasion before, but always worried it would hurt too much, so I wussed out and never tried it. It doesn’t hurt – at all, it actually felt kind of good!

Now, we’re coming up to the part I was the most afraid of: the hydrating micro-needling infusion. I’d also heard about micro-needling before and thought “nope, that’s not for me”. Basically, this little needle wheel punctures the first few layers of your skin and infuses it with a hydrating serum, this way, the treatment penetrates the skin and goes way deeper than topical treatments.

A few questions before you ask: no, you don’t bleed, and no, it doesn’t really hurt. Sure, it’s not the most comfortable thing ever, but it’s kind of relaxing in its own weird way. Let me tell you, my skin is so soft now and it’s 90% down to this. But don’t get shocked when you look at your face after this step, you’ll be a little bit red but this will soon disappear:

Next was the LED light therapy treatment. This treatment has two lights: yellow and blue. Blue is for acne (which Tamara confirmed I don’t have – booyah!) and yellow is for rejuvenation. I got yellow and just relaxed while it heated up my face for a bit, penetrating deep into my skin and rejuvenating it at a cellular level.

After that Tamara applied a HA serum to help heal my face and hydrate my skin even more and a Mineral Pro O Cosmetics treatment sunscreen (the cool thing about this baby is it doesn’t activate unless the sun hits it, so you can wear it like Shakira: whenever, wherever). They can apply a special treatment foundation for free after this, but I opted out because I was going straight home to sleep on my face (Tamara probably wouldn’t be happy with me).

Look, I totally get how overwhelming these sorts of places can be, there’s so much on the menu, you don’t know whether a treatment will ruin your skin, and it could be painful. But I’m here, as a wuss and fellow confused

human being, to prove these things wrong and say: go in for a free skin consultation. They use the super cool Observ 520 machine and they can tailor packages to suit you and your skin. It won’t hurt as much as you think, and you’re way tougher than you know. Most importantly, every machine at SILK Laser Clinics is tested in their head office by people who know their shit; if they’d use it on themselves, you know it’s safe to use on you.

Overall, this was a pretty incredible experience. Would I do it again? I’d definitely include parts of it in my routine, like microdermabrasion, and save the full treatment for the start of summer when I want to have a pick-me-up or before a big event. With their big birthday sale on at the moment too, there’s no better time to head in and see what the friendly and professional team can do for you.

See their menu, specials and treatments here.