Zombie Photo Facial

On Monday, I used my free gift certificate for a photo facial.  I was a little bit nervous going, but hey it was free and I'm all about improving my skin.  I've battled with acne my whole life.  Along with going tanning during my teen years.  I don't have the best skin on the planet so I'm always looking for ways to improve it.  My theory is, I've battled with it for 37 years, it's time for it just to look good. 

 I hate when people say all I use on my face is soap.  I always think lucky!  I have to use a big ordeal every night on my skin to make it look decent.  Having bad genes sucks!

I show up to this posh place in downtown Birmingham getting more and more nervous.  The tech lady seemed very knowledgeable which relaxed me quite a bit. 

 A IPL photo facial uses intense pulsed light. It is used to help remove and lighten brown spots, acne, broken capillaries, and redness.  As an extra bonus it also removes hair.  

The tech made me put on tanning goggles and she started, the zapping process.  Even with my eyes closed you see a red beam of light coming at you.  It took me a good few minutes to adjust to the pain.  She told me it would feel like someone was popping me with a rubber band.  To me it felt like someone was zapping me with a tiny lightening bolt.   I wouldn't even call it pain, but discomfort.  It took about an hour.  

When she finished and handed me a mirror I was a little shocked.  The light brings all sun damage to the surface.  She got on me about not applying sunscreen to my face every two hours.  The left side of my face, from driving had a lot of damage.  I didn't think I did that much driving, but I guess I do.  Everywhere, that had damage responded by turning a dark brown.  She said it eventually would turn black and fall off.  Great, so I would walk around all week looking like a Zombie.

It wasn't quite that bad.  The dark flecks were tiny and fell off rather quickly.  It's been 5 days and most of them are gone.  My face was sore for a few days.  It kind of felt like I had bruising under my skin, but there were no visible bruises.  My skin tone does look more even.  Most people take multiple visits to make their skin look better.  A photo facial ranges from $200-$300 per visit.  

Would I recommend a photo facial?  If I have a lot of disposable income, yes.  Since, I don't I would say no.  I did not see a huge change in my skin.  I saw a little change, and to spend that amount of money on little change is totally not worth it in my book.