Emma Macdonald, Associate Editor for Her Canberra shares her personal skin-vestment story.
I turned 50 last year and I won’t lie, it was a confronting number! The good news is that it has been the best year of my life, full of personal and career highlights. So if you’re counting down the birthdays with dread, don’t.
The thing is, I still don’t feel 50, I certainly don’t act it, and for the most part I don’t think I look it. But, for me, there were a few issues about my skin that I wanted to address. First, my face was looking dull. Yes, winters and lockdowns probably also play a part in that, but no change to skincare routine was really making an impact. I also noticed the pores around my nose and cheeks were more noticeable. This is an insult to injury because who needs enlarged pores when they are also noticing greater fine lines wrinkles in the same face, right? I decided to invest in a freshen up at Artisan which, admittedly, was long overdue. The Clear and Brilliant is my choice of treatments. I have had several times in my early 40s and it changed the way I felt about my skin, giving me confidence to ditch foundation for a light BB cream or tinted sunscreen. I firmly believe that the older you get, the worse it looks when you try to hide behind heavy makeup. The trick is to pare it back. Less is definitely more.
I finally booked in a week where I could afford a few days downtime. The treatment involved numbing cream and then a laser wand being used to track all areas of my face and penetrate the top layers of skin. As far as I understand, the heat damages microscopic columns of skin which then grow back firmer and bring back better supplies of collagen with them! What I do know is that it definitely reveals younger skin. While the immediate effect feels like sunburn and you spend the next few days with a rough, sandpapery face, the old skin flakes away to a firmer and more uniform layer beneath. It literally is shedding the old you. Goodbye freckles and pigmentation and my pores have been zapped into oblivion! So have a few errant burst capillaries which were also annoying me. Fine lines are finer and I notice skin care and makeup glides on far more easily. I am extremely happy with the result and vow to make this a more regular part of my self-care routine.
“I wonder why I didn’t do it much sooner!”
Meanwhile, one of the joys of my job is getting to road test some beauty treatments. Last year I tried an Ultraformer III on my neck and submentum (underneath my chin). I didn’t really know I needed it until I looked at the results after it was done and saw that my neck was instantly firmer. The treatment works by delivering deep ultrasound waves into the skin, stimulating tightening and the production of more collagen. While it is a strange treatment to receive (it feels like a weird deep buzzing in my neck muscles) the effect makes it absolutely worth it and so I booked my second treatment to take place straight after my Clear and Brilliant. As a time-poor working mum, it was tricky finding the time to spend an afternoon at the clinic, but now I have had it done I wonder why I didn’t do it much sooner. Between my fresh face and my firmer neck I am feeling a new boost of confidence. I have short hair, a long neck and nowhere to hide! And as the person who scrutinizes my face in the magnifying mirror each morning, I can attest that I notice the difference and prefer this version.
To discuss any treatments Emma received, please book a consultation at Artisan Clinics.