The Aesthetic Treatments

Don’t have the time to overhaul your beauty routine, or need a brighter complexion, pronto? Look no further than these souped-up facials.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

Don’t have the time to overhaul your beauty routine, or need a brighter complexion, pronto? Look no further than these souped-up facials.

My Reading Room
BRIGHTEN DULL SKIN
Radiance Lunch Time Peel, $150.

Not a fan of laser skin resurfacing treatments and want something that gives similar results but with less downtime? Prive Aesthetics’s 30-minute Radiance Lunch Time Peel is right up your alley. It starts off with an ultrasonic deep-cleansing treatment to remove impurities, followed by a glycolic-acid-based Blue Radiance Peel to remove a superficial layer of skin – this helps fade acne scars as well as improves the look of fine lines and overall skin texture. Prive Skinworks Triple Growth Factor Cell Revival Serum is then applied to soothe skin and reportedly speed up its healing. To round off the session: a hydrating and anti-in flammatory mask that seals in all the goodness. There’s hardly any downtime, and while your skin may feel tight and look slightly red, that can be easily fixed with moisturiser and concealer. Prive Aesthetics is at #03-02 Palais Renaissance (tel: 6737-0755).

Microlaser Peel, from $2,500.

This skin-resurfacing treatment at Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic helps with superficial acne scars, the look of wrinkles and, apparently, sun damage. After the application of a topical anaesthetic, a laser-resurfacing device will be used to scrape away the outermost layer of the epidermis, revealing the “new” skin underneath. There’s a downtime of two to seven days, during which your skin will appear sunburnt, but it’ll look clearer and less dull once the redness fades. Bonus: You can expect plumper and smoother skin over the next six months, as this treatment supposedly stimulates collagen production too. Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic is at #05-38 Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital (tel: 6223-8898).

My Reading Room
TACKLE SPOTS AND PIGMENTATION
Diamond Diva Facetherapy, $220.

Great for those with mild scars or spots, this non-chemical treatment off ered at Prive Aesthetics involves the use of aluminium oxide crystals or a similarly abrasive substance to remove dead skin cells from the top layer of the epidermis. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt skin tissue (it only works on the outermost layer), and has no downtime. Pigmented areas will instantly appear lighter and skin cell renewal is said to be boosted too. However, it won’t help much with stubborn, deep-seated dark spots.

Syneron Intense Pulsed Light treatment, from $800.

An intense pulsed light treatment is your go-to if you want to tackle specific spots. TLC Lifestyle Practice clinic’s Syneron Intense Pulsed Light treatment delivers short pulses of light energy into the skin to reportedly break up the melanin in dark spots, causing them to flake off after a few days. It is also said to stimulate collagen production, so skin looks healthier and suppler as it heals. TLC Lifestyle Practice is at #11-04/05 Pacific Plaza (tel: 6462-0083).