After aggressive laser, scars and large pores are absolutely no different 8 days later. Waste of my time and money. See photos.

It's hard to tell in the before picture (it's the only one I have), but I have lots of mild to moderate rolling scars on my cheeks, an ice pick, and a box car scar, and some rough textured skin, plus large pores. I'd been contemplating laser's for a long time, then a saw a livingsocial deal for a local spa for $399 for a full face pixel perfect (aka Pixel Harmony) and I snagged the deal right up.

Some observations about me and my skin: I have thick skin (which made me a good laser candidate, FYI, most African American's have thick skin, but I'm of Eastern European descent.) I get cold sores on my lips every few months (this is VERY important to tell your laser technician/doctor, so they can give you an anti viral med, if not, you'll end up with bad cold sores all over your face, which result in MORE scars.) My skin is the type that burns easily. I was told by my dermatologist that I need an ablative laser for the rolling scars, he said a non-ablative laser wouldn't do much good for the rolling scars. The reason I got this done is that when I called the office before purchasing the coupon deal, I asked them if this was an ablative laser, they said yes. However, when I got to my appointment I found out it was just a non-ablative... But, I got it done anyways, and I'll post more as time goes on.

The appointment: My face was scrubbed clean, I was then given a numbing cream. After 30 minutes the numbing cream took effect. Technician asked me about my main concerns, I said rough skin, rolling scars, and freckles in corner of face. She said this laser won't get rid of the freckles, but the rough patches and the rolling scars were very fixable. She did what they call "stacking". With a fraxel they do "passes". So on the rolling scars she did 5-6 "stacks" and on the rest of my face she did 1-2 stacks. Stacks meaning how many times they press the laser button in the same spot. It didn't hurt too bad, maybe a 3 out of 10, and I could smell my skin burning despite the vacuum device being on. I was done in 15 minutes. She put an ointment on my face, and I was out the door. I bought a kit from one of the online sites, maybe skincarerx. The kit I bought was the SkinMedica post laser kit. The ointment is nice, it doesn't break me out like aquaphor does.

My face just looks and feels sunburned. I'm currently sleeping elevated on my recliner to prevent swelling, and I'm taking a benadryl twice a day to prevent any allergies (this was actually suggested by Dr.) I think it's going to heal fine because I took all the right precautions and did my research (thanks to the many helpful reviews on realself). I didn't use anything with acids or benzoyl peroxide in it for 2 weeks prior, I made sure to use sunscreen while going out. I didn't use any masks or scrubs, I didn't wear makeup. So time will tell whether or not this laser works on my rolling scars.