Clear & Brilliant Laser Damage Took 18 Months to Correct! - Clarkston, MI

Decided to take advantage of a 3 series treatment package for Clear + Brilliant laser. C+B is "suppose" to be a very gentle anti aging laser treatment that helps even skin tone & boost radiance with no downtown. My main skin compliant was dull skin so Clear + Brilliant sounded like a great fit. I am a Fitzpatrick II (fair skin, some light freckles, blonde hair) and my skin has been protected from the sun for several decades so it is virtually wrinkle free and in better than expected condition for my 51 years of age. C+B is a non ablative fractional laser that’s considered the most gentle option of all resurfacing lasers. 3 - 5 sessions are recommended to see full results. The treatment is performed using a laser device with a small roller attachment. The attachment is outfitted with tiny plastic bumps that push into the skin and allow the laser to make tiny injuries to the skin. These micro-injuries force the skin to heal itself, boosting collagen production and generating clear, healthy skin. Numbing cream is applied for about 20-30 minutes before the procedure, the procedure itself only takes about 15-20 minutes. Your skin will feel warm to hot and look slightly wind-chapped afterwards but that is about it. Make-up can be applied the next day and there is no lingering effects such as redness, swelling, etc. The texture feels somewhat grainy for a few days afterwards but it is not visible to the naked eye. Each area was done in small sections with one pass done vertically then horizontally. The jawline and lower face, upper lip & nasal fold area, and undereye, mid cheek, and forehead. The pain was pretty minor but it does ouch a tiny bit, fortunately only briefly. I would describe it as very fast and very tolerable with flashes of heat throughout the treatment. I was supposed to apply 2-3 times a day moisturizing cream (Skinceutical's Epidermal Repair) that was given to me by the clinic and of course lots of sunscreen. My skin over the next few days was:
(1) Dry, very dehydrated and required tons of heavy moisturizers several times a day & evening
(2) Rough and slightly sand-paperish texture to the touch
(3) Slightly pink the first three days (very light & easily covered with mineral make-up) and subsequently duller than before for a couple more days.
I was told not to worry about this as it is only temporary as my skin goes through the repair process and renews itself, I will have smooth, glowing skin! Sounds great right?!
Well, about a week after the 1st treatment my skin looked pretty good, still a little dry but not as dull as before C+B so it seemed encouraging. Over the next 2 weeks, skin continued to look good, still slightly dry but nothing too bad so I scheduled my 2nd C+B treatment. Second Treatment went identical to the first and everything seemed fine. My skin was still on the dry side but the clinic technician explained that it was normal and would resolve after the complete treatment series was finished because it takes several treatments for full results. Okay, I forge ahead and schedule my 3rd treatment 3 weeks after the 2nd. This time the technician says "your skin is responding very well and I think we can be more aggressive this treatment and that will get you the best results. Like an idiot I say "okay sounds good". Well this was the treatment that destroyed my skin! I was immediately redder than I had experienced with the prior treatments, my skin was radiating heat and felt like it was on fire for about an hour afterwards, and my skin felt so tight, dry and almost chapped it was very uncomfortable. I washed with a creamy organic cleanser morning & night, applied Skinceutical's CE Ferulic AM, Skinceuticals Epidermal Repair AM & PM, Elta MD Broad Spectrum 30+ facial sunscreen AM, Skinceuticals Eye Balm AM & PM. Everyday my face was feeling drier and more dehydrated and nothing seemed to relieve it. After about a week the visible texture started looking bad and I noticed the dreaded "Orange Peel" texture starting to develop along with fine wrinkles on my cheeks (which I absolutely did not have), and a crepey skin look starting around my mouth/chin area. OMG what the hell is this??? I could not believe this was happening and that I paid money to ruin my skin! I began researching C+B laser damage and guess what ladies? There isn't much (negative) out there about C+B laser - tons of complaints about Fraxel but no one seemed to be experiencing bad results for C+B. I thought maybe it was just temporarily and felt somewhat better that I couldn't locate bad reviews on this laser - maybe everything would be okay and it just takes time to resolve..........Fat chance! My skin continued to look and feel worse and worse. 6 months later I went to the dermatologist and explained what I had done and what I was left dealing with and she claimed she had never even heard of C+B laser and was not familiar with it. She said my skin looked like it was dry from the inside out and recommended I take increased Omega 3's, flaxseed, hyaluronic acid, and drink lots of water. I went to store and purchased all of the recommendations and took them religiously for 3 months with zero improvements, I also purchases numerous products (Osmosis skincare line, TNS Recovery Serum, Obagi, Kiehl's Moisturizing creme, etc) and ended up wasting loads of $$ on skincare products that simply didn't help my situation. At almost the one year mark (and super depressed about having ruined my skin) I decided to get one more opinion and made an appointment for a consultation at a plastic surgeon's office. After examining my skin, she recommended a series of gentle micro peels with dermaplaning every 3-4 weeks and a new skin care product regimen (which she generously gave my lots of samples of to try for a month before making a purchase decision). I have just finished my 3rd micro peel & dermaplaning treatment and my skin looks beautiful! The damage has been fully corrected and I am so pleased and thankful. My new skincare regimen is: AM: Aubrey's creamy organic cleanser, Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, Replenix Power of 3 Antioxidant cream (I love this stuff!), Skinceuticals AGE Eye Complex, Skinceuticals B5 serum, Elta MD Facial 30+. PM: Aubrey's creamy organic cleanser, Skinceuticals Phyto -Corrective Gel, Replenix Power of 3 Antioxidant cream, SkinCeuticals Resveratrol B E, Skinceuticals B5 serum, Elta MD post procedure laser balm (I only use this one 2 X a week for extra moisturizing) and lastly Bioelements Sleepwear For Eyes. I know this is allot but I only use a small amount of each and it lasts for several months, if not longer. After almost giving up on the hope of correcting the damage caused by C+B laser I am so grateful to have found a solution that worked wonders on my skin that I wanted to share my final correction results with the hope that someone else can also benefit from this regimen. I never initially planned on writing a review of C+B and unfortunately I do not have any close-up pictures of the laser damaged skin (Yuck) but I did take pictures of my skin now, after the micro peels, dermaplaning, and skin care products to show that my skin looks pretty decent for 51 yrs old and no longer has any signs of laser damage - I hope this helps someone. I have to give this an overall rating of 1 star simple because my skin was seriously damaged and it took almost 18 months to finally correct the damage.