IPL Great results - IPL with Rose at the Adams Center Boston - Boston, MA

You can see from the picture how my skin was really discolored! Partly this was from some acne that I had picked at (I started getting acne at 28! mostly from stress I think) and also you can see a lot of freckles (this photo was taken in August 2009 and I had been out in the sun a lot that summer. My face looked 'mottled'. I have very fair skin, I think I am the next to lowest level on that skin color chart dermatoligists use. I went in thinking I needed to do a traditional laser to get rid of this in one fell swoop, but because I didn't have any actual scars (just discoloration and some sun damage) and because of the fair skin and age (30) I deccided to do the IPL. I was afraid because of some of the horror stories here, but after 2 sessions everything you see in that picture is gone. My freckles are also gone nearly, there are a couple that had been around since childhood which I sort of miss, but not that much.
IPL session: I have done two so far and they need to be 4 weeks or more apart. It takes 20 minutes for the visit, Rose cleans the makeup off my face and does IPL for about 5 minutes. I wear protective goggles and close my eyes. Frankly it feels like nothing more than a little snap each time she fires the light, like if you took a thin rubber band and snapped it on your face, the pain stops within 1 second so it doesn't linger. In a weird way I find these sessions relaxing because I think about the huge benefits I get for so little pain and no downtime. A lot of other people have said they were applying cold compresses, had redness etc. That was never my case. I just left the office looking the tiniest bit red (then proceded to go to the sales at ann taylor.... :). After the first treatment there were some little brown pigmentation dots that appeared over the course of the next 3 days, and they would just brush or fall off when I washed my face, over the first week the skin became lighter, BUT I did break out, especially after the first treatment. That worried me because I thought it had created more of an acne problem than I already had. So I went and saw Rose who explained the skin was just purging hidden impurities. Well I immediately began using Burts Bees facial wash for acne with 1% Salycilic acid and nothing else and by week two the bout of acne had cleared and my face was noticibly fairer, more even, and many of the old acne scars were gone or barely visible (as were my darkest freckles). I went in for a second treatment recently and had minimal breakout. I didn't see as much pigment flaking off, but more freckles were removed and Rose focused on some stubborn acne discoloration. I don't have a camera that would give you a good enough view of my skin now but I will say that it is very porceline! I think I'll do one more and then maybe one IPL per year just to fight that inevitable sun damage. Note: one thing everyone should be doing is using Retin-a to fight wrinkles! The combination of some IPL + Retin a a few times a week will keep your pores small and skin very nice. IPL works best on skin like mine where there are no physical scars just redness/discoloration. I highly recco. Rose at the Adams Center in Boston! Oh the cost was $330 per session, but if you get on their mailing list they run monthly discounts!