I've been having a course of treatments with Destination Skin. Destination skin, is a national chain of registered clinics (21 in total) specialising in non-invasive, advanced skin solutions to treat a wide range of individual skin concerns. The Glasgow clinic is located in the basement of House of Fraser on Buchanan Street.

I've had a few different treatments so far and will tell you all about each one over the next few weeks. First up is the IPL or Laser Skin Rejuvenation treatment. Its worth noting that, on the whole, I'm lucky to have very good skin. I don't have any major concerns but I do suffer from dehydrated skin and like to have treatments which help boost moisture and radiance.


So, what exactly is IPL?
IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light treatment and is done with a special kind of light. IPL is technically not a laser but uses flashes of light that work in a similar way to them by causing heat damage to dermal tissues without disruption or removal of the outer epidermal layers of the skin.
Its more commonly associated with hair removal however it can also help to rejuvenate the skin to give a radiant complexion. IPL can be used on most areas of the body to improve the overall tone and texture of the skin reducing the visible signs of aging.

My therapist discussed the treatment with me fully before and I had a patch test done a few days prior to check my skin was ok with it. Before the treatment my face was double cleansed and a layer of cooling, conductive gel was applied. (when I say cooling, I mean almost freezing, its not unpleasant though). I then had some funny eye covers put on to protect my eyes and the IPL was then moved over my whole face (other than eye/lip areas) twice. The treatment itself wasn't painful but it was a little uncomfortable but this was mostly due to the bright light which flashes every few seconds. I'm particularly jumpy so I found it hard to stay still. The treatment only took around 20 minutes to compete so it wasn't too bad.


This type of IPL doesn't have any downtime so I was good to go after a generous layer of SPF was applied. I noticed straight away that my skin looked a lot more radiant and glowing. My makeup applied a lot easier the next day too. It even managed too calm down the horrible, angry spot on my chin, hooray!
Contact your local clinic to find out more or feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.