It isn’t every day that a lockdown happens in the middle of a beauty experiment.
After having my skin analysed by the Visia machine back in February at The Harley Street Skin Clinic and finding that it was depressingly wrinkled and sun damaged, I was prescribed some specialist products to tackle the issues.
If you missed Part 1 which describes the machine and what it found, just click Part 1
Part 2 gives the low down on the specialist products prescribed for me Part 2
You can refer to Part 2 for the products, as I mention which ones helped with each result.
And here finally are the results:
Wrinkles –
This is collagen production and mine was below 50% to start with. Four months later, when my skin was re-assessed on the Visia machine, it had gone up to 92% which is clearly a phenomenol result ( even Jessica, the skin consultant, was impressed ). It had increased volume, plumpness and elasticity in my skin which was clearly visible in the photo in the machine next to the original one from February. My skin looked noticeably smoother and plumped out.
This result would be mostly due to the Alpharet, proving that retinoids really do work.
The before and after shot of my face in the Visia machine showed how my face had smoothed and how much plumper the skin looked. I actually couldn’t believe it. It’s very unusual to see such a visible result from a product in just a few months. A first for me.
Spots –
This is cell turnover and getting rid of dead skin cells. An improvement of 10%
Texture –
The feel and smoothness of the skin and it’s overall structure. About a 20% improvement. After the huge improvement in wrinkles, 10% or 20% may not sound like much but Jessica said this was a substantial and visible improvement in texture specially round the nose area.
Pores –
The smaller the pores are, the smoother and nicer the skin looks. When collagen breaks down it can cause pores to enlarge. As you improve the collagen and skin structure reforms itself, the pores will minimise. I had about a 10% improvement mostly on the nose and forehead. The AlphaRet improved the collagen but according to Jessica the glycolic acid pads by Neostrata would have made most of the difference. Volumising, improving pore size and helping with the restructuring.
UV Spots –
Long term damage from unprotected exposure to sun. I would’ve thought that this decades old damage would be hard to shift but apparently I had a whopping 25% improvement. This would be down to the Even Tone which actually reverses some of the sun damage and evens out the tone of the skin. As we get older, our hidden sun damage starts to come further up to the surface of the skin. People can start getting sun spots or liver spots which are very unsightly. Jessica said I’d had a very substantial improvement. She showed me where I had quite bad damage under my eyes in the shot taken in February which was all but gone in the new version.
Brown Spots –
The evenness of your skin colour and the production of melanin through normal sun exposure as opposed to damage. Basically it’s how much tan you have and how even it is. Interestingly I had more colour in my face ( well it is summer and the first test was done in February ) but the colour was very even. My skin tone, according to Jessica, was excellent. Once again Even Tone would’ve helped with improving the tone of the skin.
Red Areas –
Any sensitivity or rosacea, vascular or broken capillaries will show up as red areas. Now I didn’t think I had much red in my face to start with but apparently there was an impressive 15% improvement with very little residual red areas left. I now only have a very small smattering of broken capillaries on my cheeks and round the nasal area which Jessica deemed to be an excellent result. This was thanks to the glycolic acid pads and the Even Tone.
Porphyrins –
The amount of bacteria on your skin. This will increase if skin is not effectively cleansed, if exposed to pollution or if pores are large in that area. Initially my result was quite high on the bacteria count which surprised me. Jessica thought that the cleansers I’d been using had not managed to effectively clean my pores. It could also have been caused by enlarged pores due to collagen breakdown.
It turned out the Exfoliating Wash with it’s fruit acids did the trick as I had a 25% improvement. I’d had my doubts about this cleanser because the light foam just didn’t seems substantial enough to thoroughly clean but I was clearly wrong and it gave me a great result. The glycolic pads would’ve been helpful as well.
I was pretty blown away with these results
The photos in the machine from February next to the new photos in each category, clearly and visibly showed the improvement.
Jessica felt that although from the initial results she could tell I took care of my skin, I was obviously not using active ingredients. These would be the retinoid, the glycolic acids, the alpha hydroxy acids and the fruit acids. So while I’ve been nourishing and protecting my skin with lovely organic oils and herbs, I’ve not given my ageing skin the rocket fuel it needs to make a real change.
It’s been a real eye opener and I will now re-assess my whole skin care regime. My main focus will always be the natural and organic, but I will add the active ingredients where needed. And clearly the products that were prescribed by the clinic were amazing.
Do visit their site to check out the products although most of the ones mentioned here will need to be prescribed by one of their clinicians.
And remember….
You can get a FREE consultation and assessment on the Visia machine
