Caci’s Fractional CO2 Laser is the most advanced treatment they offer so SURELY we’re in for some epic results! Kelly, a 35-year-old with texture, lines and redness, went in with high hopes – here’s exactly what happened, her review and whether she’d do it again.
Capsule x Caci – For transparency, Capsule has an ongoing partnership with Caci. This treatment was provided for review, but Caci had no sign-off on this piece and no editorial input into what you’re about to read.
Here’s the thing about the treatments that actually work: they tend to come with a bit of a catch – no such thing as a free lunch, right? Usually the catch is money, sometimes the catch is that you have to do it forever, and occasionally, as with Caci’s Fractional CO2 Laser, the catch is that for a few days afterwards, you’ll look like you’ve been lightly sunburnt through a fly screen.
Annoying? A little. Worth it? Hell yes.
I’ve been wanting to do a Fractional CO2 Laser for a while now, after hearing miracle stories from my beauty editor friends and reading online testimonials. I think I’m in that stage of my 30s where you really notice skin concerns accelerating – the lines are coming faster, the texture is, well, texture-ing, and what used to be a smooth tone now looks mottled and red. Cool cool cool.
I’m not a big makeup gal – either I just don’t have the face to wear it, or I don’t know how to apply it (honestly it’s probably both) so I feel most confident when I’m not wearing much, and my skin is showing through. Well, I do when my skin is playing ball.
So when the option came up to try the CO2 laser, I said yes before I’d properly read what it involved. Classic stuff from me. So here are all the details, so you’re fully aware of what a Fractional CO2 laser actually is, because even now, after having done it, when someone says lasers I immediately think of sharks with frickin laser beams. And if you don’t understand that reference, congratulations! You’re probably too young to have this treatment in the first place.
First, what actually IS Fractional CO2 Laser?
Fractional CO2 laser is skin resurfacing, and the “fractional” part is the important bit to get your head around. Rather than treating the entire surface of your face, the special laser fires pulses in a grid shape, removing microscopic plugs of skin and leaving healthy, untouched skin in between. It creates the largest wound response of Caci’s treatments – essentially, very controlled damage that makes your body produce stronger and firmer collagen tissue. The plugs go deep, down into the dermis, which means new collagen for weeks afterwards. Kind of a beauty/laser approach to the saying ‘to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs’?
The upshot, they promise? Smoother texture, less pigmentation, softened fine lines, tighter skin. Sign me UP. Caci calls it their most advanced skin treatment and it sits inside their Reformaskin plan (more on that below).
It’s worth knowing there’s a gentler cousin – Caci’s Signature Laser Facial uses the same CO2 laser at a much lower level, alongside a resurfacing peel, and has no downtime. If reading the rest of this piece makes you feel faint, that’s your entry point – or if the frickin laser beams are a hard no, check out our review of Caci’s Signature Peel here!
The consultation, which is not a formality
Consultations at Caci are free, and I’d been assuming mine would be a quick chat before the good stuff. It wasn’t – there were consent forms, and a very thorough run-through of what my skin would do afterwards, which I appreciated at the time and appreciated even more on day three.
Here’s what you need to know. It’s the perfect time of year to be doing this, because there’s less sun about in winter, and sun exposure is the thing most likely to stop you getting the best out of the treatment.
If you’re taking medications that increase photosensitivity, you’re undergoing chemotherapy, you’ve used isotretinoin in the last six months, or you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, sorry darls, this isn’t for you right now.
The treatment itself
Right, so the big day finally arrived, and I turned up ready to get my face melted off (dramatic much). I’ll admit I was a little nervous, but Caci’s therapists are so good at making you feel at ease about what’s about to happen. Also, numbing cream. Once that was on and working, we were away. Dead set, there was no pain. At all. To the point it was almost disconcerting. The laser felt a little hot, but that was about it as my therapist methodically passed it over my face. It kind of felt like a cat’s tongue – a little sandpapery and a little weird.
What you do have to be prepared for is the smell, because it’s a laser and it’s going to singe your little face hairs, and it’s gross, no two ways about it.
The whole experience took about half an hour, and at the end I warily raised a little mirror to my face, expecting to look like I’d been through an electric fence.
The grid lines were far smaller than I thought they would be – think almost like squares of hessian sack-like grids – and yes, you could see them, but not in the way I had in my head. You don’t want to be covering them with makeup for at least a few days afterwards, so you need to factor this downtime into your treatment plan.
Afterwards, you’ll feel some heat and tightness, and it’s not painful, rather, it’s annoying, but completely manageable. The immediate aftermath is OK – you can get away with a supermarket stop, for example – but it’s day two and three where your skin is at its most angry.
I had to go to a work event three days afterwards and popped some mineral skin tint on, but my skin was so shiny my whole face looked like Rudolph’s nose – I could have guided any sleigh with my mug, for sure (NOT slay).
Here’s what I looked like immediately after:
Here’s the day after:
Here is my ‘Rudolph’ phase, three days later:
Days four and five were the peeling days, though there was less of it than I thought, and for a week or two afterwards, my skin just felt a little more fragile than usual.
Right, the aftercare bit (please don’t skip this like I nearly did)
Here’s where I have to be a bit boring at you, because this is the part that determines whether you get the glow or the pigmentation. Sunscreen, every single day, no negotiating, and a hat if you’re going to be outside for any length of time. Your skin has essentially just been resurfaced, so it has zero defences, and NZ sun will happily undo the whole thing and leave you worse off than when you started. Beyond that: do not pick the flakes, no matter how satisfying it looks (I know I KNOW), and let them come off on their own schedule. Keep everything gentle for a week – think a bland cleanser and a thick, boring moisturiser, and park your actives, meaning retinol, vitamin C, acids and anything that exfoliates, until Caci gives you the all clear. And anything that makes you hot and sweaty is off the table for the first day or so, which means the gym, hot showers, saunas and spa pools, and was genuinely the hardest instruction to follow in the middle of winter.
But then, the breakthrough – three weeks later, my skin was bloody glowing.
And here’s me now, two months later:
So did it work?
Oh yeah, it worked – but you need to be patient to see the results. Collagen keeps building for weeks after the treatment, so what you see at day ten is not the final answer, and this is a treatment that works best when you have a course of them (Caci recommends four or five), and I’ve only had one.
But the biggest difference I’ve noticed is a kind of blurring effect on my fine lines. They’ve definitely reduced, despite me being months between anti-wrinkle injection appointments. My skin’s texture is a lot tighter, with fewer bumps and sandpaper-like bits, which I really notice when I apply my skin tints. I’ve had so many compliments over the last month or so that my skin looks great. When I asked a friend why, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she just said ‘you’re just kind of… glowing?!’.
I also have mild acne scarring by my lip thanks to a recurring bout of perioral dermatitis (sadly, there are no lasers in the world that can account for hormones) but I have noticed that this is far less red and irritated than it was.
What it costs
It’s really worth being a Caci member for this one – it’s $560 per session for members, and $870 for non-members. It’s a pricey investment, there’s no denying that, but it’s pricey for a reason. You don’t want just anyone around your face with lasers, so if you’re going to go down the CO2 road, this is where you want to be.
I’m totally aware that the phrase “become a member” can sound like a gym contract you’ll regret, but Reformaskin is Caci’s skin treatment plan, where your treatments are mapped out for your specific skin goals and then paid off in regular instalments (plus a deposit up front) rather than one eye-watering lump, and there’s no membership fee on top, so every dollar you pay goes into actual treatments.
Would I do it again?
Yes, my treatment has been a fabulous introduction to the procedure, and I’d be keen to see how a few more would give me long-lasting results. Bottom line, there’s nothing to be scared of with the Fractional CO2 Laser, but it is worth factoring in the downtime (well, more than I did anyway!) because this is a serious treatment. But if you’re someone who is ready to make the investment in their skin, this is the treatment for you!
