Alice is a known scaredy cat when it comes to trying new treatments on her face, but for the last few months she’s been trying the Genesis Laser at About Skin. So.. what’s it like? What’s the downtime? What does it feel like?
I’ve likely already complained about it enough, but in the last six months we’ve loaded up on so many different rounds of sickness, it’s sounded like a grotesque version of The Twelve Days of Christmas: four colds, two random viruses, two rounds of COVID, Influenza A, Influenza B, Pneumonia and a nice little bout of gastro.
As a result my face (perhaps much like the rest of my poor beaten down body) has been like a human desert: dry, dull and just generally unhappy.
So, when I heard about About Skin’s three part treatment, ‘The Glow Up Package’ – essentially a kind of spring clean for your face – I positively jumped at the chance.
It’s a series of three treatments, performed two-three weeks apart, each one building on the last to remove winter skin build up, improve skin texture, boost collagen production in the deep layers of our skin and hydrate skin from the inside out. It’s built around the Genesis Laser – renowned as the ‘Hollywood Facial’ and favoured by celebrities for its ability to enhance and transform the complexion.
As I’ve said before, I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to doing things to my face, so at first the word laser left me with some questions (and, to be totally honest, some second guessing as to whether I should give it a go).
Turns out, this is one of the very non-scary lasers, with zero downtime – you can literally head straight back to work, or school pick-up without giving any small children a fright. I experienced zero redness, so I exited their beautiful Stonefields location looking like I’d just had one of those nice little surface level massage facials which leave your skin looking glowy for the afternoon but don’t do anything intensive. Yet, incredibly, I’d just had quite an intensive treatment that really got into those deeper levels of the dermis to do some work.
When I picked up my son from daycare after the first one (a note here that he has just started telling me delightful things like how I need to take my knees to the doctor because they look so old), he actually told me that my face looked nice. From my harshest critic, him noticing that my face no longer looked like a human desert was about the biggest glowing endorsement you could get.
WHAT IS IT?
Ok, so the first treatment uses the Genesis Laser (this is the one that apparently Kendall Jenner and Amanda Seyfried swear by), which stimulates your skin’s natural processes by remodelling collagen. It increases collagen production by gently heating the dermis – which yes, you do feel. It’s not a burning sensation though, it’s quite pleasant. At the very start I had a few face twitches getting used to it in more sensitive areas, or when it hit an area of my face with a nice wispy hair that it caught (my LOVELY therapist Nicky warned me ahead of time that it was totally safe, but yes, it might sizzle some little wispy hairs – which it did!).
This part of the treatment is about targeting and reducing fine lines, wrinkles, and improving skin texture. It also effectively addresses signs of ageing like sun damage and facial redness.
The laser is paired with microdermabrasion to gently remove the outermost layer of dead skin cells and unveil a smoother, more radiant complexion. The combo does leave your skin nice and glowy (and may elicit compliments from hard to impress/please preschoolers).
The second treatment combines another Genesis Laser session with a duo of medical-grade masks. First is the Illuminate Mask to brighten and boost radiance in the face, and the Firming Peptide Mask to life, tighten and nourish the delicate neck area. The neck mask feels very cool, and thick on your neck – as it dries it does become a bit itchy, but whilst it’s on, you’re in the midst of the laser session, so your mind isn’t fixated on thinking about how your neck is starting to prickle. When I looked in the mirror after this session I suddenly realised how much I’ve been neglecting my neck! I could immediately see a difference in it.
The third and final part involves again, the Genesis Laser, followed by a medical-grade enzyme exfoliation and a hydration mask to remove any remaining surface build-up, refine skin texture and lock in deep moisture to maximise radiance and glow. By now I was so used to the laser my face didn’t twitch once, and I was so relaxed during the hydration mask, I almost nodded off.
THE VERDICT
I truly enjoyed this three-parter. It came at the perfect time (right when my poor skin had not only endured winter, but 5,000 different colds and viruses and was needing some TLC) and was so darn easy to schedule: no having to worry about fitting it in during a time where you could then spend the next day (or three!) at home to hide your red face. It delivered results – my face was definitely brighter, more hydrated (I realised what I thought were fine lines were obviously more likely just from dehydration?) and clearer – with absolutely zero downtime.
Nicky and the team were fab, and I’m already looking at going back (now that I’m not afraid of lasers) to deal to a few cherry angiomas. I had two pop up on my face (one tiny one near my eyebrow, another bigger one close to my hairline) during pregnancy (oh, the joys!) – they’re those harmless little red, dome shaped spots you can get, which are made of blood vessels. And yes, they often pop up during a change in hormones, or are just down to ageing and genetics. Nicky tells me there’s a quick little laser to remove them – so that’s next on my list.
The About Skin Glow Up Package is $550 for all three treatments (one off treatments are available for $200).
Alice was gifted three sessions at About Skin, all opinions are her own.
