Get Rid of Dark Patches on Your Face

Got some dark patches on your face? Did you know you can remove them with a couple of laser treatments? Here’s how you restore your smooth, youthful looks. Roisin Murphy checks out the latest tech.

Pigmentation problems are a b*tch. I had a problem with my liver a few years ago. While I am better now after many surgeries, the end result is a scar across my body and a face full of horrible brown splotches. I hate them so hard. They make me look like I have had mud thrown at my face, especially in photos.

CAUSES

There are other ways you can end up with dark patches on your face. Hormones can cause pigmentation. This is known as melasma (or chloasma when pregnant). Menopause or pregnancy are times where you can get blotches or patches on your face. It’s caused by fluctuations and changes in hormone levels. You can also get patches from oral contraceptives, medications (creating sensitivities to sunlight) and just genetics… if your mother had them, then watch out!

There’s another type too. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is another form of pigmentation that is caused by trauma to the skin. Trauma can include acne, physical trauma (such as an accident or wound), and misuse of skincare (such as chemical peels).

And lastly, ageing is one of the common causes of pigmentation. Those damn liver spots! By the time we are over 50, skin has experienced sun damage, neglect and the impact of environmental stressors. These factors trigger our melanin production into overdrive. Whilst ageing is a fact of life, looking our age is not. The dark patches across your face are all pigmentation problems that can be fixed with lightwave technology.

My brown patches annoyed the heart out of me. So I went to SkinEnergy at Southport, on Ferry Road. Upset at the ‘mud’ on my face, I was hoping that they could help me. They could and did. Phew.

SKINENERGY

The owner of SkinEnergy, Gay Wardle, is Australia’s leading industry expert in skin analysis, anatomy and physiology. This isn’t a beauty expert with a 3-week certificate behind her. Gay has completed a Bachelor of Health Science in Dermal Therapies and has lectured at universities both in Sydney and Brisbane. She is at the science end of the game. And you can tell. Her salon is high tech with a vast array of equipment with blue lights and red flashing things. It’s pretty impressive. She keeps herself at the cutting edge of the tech.

Beauty equipment and product manufacturers regularly seek her advice for the development and delivery of their salon training and education programs. Gay regularly travels the world to attend skin symposiums and medical conferences. In 2015, she was awarded Educator of the Year at the Australian Beauty Industry Awards. This is someone you can trust. So off I went with my stupid blotchy face and pleaded with her to fix it.

IPL SKIN TONE CORRECTION

Gay used an instrument called Intense Pulse Light, known as IPL. Pretty much, it’s an intense lightbeam that is shot into your face. First, a conductive gel is applied. Then your face gets the going over by the light wand. When the light is shot at your face, the pigmentation absorbs the light and heats it to the point of destruction. The skin then renews itself with healthy, regenerated cells to replace the pigmented skin. This parts hurts a little, I am not going to lie. But it’s like pinching. It’s not a big drama of tears and flailing arms. But it stings a little.

The week after you get light shot into your face, the pigment literally rises to the surface as your skin heals itself. Your face becomes darker and you look like you have had a grated brown crayon thrown at you. A good concealer covers it though. And you can’t get any sun on your face for two weeks after the treatment.

But after the two weeks? The pigmentation was all gone… And my skin had the baby butt feel that we all long for – It. Was. Amazing. I literally had a clear face again, like before my liver decided to have a tantrum and cause brown blotches on my face. I was so happy, and I am not even vain, particularly.

AFTER CARE

Gay gave me a lightening cream to put on to keep the patches at bay. And, a few weeks later, I got a follow-up treatment in case any new patches were even thinking of appearing.

I have never done beauty treatments before. Never been botoxed, never had a facelift, I only barely get my brows waxed. But I got this treatment because I knew it would make me feel better. And it did. The price isn’t in the thousands of dollars. It’s in the low hundreds. I am a lifelong fan and I can’t wait to see what else Gay can do for me.

TREATING PIGMENTATION 

If you want to get rid of pigmentation, call SkinEnergy. They will have an initial meeting with you to work out what is causing the pigmentation, and then tailor the treatment to the cause. To book your consultation, dial (07) 5528 3100 or email reception@skinenergy.net.au, or call into 232 Ferry Road, Southport