After seeing the results of a CosMedix skin treatment on Zara's skin, I decided I had to give one a go myself. Renew Medica on the New King's Road was my destination; a new, cosy little clinic in South West London that opens late to cater for hardworking folks like me (*cough*).
Before the peel was applied, I was given a skin analysis to see which treatment would suit my skin best. This involved taking a photo in a scary looking booth and then mapping out a section of the skin around the nose and cheek to analyse on computer. The software looked at various things; sun damage, bacteria, wrinkles, dark spots and so on, with some interesting results...
Good news first. I am 100% wrinkle-free, which is a good thing considering I'm only 24. The bacteria on my skin was concentrated around the oily parts and could be put down to the two hours a day I spend on public transport. We discovered that my biggest problem was sun damage...
Lots of sun damage. It shouldn't really have come as a surprise to me, but the sheer amount did freak me out a bit. I'm fair and freckly and spent three weeks in Australia not long before I had my treatment. Add to that a really bad burn at a festival a couple of years ago (so bad my nose blistered - it'll take years for that damage to disappear) and it's no surprise my skin was crying out for a daily SPF.
For this reason, my therapist picked the Pomegranate Peel (£75) for me, which treats dehydrated skin and is good for sun damaged souls like myself. As I have young, wrinkle-free skin, the higher concentration CosMedix Timeless and L-TCA peels weren't right for my skin, nor had I prepared for them beforehand. The gentler fruit acid peels are not like those you might be imagining (especially if you watch Sex & The City). They're actually more like an intense face mask that just subtly affects the top layers of the skin.
Application is simple. The skin is cleaned and prepped, and then the thin, clear peel is applied thinly across the whole face (avoiding the eyes and lips, of course). This peel is so gentle that I actually left the clinic with it still on my face. It's a 5-hour treatment, so I had to wash it off at home before bed, using just some warm water and my hands.
Following the peel, I was told I'd probably get a tiny bit of flaking, and that my skin would look its best up to a week after the treatment. I was encouraged to wear no makeup for the first few days and very little in the days afterward, to allow my skin to renew itself. Three days later, and I was getting compliments on how radiant I looked (in fact, you can see proof in the photos of me trying dry shampoo - that was a week after the treatment and I was still foregoing foundation).
I didn't really get much, if any flaking, and the novelty of being able to go out with just mascara and lipgloss on - and not my usual mineral foundation and concealer - was fantastic. A few people asked me what I was using on my skin.
I didn't really realise how much nicer my skin had been for the month or so following the treatment until I started looking at it again recently. It's finally beginning to clog back up and the big spots I'd not had in well over four weeks are now back. Perhaps it's time to try the treatment again?
Gemma visited Renew Medica, 291 New Kings Road, London SW6 4RE
tel: 0844 576 8304
email: newkingsroad@renewmedica.com
