It’s no secret that things start to go downhill after a certain age. Until this point, my complexion wasn’t one of them (thanks to copious product testing and regular Botox appointments), but I didn’t realize just how much room there was for improvement until after I got a Halo treatment. And let’s just say I am SO happy with the results and SO glad I did it and SO willing to share a picture of myself before my treatment!
Here’s the scoop on Halo, and why it’s different from other skin-rejuvenating laser treatments… First, it’s a hybrid laser that combines two modalities, a non-ablative wavelength for the top layers of skin and an ablative wavelength that reaches deeper levels of the skin. Combining these energies allows the laser to target skin discoloration, texture, fine lines, wrinkles, pores and lack of radiance. Halo is totally customizable to your skin’s needs, as well as your tolerance for downtime, so you can opt for multiple “light” treatments or one to two more intense treatments.
So above is more “before” picture, and let’s just say I actually thought this was pretty good—until I saw the “after.” A few days before my appointment with plastic surgeon, Dr. Jason Pozner of Sanctuary Medical Center in Boca Raton, they called in prescriptions for antibiotics and Valtrex to prevent any cold sores from popping up after the treatment. When I arrived for my appointment my face was slathered in numbing cream for about 30-40 minutes, and then the fun began…
I’d be lying if I said the treatment was painless or relaxing—rather it felt like continuous hot pinpricks. Some spots were a bit more intense than others, but it was tolerable enough that Dr. Pozner and I were able to chit-chat for the entire 25 minutes it took. Yup, 25 minutes later I was slathered in Aquaphor and on my way.
Above is what I looked like right after. The sunburn-like redness and burning subsided after about 4 or 5 hours. (And when I say burning, that means I had the A/C on full blast directly on my face on the way home.) I was able to cool things down with some Advil, La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water and frequent applications of Cetaphil Cream (which was the only product I used for a week afterwards).
This is what I looked like the next day (and the first few days after that). Though still on the red side, my skin began to darken over time. At this point I still a bit swollen but there was no discomfort, and my sandpaper-like skin texture was as a bit disconcerting. I wasn’t really going anywhere that required makeup (you can use it the very next day) so I used some La Roche-Posay Anthelios Tinted Mineral SPF 50 and I looked relatively normal.
After the first few days, the pigment started to rise to the surface, and it looked like I had coffee grounds on my face. Then on day 4, the thick layer of dry, rough skin started to flake off. I washed my face in the shower for the first time and when I rinsed a lot of little pieces started coming off—and the new skin beneath was fresh, pink and smooth! It took about 6 days for all of it shed.
I am absolutely blown away by this makeup-free before-and-after. MY SKIN LOOKS AMAZING! The pigment (that I never really noticed before) is gone, my skin is beyond radiant and the large pores on the sides of my nose are GONE!
I absolutely, positively cannot recommend Halo enough. (I tried another laser treatment a few years ago and I cannot say the same about that one.) If you’re in the South Florida area, don’t even think about going to anyone other than Dr. Pozner for Halo because he was one of the doctors who help develop the treatment protocol, so he knows how to use the technology to its fullest potential.
So what do you think? Do you want to try Halo?