01 · Alexandrite and long-wavelength laser
Laser hair removal
Underarms, bikini line, legs, arms or back, for any skin type, with a test patch first.
It fails when the device does not suit the skin, which is how people with deeper skin tones get burned, and it fails when the sessions are too few or too far apart to catch each growth cycle, which is how a three-pack ends in "it barely worked". The Skin Read answers the first with a skin reading and a test patch. The plan answers the second with a written session count you can hold us to.
- Device family
- Alexandrite and long-wavelength laser, chosen per skin type
- Sessions
- 6 in a plan, then 1 to 2 a year
- Interval
- 4 to 8 weeks, longer for legs and back
Laser hair removal in full For deeper skin tones
02 · Intense pulsed light
IPL photofacial
Sun spots, uneven tone and diffuse redness from decades of San Diego sun.
IPL is not a laser; it is a broad flash of filtered light that pigment and small vessels absorb and surrounding skin mostly does not. Sun spots darken for a few days and then flake away; redness fades over the weeks between sessions. It is for tone, not for texture or lines, which is why some people are planned for fractional resurfacing instead, or for both in sequence.
- Device family
- Intense pulsed light
- Sessions
- 3 in a series
- Interval
- 4 weeks
IPL photofacial in full
03 · Non-ablative fractional laser
Fractional resurfacing
Texture, fine lines and acne scars, without two weeks off work.
A fractional laser treats thousands of tiny columns and leaves the skin between them untouched, so the surface heals quickly while the deeper layers rebuild over weeks. The change is gradual: texture smooths and scars soften across the series and for months after. The trade is honesty about expectations. It will not do what a full CO2 treatment does, and it does not need the downtime.
- Device family
- Non-ablative fractional laser
- Sessions
- 3 in a series
- Interval
- 4 to 6 weeks
Fractional resurfacing in full
04 · Fractional CO2 laser
CO2 resurfacing
Deeper lines, scars and sun damage, performed by the medical director, downtime stated plainly.
A fractional CO2 laser removes microscopic columns of skin and tightens what remains, which is why it reaches deeper lines and scars that non-ablative treatment does not. It is also why the first week looks worse before it looks better: swelling, oozing, then a rough bronze layer that peels. We describe that week in detail at the consultation, with photographs of the stages, so nobody is surprised.
- Device family
- Fractional CO2 laser
- Sessions
- 1, occasionally a second after six months
- Downtime
- 7 to 14 days of healing, pink for weeks after
CO2 resurfacing in full
05 · Vascular laser
Redness and facial veins
Redness associated with rosacea, broken capillaries and small facial veins.
A vascular laser is tuned to the colour of blood, so a flash heats the vessel and closes it while the surrounding skin takes little. Individual capillaries often go in one or two sessions; diffuse redness fades over a short series. The laser treats what is visible. It does not treat the cause of rosacea, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling.
- Device family
- Vascular laser
- Sessions
- 2 to 3, judged at each visit
- Interval
- 4 to 6 weeks
Redness and facial veins in full
06 · Pigment laser and IPL
Sun damage and pigment
Sun spots, age spots and uneven pigment, treated with the right tool or not at all.
Sun spots and age spots sit in the surface and respond well to a pigment laser or light: they darken, crust and fall away over a week. Melasma looks similar and is a different problem, hormone and heat driven, and the wrong treatment can make it darker. So the Skin Read looks first, sometimes with a skin analysis device, and if the honest answer is "not a laser", we say so and suggest where to go.
- Device family
- Pigment laser and intense pulsed light
- Sessions
- 1 to 3, judged per spot
- Interval
- 4 to 6 weeks
Sun damage and pigment in full
