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I’m a soap, water, SPF and Botox girl at heart. Lazy, in other words. I’ve dabbled as you do with serums and potions, but could never make any skincare routine stick for very long. That’s not to say there haven’t been consequences: Very dark pigmentation spots (some of them the size of cannellini) primarily on the driver’s side where SPF was badly applied; enlarged pores and of course, skin laxity. The latter translates to puffy patches where my cheek fat pads have slipped as well as the inevitable crepey wrinkles under the eyes and saggy bits on the jawline and neck.
With a big birthday recently under my belt (and apparently under my chin and eyes), and a major family occasion on the horizon, I decided it was time to at least explore what steps could be taken to make things better. It took a little while to get my courage up but the new year found me chatting to Professor Caitriona Ryan at the Institute of Dermatologists to see what she’d recommend as a course of action.
It’s so interesting to talk to a professional who’s never met you: they tend to see and prioritise very different concerns. Too often people have a set idea in their heads about what they want, but it might be better served if they listened first. Just like you wouldn’t cling on to your natural birth plan if you needed an emergency C-section, you need to hear what the expert has to say and adjust accordingly.
She immediately called attention to the discolouration under my eyes, which I hadn’t consciously clocked, advising that it could be easily improved with the simple addition of a retinol to my (non-existent) skin routine. Professor Ryan explained that as we age, the skin under the eye becomes thinner, showing the vascular bed beneath, hence the dark circles. She also explained that the whole area could be tightened with a procedure called Secret Pro. It would also tackle all my other concerns. I was all ears. Secret Pro is a non-surgical treatment suitable for all ages that delivers a combination of radio frequency microneedling to stimulate collagen at the deepest levels and CO2 laser resurfacing to tackle the uppermost layers of the skin. The procedure takes about an hour for the entire face and eye area and has 4-5 days of downtime. Within a week, there is usually some improvement in skin quality but the real benefits accrue over time: in 3-6 months, new collagen will make a serious difference to the scaffolding of the face. The results last for 18 months to five years.
The “downtime” has always terrified me because I’ve always associated it with pain. So my next questions were all about that. Professor Ryan said that treating the eye area was uncomfortable but bearable while it was happening and that there wouldn’t be any pain after the procedure. I wanted desperately to believe her but still wondered if I would be the outlier who twisted in agony. I pored over before and afters on the internet and watched Professor Ryan’s video diary of getting the procedure done herself on her Instagram. The more I saw, the more confident I felt about going forward. Finally, the idea of hiding at home for a few days in a mini, self-imposed lockdown actually started to sound like an added bonus rather than a negative.
Professor Ryan cautioned that Secret Pro would best be followed up with a bit of cryotherapy and a subsequent round of IPL to really get rid of the darkest lesions. She also suggested we look at injectables at a later date.
Emboldened by my Secret Pro experience, I’ve been looking at other treatments with the Institute of Dermatologists. Platelet- Rich Plasma (PRP) uses the growth factor from your blood to amp up collagen production wherever it is injected and is really effective around the eye. Philart Next is a new injectable skin booster that combines stabilised hyaluronic acid to hydrate the skin with polynucleotides to promote collagen and elastin production. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be content with what Secret Pro delivers over the next few months… or maybe this is just the beginning.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of IMAGE.
The Summer issue of IMAGE is here, and we’re taking the longer days as an opportunity to slow down, take stock, and luxuriate in the lull that summer brings. From laid-back looks to in-depth reads, there’s everything you need to set you up for the season. Plus: * Warm-weather style * Boho is back * In studio with Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer * Career success stories * Growing and foraging * Women in music * Reframing divorce * Tackle your tiredness * Summer beauty favourites * Bringing the outdoors in * Irish eco escapes * Garden getaways * and so much more…
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