Post-Treatment and Skin Care Pairing Guide
Introduction
Despite spending several hours and thousands of dollars on skin care treatments and procedures, some people struggle to see positive skin results long-term because of the lack of pre-procedure and post-procedure skin care. A consistent and high-quality skin care routine is essential to those who are regularly getting skin care treatments done (and even those who aren’t!) to enhance the results and extend the longevity of the aesthetic treatment results.
Not only can the right skin care routine enhance your natural skin, but it can also complement aesthetic procedures you choose to indulge in. The right products can help enhance the effectiveness of procedures and prolong patient results. While aesthetic treatments often address specific aging concerns like wrinkles, volume loss, and skin texture, a tailored medical-grade skincare regimen boosts the skin’s ability to repair aged skin both before and after a procedure.
The proper skincare can prepare the skin before procedures, aiding in better absorption and minimizing recovery time. Post-procedure, perfectly paired medical-grade skin care to skin treatments maintains the achieved results, prevents complications, and promotes overall skin health. By integrating quality skincare with aesthetic treatments, individuals can achieve their desired skin with long-lasting results. In this article, we’ll dive into the most common skin treatments and procedures, and discuss which medical-grade products should be paired with each treatment to optimize results and enhance the longevity of treatments.
Why Medical-Grade Skincare Products?
It’s important to use medical-grade skincare rather than drug-store products because medical-grade skin care lines are designed to pair with aesthetic skin treatments and are created with non-irritating formulas that are gentle on vulnerable skin. Additionally, another significant difference between the two is that medical-grade products have a high concentration of active ingredients that are formulated to soak deep into the skin’s layers, leaving better, longer-lasting results compared to drugstore products.
Chemical Peels and SPF
Chemical peels are a popular skin treatment used to improve breakouts, skin texture, discoloration, acne scarring and more. Peels gently remove damaged outer layers of scarring, discoloration, and more.
Because a new, young layer of skin is revealed after a chemical peel, it’s essential to wear a high-quality, medical-grade sunscreen following the treatment. Wearing an irritating formula can do more harm than good, but opting for a safe and high-quality option will protect your new skin from any sun damage and further pigmentation issues. Our recommendation is the PCA Skin Weightless Protection Broad Spectrum SPF because it has an untinted, lightweight formula that works with every skin type to protect the skin.
Laser Treatments and Hyaluronic Acid Serums
Non-invasive laser treatments can help improve skin texture, discoloration, acne scarring, pore size, and more. Laser treatments can improve the skin by rejuvenating the surface of the skin using heat and can improve several different skin concerns. The heat from the laser stimulates the growth of new collagen fibers that cause new skin cell growth and results in smoother and firmer skin. Laser treatments are costly and can be slightly uncomfortable so pairing products with laser treatments is the best way to ensure maximized results and make the most of your money. To summarize, laser treatments are an incredible treatment to improve the overall texture and tone, but pairing it with a medical-grade product, like a hyaluronic acid serum, can enhance results even further.
For laser treatments specifically, the HA Immerse Serum by Alastin is formulated to soothe the skin, calm redness, and provide essential hydration post-treatment. Its ingredients include Octapeptide-45, which helps to stimulate hyaluronic acid production, silver mushroom extract, which provides and encourages hydration, and Hexapeptide-11, which helps prevent the production of enzymes that will break down your natural HA.
Fillers and Injection Serums
Fillers are an aesthetic treatment to help enhance the shape and add plumpness and volume to your face or body. Certain brands of fillers contain hyaluronic acid, which provides immediate benefits by increasing the skin’s retention of moisture, but more recently, fillers have been proven to stimulate the body’s natural collagen production over significant periods. Despite all of the positive effects of dermal fillers, they can leave the skin feeling bruised and swollen.
After getting a dermal filler treatment done, you can pair Alastin’s INhance Post-Injection Serum as a must-have post-injection product. It’s specifically designed to complement dermal fillers because it promotes a smoother and quicker healing process. The serum has a cooling applicator tip to provide a soothing effect to the skin after injections, ultimately helping to speed up the healing process and prevent bruising and swelling. The Post-Injection serum not only works for injectables, but it also can be used to soothe the skin after a microneedling treatment, as well.
Microneedling and Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Microneedling is a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that uses tiny needles to create microscopic punctures in the skin. The “micro-punctures” trigger the skin’s natural healing process, which kickstarts the production of new collagen and elastin. These proteins keep the skin firm and smooth, while improving other skin concerns, such as acne scars, dark spots, large pores, melasma, sagging skin, stretch marks, uneven skin tone and texture, wrinkles and fine lines, sun damage, and rosacea. Microneedling is minimally invasive and could leave the skin with some redness, dryness, and irritation, so a hyaluronic acid serum is a great product to help heal the skin.
The key product to pair with microneedling is a hyaluronic acid serum because of its healing, hydrating, and nonirritating properties. Hyaluronic acid is safe to use on compromised skin because it acts as a lubricant that protects your skin barrier from dryness and further irritation. One of our lightweight favorite hyaluronic acid serums is the Revision Skincare Hydrating Serum, which would pair perfectly 24 hours after a microneedling treatment, such as Scarlet RF or Morpheus 8.
Because the skin may be sensitive and reactive after microneedling, it’s important to avoid any product that can irritate the skin or cause more sensitivity, like retinol products and Vitamin C products.
Body Procedures
Cosmetic surgeries such as a tummy tuck, body or neck liposuction, thigh lift, and more can leave you with an extensive recovery period. To help heal and promote better results, Alastin’s Reform & Repair is our recommendation, as it’s a topical serum formulated to assist with recovery from surgical and invasive body procedures. The product is recommended to use for a tummy tuck, body or neck liposuction, thigh lift, and other cosmetic body surgeries, but can be helpful to use before or after any other procedures.
This serum is designed with ingredients to help reduce procedure downtime and accelerate the recovery process for a more comfortable experience. Alastin’s TriHex Technology is a blend of active peptides that work with the skin to clear out damaged elastin and collagen that support the skin’s natural ability to produce new, healthy elastin and collagen.
Caring for your skin and wounds after aesthetic procedures is crucial as it significantly influences the outcomes and longevity of the results from your treatments. Proper aftercare also minimizes the risk of complications such as infections, scarring, and prolonged downtime, ensuring a smoother recovery process. The medical-grade products mentioned will help maintain the integrity of the procedure by promoting optimal skin health and ensuring that the desired aesthetic improvements are preserved. In essence, the proper after-treatment skincare will enhance your results and ensure a lasting outcome from aesthetic procedures.