Life & Style | Beauty & Fashion

The ugly truth

Skin issues you can’t see but should know

By Kelly Crane  Senior Reporter
Published: 18:49 August 24, 2012

Image Credit: Courtesy SensAsia
Multispectral imaging reveals damage beneath the skin

Dry skin, combination skin, oily skin. Depending on which expert I’m talking to, apparently I have them all.

A new system at SensAsia, Mall of the Emirates, the VISIA skin analysis, claims to tell you exactly what’s going on.

VISIA measures pigmentation, UV spots, brown spots, red areas, wrinkles, texture, pores, porphyrins (bacteria) and sun damage. The machine uses multispectral imaging, which just means it’s not a single surface image, to reveal damage on and beneath the surface of the skin, revealing information which is undetectable by visual examination alone.

So how does it work? Make-up removed, you place your head into a small photo booth, which then snaps a couple of digital and UV pictures of your face.

The machine then evaluates the information and produces eight different images. Little blue dots highlight problem areas in every category.

To be frank, VISIA didn’t tell me much I didn’t already know, but that’s because I have issues with my skin and hence I know its every move. For those lucky enough to have relatively trouble-free skin, information about blood, melanin, sun damage, wrinkles and collagen levels would help you make vital improvements to your skincare regime.

The most useful for me was the awareness of UV spots as well as knowledge about where bacteria collects. This has helped me focus more on those areas when I cleanse and apply sun cream.

Looking at the pockets of dry and oily areas, I was given advice I had never been given before — stop applying expensive cream, lotions and potions which claim to solve the issue, and instead strip the routine back to the basics and see what happens. I’ve added a whitening treatment to my regime for my sun spots and a sunscreen every day to minimise future sun damage.

In a spa setting, the machine is beneficial if you want to see whether your treatments are actually having an effect.

I returned exactly a week later — at the same time of day, so bacteria could be properly measured — to see what the machine now thinks of my new skin and care routine.

It proved extremely successful. My original analysis had revealed combination skin, which SensAsia had suggested needed less fuss and a back-to-basics attitude. Now the amount of bacteria build-up was noticeably less, which would explain a reduction in breakouts this week. My skin’s hydration level was also more balanced after being encouraged to drink twice as much water, which I had a good stab at.

That said, I don’t believe the machine can give you perfect skin. What I do believe, however, is that it is very good at making you aware of the things you are not doing to give you the best skin possible.

DETAILS

A VISIA skin analysis is priced at Dh100 at SensAsia, Mall of the Emirates, and is complimentary with any facial treatment booked. Call 04-354 9228.