Last week, I got a BBL. No, not a Brazilian Butt Lift, the bum-enhancing surgery popularized by Instagram models, but Broadband Light Therapy, a skin-boosting procedure that uses low-frequency photothermal energy to basically press the pause button on aging.
From a young age, I’ve developed an acute love of beauty and everything to do with enhancing your features. As I got older, I began experimenting with makeup, different cosmetic treatments, and a cheeky little injection here and there. However, since I turned the big 3-0 in August, there has been a pivotal shift in the way I look at my face. According to dermatologists, our thirties is when we really start seeing the effects of aging— fine lines, pigmentation, and volume loss, caused by the gradual diminishment of fat in the face. Plus, all the times I spent slathered in bronzing cream lying out by the pool for hours and falling asleep in my makeup in my twenties was going to catch up to me sooner rather than later.
This means that there’s no better time than now to be more conscious of my beauty routine and proactively protect my skin from father time. And while I’ve been getting preventative Botox once a year for the past three-years, I wanted to try something a little more lasting and that would improve my skin’s overall quality.
I visited the newly-opened Nova Clinic in Dubai’s Palm Jumeriah, which is the second branch of the renowned aesthetic clinic known for its innovation and state-of-the-art procedures such as Profhilo, Morpheus 8, Broadband Light Therapy, and Spectra, in addition to Coolsculpting and Velashape 3. I opted for the Forever Young BBL treatment, which is considered one of the best facial treatments for aging skin. The treatment, which can be carried out on the face, neck, chest, arms, and hands, uses intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy to target pesky blemishes, redness, and brown spots, while helping out with fine lines and texture. IPL is also effective in treating freckles, moles, acne, and rosacea, giving you that even skin tone you’ve always wanted but could only achieve with the best foundation.
If all of this sounds to good to be true, it’s not. A study done at Stanford University School of Medicine evaluated the long-term effects of BBL on the skin, and found that the subjects who had one to four BBL treatments yearly over the course of eight years no only had skin that visibly appeared significantly younger, but that also behaved younger.
What’s more appealing about the non-invasive procedure is that it’s a “lunchtime treatment,” meaning that it’s speedy enough to do on your lunch break, like grabbing a sandwich. In fact, the whole treatment takes about 12-15 minutes so those facing looming deadlines can squeeze in some much needed TLC into their overpacked schedule. It also boasts zero downtime so you can return to your usual activities immediately.
The treatment begins with you lying down on a plush table. The therapist cleanses your face to remove any impurities or stubborn makeup residue, before applying a cool gel all over your skin. Your aesthetician will then cover your eyes before running the pulsating light treatment slowly all over your face, using a multi-pass approach to treat the skin. The treatment is virtually painless— to put it into perspective, it hurts a lot less than getting a wax. The minor shock of bright light pulses do take a while to get used to though. A soothing sheet mask is applied to the face after the treatment to help subside any redness.
Results are typically instantaneous, and my therapist informed me that I will experience a darkening of my freckles before they “flake off” in a few days. And, like most treatments, you will require a few sets of sessions to maintain the results as our skin isn’t going to magically stop aging and will continue to be affected by factors like sun exposure, hormonal changes, genetics, and environmental stressors. Depending on your skin, two to four sessions scheduled at regular intervals are recommended yearly for the best results. When I left the clinic, I swore that I’d make a religion of booking myself in for the Forever Young BBL regularly, if it meant my skin could always look this good.
To book an appointment, visit www.thenovaclinic.com or call 971 04 526 3900.
