Now I usually have a long preamble blah-blah-too-long-no-one-cares paragraph before I launch into my blog review proper, but just cos I’m uber excited about today’s topic, I’m just gonna dive right into it – this. is. AWESOME. you must do it!
“This” refers to a treatment that I underwent a month or so back. The reason for my delay in posting up this review is so that I could observe and see if the effects were permanent.
The Treatment: OPT
OPT (Optimal Pulse Technology) was explained to me as being an advanced version of IPL. If you’re the brainy scientific sort, read Lumenis’ page here on what OPT is about. To break it down simply for the layman – it’s pulses of light delivered to your face (similar to IPL) and will help to shrink enlarged pores, brighten your complexion and improve the overall condition of your skin.
I did it at Healthwerkz at Sembawang (yes, it was that friggin’ far). Thankfully, it’s just a 5-minute walk away from the train station.
A relatively easy-to-spot short building at a junction
Ta-dah! Healthwerkz Medical Centre @ Sembawang, Blk 355 Sembawang Way, #01-02, Singapore 750355
Now there’s nothing fanciful about the place – a small waiting room (but then again, I didn’t have to wait that long), and several functional treatment rooms.
The OPT Process
During a short consultation with the doctor, he explained to me that the OPT treatment was essentially blasting my face with light waves, and would have to minimise the appearance of enlarged pores (yay!), brighten my skin (yay!), and even minimise the look at the veins (zomg I haz visible veins on my face shizzz).
I was led away to remove my makeup, and a layer of numbing cream was applied all over my face and left to set for about 20 minutes.
Not a pretty sight, but hey, it tells you exactly what’s going on. Goggles on, lights on, and OPT away!
Essentially, the doctor simply released pulses of light all over my face, and focused more on spots that needed more help i.e. my cheeks.
The nurse (in maroon) was holding a jet of super-cold air (cryro?) to my face so that it would minimise the pain (caused by the heat and light). To be really honest, I’m super glad that it was there, cos it numbed my skin even more (than the numbing cream already had). Prior to my treatment, I’d heard from another girlfriend who went for this treatment (at another place) that it had hurt like a bitatch, which was probably because she didn’t have the super-cold air blasting on her skin. Thankfully, all I felt was light pinches in the skin, kinda like a rubber band snapping on the skin.
At the start, the pinching sensation was really negligible, kinda like an ant boxing my face without gloves, but nearing the end, I could feel more heat and an increase in pain, which was still bearable, but had upgraded to the level of a fire ant doing MMA with studded gloves on .
The entire treatment (including the time needed to let the numbing cream set) took about an hour or so. There’s no downtime, and since I couldn’t / shouldn’t apply anything onto my face after that, I put on my oversized sunnies to block out the sun, and scooted home.
The Immediate Aftermath
For an hour or so after the treatment, I feel slightly hot and flushed (which is kinda normal, considering the amount of light and heat emitted into your skin). It’s akin to staying out in the sun for an extended period of time really.
I was also given a tiny tub of regeneration cream to apply onto my face 2x a twice for a week, and during that time, I only cleansed my face with a gentle cleanser ( I used the IDS Cleanser) and stayed off my usual skincare products. (I was actually pretty happy since I could skip my 101-step skincare regime lol).
The Effects
TLDR (too long, didn’t read) the previous few paragraphs? It’s okay, cos the following photos will say everything.
Welcome to the stuff of your nightmares – An unusually large photo of unglamourous me without makeup, and with a towel turban on my hair.
You can see distinct differences in my skin, right right right?
- Pore size is smaller
- Skin texture is smoother
- Skin looks firmer
- Skin also looks brighter
- Spots are lightened
I also realised that I didn’t have to try to squeeze out so many blackheads from my nose cos the pore size had shrunk. I’d even gotten compliments from people, asking if I’d done something to my face cos it was really glowing and looked so smooth :D
One month down the road, I daresay my pores are mostly still minimised (perhaps 85%) of it, so it’s a pretty decent result, especially after only one session.
Convinced much? I think I convinced myself even. I mean, I’ve tried so, so, so many beauty products but this really took the cake in terms of pore shrinkage. Like woah.
It’s also surprisingly affordable at SGD$300/session or SGD$1,000 for 4 sessions. Whutttt. It’s almost similar to buying a jar of branded cream – this price is only at Healthwerkz, and I’ve checked out the prices of other clinics (SGD$380~600++ per session)
To book your appointment:
Healthwerkz Medical Centre @ Sembawang
Blk 355 Sembawang Way, #01-02
Singapore 750355
Tel: 6836 3367
Now you can’t say that I don’t share good thangs with my readers :D
Filed under: Events
