Skin Deep

"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  That or, a kick ass red lipstick" Gwyneth Paltrow

 Asos Navy Skater dress

One day a little girl wrote a blog post about her skin, she sounded moany & whiny but the skin gods took pity on her.  They heard her cries of frustration & answered her.  They directed her to a salon on the Bloomfield Avenue called Medi Cosmetic & all was right in the world again.

If you are a loyal follower of my blog or just a dipper (dipping in & out cause you are nosey), you might have read my blog post about my skin. If not, I have basically hit puberty at the age of 24.  No I haven't finally grown boobs or suddenly become mature, I have developed spots.  My skin was clear the whole way through my teens & then on my 24th birthday, everything went down hill.  It has knocked my confidence to be honest and nothing I am doing or using is helping.  No I'm not stressed, no I haven't change my Pill, no I haven't changed my make up remover are all the answers to the questions you are thinking.  In the great scheme of things, spots aren't that big a deal.  I am now at that stage that I'm just like "meh, there's another one.  Aw well, I haven't lost a leg or I'm not dying, it's just spots." POSITIVE THINKING

So I almost cried when Nikki Marks from Medi Cosmetic contacted me. She had read my blog & wanted to offer me a facial at the Medi Cosmetic salon to help my skin.  Thank you skin god Nikki, thank you.


Homework, not something I am used to anymore but I love being organised so this was just an excuse to research something & take notes. Medi Cosmetic, a salon which offers a range of skincare & body treatments.  Their website advertises everything from cosmetic surgery to non surgical laser to beauty & spa treatments.  No botox or boob job for me, just a simple facial. Well that's what I thought till I started to read about it.  I will be the first one to admit, I'm not girly at all. Yup, I take my make up off, wash my face, brush my teeth but that is the height of my pamper sessions.  I assumed that I was just going to get a splash of water on my face, a good scrubbing, mask & moisture & that was me. Oh no.

I was greeted at the salon by Melanie & 1st thing I noticed was of course her skin. Wow. I was guided to a lovely warm treatment room, soft music playing, wrapped in a warm towel, tucked into the treatment bed and told to relax. I don't know what Melanie was saying as I was still staring at her skin. Flawless.  We then had a chat about my skin. I explained about the change in my skin in the last 6 months and Melanie helped explain what was happening & how spots develop.  She gave me some tips which I greatly appreciated. Did you know that standard exfoilator actually annoy skin & encourage breakouts!?! She recommended a fruit acid exfoilator. This basically takes away the dead skin cells on the top layer of skin where bacteria breeds.  She also recommended a Vitamin A moisturiser as this helps skin to recover faster & promote cell growth which keeps the skin always regenerating rather than bacteria building up & clogging up your pores & skin. I wanted to be taking notes but she had me all tucked me with a fluffy blanket so I just nodded & stared at her skin.

 Treatment Room

The facial I had was an Omnilux light facial.  Developed to help damaged skin rejuvenate & repair, a light is shone over your face for 45mins penetrating the deeper layers of your skin.  Reading up on the website about the facial I was a bit nervous to be honest.  It stated that it was great for ageing skin due to the rejuvenation process...now I'm only 24 but I am willing to try anything at this point to get my skin back on track.  Melanie reassured me that it assists in everything from acne, helps to moisturise your skin to increasing collagen produced in your skin.  Australians apparently love it, why they need more sunlight I have no clue.

 Ominlux Light Facial

So the facial started like any normal facial, she cleansed, exfoliated, moisturised then she put a suncream on my face.  Now the light used in this facial doesn't have any damaging rays. No UVA, UVB or IPL.  (If you have no idea what these letters mean, they simply stand for the bad rays of light that cause cancer & that are used in sunbeds)  This was one of my worries as I had never done a sunbed nor do I want to start so that was my first question to Melanie.  Poor Melanie was assaulted due to all my questions. But she was great and answered all of them & more.

Vitage Products used in the facial

Goggles on, the light was positioned over my face and it was like I was on a beach in Thailand.  Sun on my face, Melanie massaging my hands & arms, waves in the background, all that was missing was a Strawberry daiquiri in my other hand.  Now the light is uncomfortable for the first few minutes as it is quite bright but your eyes do adjust.  My dog used to sneak upstairs to my bedroom during the day when everyone had left the house as my room always got the afternoon sun.  I felt like him, stretched out, enjoying the warmth as much as possible. For 30 minutes, I sunk deeper & deeper in my little fantasy of Thailand, massages & my boyfriend in speedos.  Too soon it was over.  But oh no, wait... My face was cleansed again, a vitamin C antioxidant mask was put on for 10mins then cleansed again & moisturised.

The facial itself was quite expensive at £65 but you really get your money's worth.  I have had facials before that are meant to last an hour but the time you change, put on your gown & lie on the table counts as 10mins, the facial last 40mins then you have to re-dress and that counts as 10mins too.  I was in Medi Cosmetic for 1hr 10mins, counting the chat Melanie & I had at the start. I have also really noticed a difference.  Call me brave, call me crazy but here is a photo of me no make up on. Left is before the facial, right is after the facial.  Now I know what people are like so both photos were taken at the same time a day apart and at the same position/spot in my flat so light exposure was the same.

You can clearly see my spots but the photo on the left my skin looks dull and I have a redness across my nose & cheeks.  The photo on the right, my skin looks brighter, healthier and the redness of my spots, across my nose and my cheeks has reduced. I look glowing. I really recommend this facial if your skin needs a kick start like mine did and Melanie at Medi Cosmetic was fantastic.  I will def be back in my quest to conquer late on-set puberty.

For more info or to book an appointment at Medi Cosmetic, call 028 9086 1186 or check the website, http://www.medi-cosmetic.com/ for a list of all the treatments they do.

Medi Cosmetic Salon on Bloomfield Avenue