All your pigmentation questions answered by two of the best!

Sacha Bourdage and Fallon Ruffolo sat down to talk about a skin issue many of you wanted to know how to treat – pigmentation.

With more than 30 years of combined experience, these beautiful women know all about treating unwanted spots, from brown and red marks to rosacea and melasma. Here are their answers to your questions and tips to achieving a beautiful and even-toned complexion.

PS : The whole live is posted permanently on our IG so you can watch it at any time.

Check it out!

Your questions, our answers:

Q: What causes these pigmented spots to appear on the skin?
A: Pigmentation can be triggered by many factors, such as sun exposure, hormonal imbalances (melasma is often called the “pregnancy mask”), and even blue light from our screens!

Q: How many BBL treatments should you do a year?
A: To start, we always like to recommend a series of 3 BBL treatments over the course of 4 to 8 weeks, to correct unevenness on the skin. For maintenance, you can continue with 3 to 4 sessions a year, which have been proven in clinical studies to not only correct sun damage but also promote the gene expression pattern of young skin, making regular patients look 10 years younger than their actual age.* Of course, individual results may vary.

Q: Is there a way to correct unwanted pigmentation while leaving my freckles intact?
A: Yes! If you love your freckles, you can treat them safely with BBL, our no. 1 treatment for improving the overall clarity of the skin. This laser is 100% customizable with the use of different filters, and we can choose to treat everything else like brown spots and redness.

Q: What is the downtime with BBL?
A: BBL can cause slight redness for a few hours to a few days. However, more often than not, reactions are so minimal that many clients will squeeze a BBL treatment into their lunch break, and return right back to work. Yes, you can put makeup on right away if you wish to!

Q: What can you achieve with the combination of BBL and HALO?
A: This combination is one of the best to get optimal results, since both lasers will reach different depths in the skin. BBL will go deeper into the skin and work on collagen production. HALO will create micro damage on a more superficial level of the skin, causing it to heal itself, minimizing pores, reducing scarring and improving skin tone and texture.

Q: Is BBL good for darker skin tones?
A: Since the filters can be customized, we can adjust them to work for skin phototypes 1 to 5 safely. BBL can cause a little heat, which can create side-effects on darker skin types. We make sure to take the time to assess each client and treat their skin as if it were our own. HALO is another excellent pigmentation solution that can safely treat darker skin.

Q: What is the best way to treat hyperpigmentation with slight rosacea?
A: Since BBL is so customizable, it really is the best to treat sensitive skin with issues like rosacea. By changing the filters, we can adapt the treatment not only to your skin’s condition but also to where you’re at with the difficulties of your rosacea.

Q: Is BBL the right option to treat scarring with active acne?
A: Yes, BBL is very safe to use on acne, which is why we offer the Forever Clear BBL treatment, which will bring down inflammation in the skin and target bacteria. A treatment such as HALO is also great to treat acne scars, but you would want to control the blemishes first before treating.

Q: What topical products can I use to suppress pigment?
A: Sun protection is the most important! You want to wear it every day, no matter the weather, if you go outside or not. As mentioned earlier, the blue light from long-term screen exposure will trigger pigmentation and wearing sunscreen inside is the best thing you can do to prevent this. We also recommend a mix of chemical exfoliation, vitamin C and Arbutin, which is found in many of our serums to correct and brighten the skin.

If you’d like to know more about which treatments or products can help with your specific concerns, now is the best time to book your virtual consultation to get more tips from our experts.

Pro tip: Bring your skincare products to your consultation to show your specialist, they’ll be able let you know if you are using the best ingredients for your skin type and goals or help you choose new additions for your skincare routine.

*Bitter, P. Pozner, J. Retrospective Evaluation of the Long-Term Anti-Aging Effects of Broadband Light Therapy, Cosmetic Dermatology, February 2013.

Our Victoria Park Medispa team is here to share tips, tricks, and advice. Is there a particular topic you’d like us to cover? Let us know by submitting a request in the text box below!

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