If you’re bothered by freckles, age spots, uneven skin tone, discolouration or melasma, you
aren’t alone. Pigmentation is a common skin concern, but can often be stubborn and difficult to
treat. If you’d like to learn how to reduce and manage your pigmentation through topical
skincare products and clinical skin treatments like IPL, you’ve come to the right place.
How Pigmentation Works
To best manage pigmentation, it’s imperative to understand the root cause. Skin pigmentation
involves a complex cellular cascade, starting with our melanocyte cells. Put simply, melanocytes
are triggered to create melanin (pigment) which is transferred along this cascade and dispersed
into the tissue in varying quantities and depths. Therefore; whether it be freckles and age spots
or more chronic conditions like melasma, preventing the stimulation of melanocyte cells is key.
What Causes Pigmentation?
Melanocyte cell activity is triggered by a number of factors. The primary cause of pigmentation
is sun exposure, as melanocyte cells are triggered significantly by ultraviolet light. The most
common misconception around sun exposure is that you need to burn or tan in order for
problems to occur. However, UV comprises multiple wavelengths of light, each impacting the
skin differently. UVB and UVC wavelengths are blocked completely by glass, but did you know
that UVA radiation can pass through? This particular wavelength is deeply-penetrating and not
only triggers melanocyte cells causing pigmentation, but destroys collagen and elastin fibres
causing sagging and wrinkles. Pigment may appear right away, or may linger below, unseen,
only to become visible later in life as the skin thins naturally with age. Therefore, daily
sunscreen application; even when indoors, is crucial for managing skin pigment. Another cause
of over-stimulation of pigment cells is hormones. This is why melasma often occurs during
pregnancy, or coinciding with contraceptive medications.
Preventing Pigment Transfer
Aside from preventing the initial stimulation of pigment cells, a secondary tactic is preventing the
transfer of melanin from the melanocyte cells into the skin. In skincare products, there are a
number of ingredients that can reduce this transfer. We call these pigment inhibitors, and they
include niacinamide, retinol, kojic acid, arbutin, and licorice root to name a few. These
ingredients are recommended for any pigmented-related skin concerns, especially when
preparing the skin for clinical pigmentation treatments like laser, IPL, radiofrequency or skin
needling.
Skin Treatments For Pigment
There are several highly effective clinical skin treatments for reducing pigmentation. Skin
needling and RF needling can break up and disperse some clusters of superficial pigment, in
addition to improving the skin’s texture and pore size. Our favourite pigmentation treatment at
Plus Aesthetics is our Lumecca IPL. Extremely safe and effective, Lumecca IPL’s Intensed
Pulsed Light energy is absorbed by melanin, which is destroyed and naturally removed by the
body. An added bonus is that the Lumecca IPL energy is also absorbed by small vessels and

broken capillaries, a common side effect of sun exposure. This means each Lumecca IPL
treatment can simultaneously reduce redness and veins as well as freckles, age spots, and
discolouration. Plus, new collagen formation is boosted, resulting in plumper, firmer, and more
youthful skin. This is why Lumecca IPL is renowned for its spectacular, multi-tasking results.
Reducing pigmentation is always best achieved through a tailored approach which combines
daily sunscreen, pigment-reducing skincare products, and in-clinic IPL sessions or other
clinicals treatments. This often requires time, persistence, and lots of patience, but we promise
that the results (and the confidence that comes with them) are worth it! Visit us to speak to our
skin experts about Lumecca, or how we can create an individualised treatment approach to suit
your unique needs.

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A great skin consultation is the foundation of any great treatment, product regime, or skin health
plan that will generate dramatic and long-lasting results. The skin is complex, and often requires
an experienced skin practitioner to make precise recommendations that address specific
concerns. And the best tool for doing exactly this is clinical skin imaging.
What Is Skin Imaging Technology?
There are several skin imaging technologies on the market, including Visia, SkinScope, Observ,
and MoreMe just to name a few. These devices, while all utilising slightly different technology,
all share one common goal - to capture detailed analysis of the skin and its many layers. There
is only so much that skin practitioners can see with the naked eye. Using specialised skin
photographing technology enables us to see what is happening both on and below the skin’s
surface, revealing a much clearer picture of your skin, its issues, and their causes.
Why Is Skin Analysis Important?
Armed with this detailed information, we are able to diagnose skin disorders and recommend
skincare products and clinical treatments with greater precision. Skin scanners make your skin
consultation and analysis a lot more tailored to you as an individual, and significantly increases
your chances of our recommendations providing you with amazing results. This also allows us
to track your progress over time, and show you exactly how much of a difference your skincare
and treatment regime is making. This accountability is an important part of our clinical practice,
demonstrating that our skin solutions are truly working.
Clinical Imaging at +Aesthetics
Our team of therapists and dermal clinicians use Visia technology, which photographs the skin
with several different light filters. Visia provides us with a huge amount of information about your
skin, including redness, surface and deep wrinkles, microbial activity, sun damage, dehydration,
and pigmentation that is usually not visible to the naked eye. Using our Visia system, we assess
the biological age and ‘true age’ of your skin before commencing any treatment plan, creating a
baseline which we can compare your skin to periodically. We love tracking this information
throughout and after a course of skin treatments, and seeing the joy on our patients’ faces as
we place their images side by side to analyse the often-dramatic changes. In addition to our
Visia, we also use Vectra at +Aesthetics, a 3D imaging system that allows us to see how facial
shape, volume, and structure change over time. This can be especially important for treatments
like dermal filler, or those designed to revolume the face by adding collagen.
As an evidence-based practice, skin scanning systems like Visia and Vectra are a key part of
your skin health plan at +Aesthetics. We offer only the highest quality products and treatments
that have been proven in their results - this is our way of ensuring you are confident in our
approach to your skin. We also understand how difficult it can be to see results over time, since
skin rejuvenation and anti-ageing doesn’t happen overnight! With Visia, you are able to see your
results for yourself, with your own eyes. Come and speak to us about a personalised Visia skin
analysis next time you visit the clinic. Continue reading

We are weeks away from summertime finally gracing us with its presence and for Sydneysiders, this is the ultimate time to get out and about!

 

From your jam-packed social calendar filled with Christmas parties and New Year’s celebrations, weekend trips to the beach to afternoons enjoying all that daylight savings has to offer, our skin is on display more than ever, so you want it to be glowing, right?!

 

Like any seasonal change, there are tweaks that should be made to your summertime skin health routine to keep your skin looking and feeling its best. That’s why we’re here to share four of our favourite summertime skin essentials that everyone should be adding to their routine.

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From wrinkles relaxers to enhancements with volumising fillers, these incredible treatments can transform the confidence of patients and have them looking and feeling incredible. With this in mind, performing these treatments demands an acute mix of scientific knowledge, treatment expertise and an innate understanding of how to achieve your desired look.

At +Aesthetics, we pride ourselves on creating natural, undetectable results that designed to leave you looking refreshed and rejuvenated, not frozen. We carry these principles into every patient appointment and pair our treatment expertise with a goal to enhance your natural features, not exacerbate them.

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Hyperpigmentation vs Melasma

 

With Sydneysiders enjoying their post-lockdown life and the weather well and truly warming up, the beaches across the city will be filled in no time! We thought everyone’s favourite time of the year was the perfect opportunity to talk about pigmentation and the different ways this can present on the skin.

 

Like many skin conditions, the different types of pigmentation are generally crammed into the same category and despite sometimes presenting similarly, there are key differences in their cause, aggravation, and treatment.

 

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Acne fact versus fiction

 

It’s a massive misconception that once we survive those teenage years of our lives, our days of battling acne are over once and for all. If only it was that easy! 85% of Australians will experience some level of acne in their lifetime and unfortunately, some cases are trickier to treat than others.

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Your most frequently asked microneedling questions answered 

When it comes to making long-term improvements to the skin, many think that they need to turn to ultra-invasive procedures or even cosmetic surgery to see results but sometimes the most transformative results come from small packages.

 

The result seen from microneedling, also known as skin needling or collagen induction therapy, are proof that you don’t always need to go under the knife or through weeks of downtime to see incredible skin results.

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Skincare saviours for time poor women

 

Whether you’re busy with work, family, kids, appointments, or all of the above (because #lockdownlife right?), taking time morning and night for your skincare routine can feel like an arduous task but without proper skin care treatments, you can’t expect the glowing skin you’re dreaming of.

 

Achieving great skin comes with two massive misconceptions. The first is that you need to spend hours applying products each day and the second is that you need dozens of aesthetic skin care products to begin with. We’re here to prove that by forming a simple routine, with exceptional skincare, you can take care of your complexion and still manage your overflowing diary each day!

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SPF 101 – why sun protection should be the #1 skincare product on your shelf

You can enjoy every anti-ageing treatment under the sun but if you’re not applying SPF every day, then you’re really throwing your money down the drain. Harsh, but true!

Australia is sadly the skin cancer capital of the world thanks to our harsh, arid environment. According to the Cancer Council, each year, over 11,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma and over 400,000 people are treated for a non-melanoma skin cancer. We often talk about the premature ageing and sun hyperpigmentation effects but let’s not forget that a lack of regular SPF is a key contributor to attaining sun cancer, especially here in Australia.

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Why you should be treating your skin to a HydraFacial™ appointment

Without a doubt, when we think of our most popular non-surgical treatments, HydraFacial™ is quickly at the top of that list. Going beyond what you’ve ever achieved in a 30-minute facial and well beyond your traditional microdermabrasion services, HydraFacial™ is expert facial technology at its finest.

Now, you may have noticed that the team at HydraFacial™ claim that their treatment is 30-minutes to the best skin of your life and yes, that’s a big call to make! Fortunately, we believe that the HydraFacial™ results speak for themselves and regular treatment lovers will be obsessed with their fresh new complexion.

Today, we’re talking all things HydraFacial™ and why across the globe, this must-have treatment is performed every 15-seconds.

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