Get comfy, this may take a while……
So I am officially rubbish as I’m not doing a great job at keeping my ReAura log updated nor am I doing a particularly good job at keeping up with the treatments, but I have a very good argument as to why! Hear me out; for as long as I can remember, I’ve been working really hard at maintaining a strict skincare regime in an attempt to improve my rubbish skin. However, the motivation really isn’t there any more as I don’t really have to do much now to keep my skin looking lovely as it doesn’t really need much help. I was really interested to read that a study into the impact of the ReAura on the skin showed “significant improvement” in porphyrins, which are bacterial excretions that can cause acne (article here) as I haven’t suffered from any major breakouts since I began treatment apart from a minor breakout when I used a cleansing lotion that I’d used previously and broke out with then, and a massive spot on the side of my nose (which I’m actually recording to write about, so expect some truly gruesome close-ups in another post shortly….I like to give my readers something to look forward to) but nothing in the usual target areas; my chin and lower cheeks. I have absolutely no idea whether this is due to the ReAura or not, I have no way of proving it and the fact that my skin was on it’s way to clearing up could well mean that it cleared itself up coincidentally during my ReAura treatment. I really don’t want to state that I feel the ReAura has cured my acne as I really don’t want people to buy this gadget on this basis, but I just feel that my skin has suddenly become normal/oily (as opposed to oily/acne-prone) and is the best it’s ever been and I can only conclude that it’s got something to do with the ReAura.
I’d like to add that if you’re an acne-sufferer and have read the above and are now more inclined to buy it, please consider the fact that the ReAura CANNOT be used on actual acne. So the only way it can be used to help such an issue is if you start the treatment when you’re clear, which is incredibly tricky. Either that, or you start the treatment and avoid the actual spots; this is where I think it worked for me as I could treat areas that were acne prone but acne free to start off with, then eventually covering my whole face once there were no more spots. This isn’t an ideal device for those with a lot of their facial surface covered with spots, but I do believe that if you get one here and there, or manage to slot in the first treatment on a day where you’re clear, then this will make a difference. I’ve honestly never been this clear in my post-adolescent life.
Right! On to the elements of improvement that the ReAura is intended for.
I’ll start by sharing something that I’ve been sharing with pretty much everyone who will listen as it was a fairly surreal moment for me and I’ll explain why:
Sorry to keep repeating myself, but I’m not someone with low self-esteem and I know what my best and worst bits are; I have nice eyes, not bad cheekbones and a nose that leaves a fair bit to be desired. However, one thing I never take into account is my skin as I’d well and truly accepted it was something that would never make a positive impression. The day after my last treatment, I went to my local Boots (it’s safe to say I’m there a lot; if beauty is a religion then Boots is where I worship) and I know many of the women who work there due to the regularity of my visits. One particular lady I always stop and have a chat with, and as I approached her to say hello, almost immediately she asked me what I had done to my skin. It was really obvious she was impressed; she tried to delicately state that my previous skin wasn’t ‘ideal’ and wanted to know what I’d done that had had such a dramatic impact. Obviously I went through the details of the ReAura and how I’d been using it, but what was so strange for me was having someone ask me what I’d been doing to achieve such good skin. I feel like I might be doing a rubbish job at expressing just how surreal this was as I would never in a million years have thought that anyone would ever want to know my skincare secrets, other than what acne treatments I had tried that didn’t work.
It isn’t just the spots (unfortunately they’re such a dominant feature in my ReAura logs due to the impact it’s had) but the tone of my skin and the brightness of my pigmentation has improved beyond belief. I’m not going to lie, there’s still a lot of improvement needed on the pigmentation – if you consider that the ReAura isn’t really intended for post acne scarring either so the fact that it’s having any impact is impressive – but nothing acne-related dominates my face any more. I can now tailor-make my make-up to the colours and textures I want to use, rather than having to stick to things that tone down my scars and spots. I don’t really need make-up on my face now; I’m only really using it still because I love make-up. My skincare routine is now your basic cleanse, tone and moisturise rather than the before procedure which was specialist cleanse, tone, treatment toner, treatment serum for pigmentation, moisturiser, spot treatment. It takes me a few minutes every night and I almost have the skin I’ve always wanted. Obviously in an ideal world it would be flawless and of course it isn’t; I’m sure if I’d kept up the ReAura treatment it would be even better, but there is a joy to indulging in the fact that I don’t really need to make time for my skincare at the moment. However, I will be picking up the treatment plan again over the weekend, so more logs will follow.
So that’s the painfully detailed list of all the positives, now on to the negatives. I seem to be alone in my thoughts on this – going on what other ReAura users have said – but I do have a day or two of downtime with the ReAura. I go very pink for a couple of days and my chin crusted up again during the last treatment. It doesn’t last and for all intents and purposes it’s really nothing major, but it’s definitely noteworthy. The temporary skin changes are easy to conceal and really don’t make much difference. I don’t know why it is that it appears it’s just me experiencing these, it could be because I’ve spent the past 10+ years damaging my skin with harsh acne treatments, it could be that my skin is so used to being infected with spots that it’s not great at dealing with anything else, or it could be that I’ve got so much pigmentation that my skin is severely damaged and will react to anything like this, I don’t know. It’s interesting that it’s much, MUCH worse in the area where I used to get so many spots. For me, it’s not a major issue and one I’m more than happy to suffer for a day or two to get the results I’m getting.
Lastly, a bit more on the treatment itself. I feel like I’ve finally got the hang of doing the actual treatment as this time it was much quicker and it felt easier. It’s also worth noting that, whereas before it stung quite considerably, now there are parts of my face that, after the first time the laser passes the area, I can’t really feel it. This probably means that I’ll be heading up to the more intense ‘level 3’ treatment soon (I keep saying that but I’m ‘such’ a wimp). It’s definitely a treatment that takes a bit of practice, but each time I feel more confident with it and I don’t need to put as much time aside for it. One thing I have noticed that I wasn’t previously doing is taking the laser all the way to the outer edges of my face; this makes a big difference as I’m then completely covering the treatment zone, plus I’m then not left with dividing lines from where I have and haven’t treated.
I’m so sorry for such a long post, I’m not great at succinct writing at the best of times, but I think I might have taken it to a whole new level today. As always, if you have any questions then please message me or ideally leave a comment on one of these posts so I can answer for everyone to see. Shortly, I’ll be adding an FAQ post about the ReAura, which I’m probably going to quote other comments on, so if you’re interested, please keep an eye out for that.
I’ll be doing my next treatment at the weekend, so a blog will follow shortly.
To read my introductory blog to the ReAura click here.
To read my first treatment log click here.
For the Philips ReAura site click here.
To purchase the ReAura, click here.
*Press Sample.
Great to read your latest installment, especially now that you are seeing real results. I finally managed to get brave and get going with my Reaura. Like you, I used setting 2 and it hurt like hell. Thankfully because you had blogged about your similar experience, I didnt panic! My first session was pretty much just as you have written. Hurt and red and zinging! I was waiting for the musical beep to tell me I was done, I was beginning to wonder if the machine was broken, it seemed to go on forever, I was over and back on each section so many times. The pain and discomfort faded in about 3 hours. I was fine the next day.
Session 2, wasn’t as painful (just like you) and I completed it in 20mins. When I stared on the left side of my face, it was much more painful than the right side, go figure. There is definitely a knack to using the Reaura. I find my forehead the hardest to do. I’m not seeing any results yet, my skin feels dry and like paper but doesn’t look it. I’m encouraged to keep going considering you are doing so well. There are not a lot of users posting on the Philips site, which is a pity. Thanks again and keep posting. rgs Sinead
I have had exactly the same dryness after treatments for a couple of days. I exfoliated and then it was soft. The second treatment was alot easier than the first but Im having some issuse with my nose, can’t seem to make it work there 🙂 I have noticed some changes such as less blackheads and smaller pores and also my skin looks tighter already. Going to do my third treatment today.
Hi guys, thanks so much for your comments, I feel like I’m building a little ReAura community here; it’s fantastic!
Sinead, I know what you mean about the time it takes to get to the end of treatment beep as even now I still feel like it goes on forever, and I’ve managed to get quite quick at it! It is a treatment that takes a bit of getting used to but in my opinion, it’s soooo worth it in the end.
To the other commenter, I’m really pleased you’re seeing results, especially on pores as I have such stubborn pores so I’m hoping it’ll have an impact on that soon; I won’t hold my breath though as they appear to be determined to stay put, no matter what…I can live with that if the rest of my face looks good though!
Thanks to both of you for your comments and please keep me updated! xx
Thank you so much for your blog posts on the Reaura. I think it is great that you are giving such detailed and honest information. I look forward to the next post as well as the FAQs. Is there any contraindication on using the Reaura on suntanned skin, skin treated with glycolic acid,or those who use St John’s wort or other drugs that can make you photo sensitive. Do you think that you make have some photosensitivity on your chin due to acne treatments? This maybe why your chin reacts more.
Thanks for your comment Allison 🙂 I would definitely say that you’d need to tread really carefully with regards to any kind of chemical or manual exfoliator; I personally would advise leaving it a couple of weeks before starting treating with the ReAura and I do believe you need to use a sunscreen during treatment, so I’m guessing that means there’s a risk of photo-sensitivity. Sorry for the slightly vague answers, I haven’t got the full manual to hand but I’ll have a look tonight and post back with more definitive answers! xx
Hi Beauty Geek,
I haven’t been online for a while due to having had that nasty virus (and didn’t feel much like doing treatments when I was ill either). I was really interested to see your latest post – your skin looks amazing! How fantastic that you’ve created a ReAura community, I have given up on the Philip’s site, I can’t get it to work and it was too frustrating…
I’ve lost count but I think I’m on treatment number 7 or 8 now. I’ve been putting it on level 3 from the outset and it’s moderatly painful but bearable. Nowhere near as bad as bikini/armpit waxing or lasering for example! I don’t mind the discomfort at all, because the results are amazing, unbelievably dramatic.
I was mainly concerned about lines around my eyes and on my forehead. They have nearly all disappeared! I had some pigmentation too and that’s completely gone now. My pores do seem smaller but they were very large to start with. Overall I would describe my skin as looking airbrushed! I saw someone I have known for about 20 years and hadn’t seen for ages the other day – and she said and I quote “You never seem to age!” 🙂
I agree that the next day there is some downtime, my skin is red and a bit puffy – but I don’t mind this as I know it’s working. Skin feels like sandpaper but with gentle exfoliation it’s soft again – softer than before actually.
I’m over the moon as I was actually considering having Botox – but I really, really didn’t want to. There is no need now! This is the best investment I’ve ever made. No more buying expensive creams either, that don’t live up to their claims!
The other great thing is you can use it under your eyes as long as you are very, very careful not to go too close to the eye – I think it’s reduced the shadows I had there.
Finally, I thought you might be interested to hear about some fantastic products I’ve discovered which have really helped me during my treatments:
1) Suntegrity sunscreen which you can only get online, it’s chemical free and very gentle – it’s very important to use a sunscreen because the ReAura creates new cells and you don’t want more pigmentation. I also think when you are using the Reaura it’s important to mimimise chemicals on your skin because the skin is sensitised. Chemical sunscreens have lots of nasties in them.
2) Rosa Mosqueta oil – again it’s comletely natural and it helps massively with cell regeneration/is very hydrating, and you don’t need much.
3)Dr.Hauschka skin tint, which is chemical free too and gives great natural coverage, to cover the redness the next day.
Hope that helps!
Ella xxx
Hi 🙂
I’ve also just started my Reaura Treatment, today was my first run -and I only did one zone on a level 3 setting.
It’s hurt like hell (but returned back to normal in about 2 hours), but it’s comforting to read your blogs especially as I struggle with post-acne, amongst other problems causing hyper pigmentation.
The immediate thing I’ve noticed is the tiny dark pigmentation spots on the treated areas -apparently that’s normal, but I was wondering if you’ve experienced anything similar?
I also noticed the same thing on my hand, where the assistant at Space NK, trialled it out on a setting 1, so I don’t know what to make of it?
I don’t know if this will make a difference but my skin is darker than yours -and I do know Asian type skin tones do struggle with pigmentation more… if you know anything at all it’ll be a great help.
Also I noticed, like me you suffered from acne and now occasionally get spots? I thought I should mention also at my consultation I was advised not to use the Philips aftercare as she felt it could lead to more acne but a lighter, equally hydrating moisturiser. I’m currently using Moisture Milk by elemental herbology.
I haven’t experienced the little spots but I have spoken to others who have; plus it’s mentioned in the blurb so I think you’re OK 🙂
To be honest, I think the aftercare lotion is really good on my skin. I’m not sure if it’s moisturising enough as I do really dry out with the ReAura, but I wouldn’t say it gave me any spots – saying that though, my skin stopped being spot-prone once I was treating regularly so it could be that.
I’ve mentioned it a few times on my blog, but a really good, deeply moisturising yet non acne causing cream is Eucerin Q10 Night Cream for sensitive skin. It was really handy during my treatments and I rely on it heavily when my skin is playing up!
I really hope the ReAura helps with your pigmentation and please keep me updated on your progress xx