Has Summer Changed Your Skin? Here's What We Can Do This Autumn!

How is it autumn already?

It feels like only five minutes ago that I was telling you all to enjoy the summer and remember your SPF — and suddenly the evenings are getting darker and we're heading into a new season.

September has also been a particularly special month for me, as Emily Self Aesthetic Skin Clinic turned five!

Five years of treating skin, studying, training, meeting so many lovely patients and gradually developing the clinic into what it is today.

And actually, this autumn feels like quite an exciting next chapter.

Have you noticed changes in your skin after summer?

This is the time of year when many of us start looking at our skin a little more closely.

Perhaps those brown patches or areas of pigmentation seem darker than they did before summer.

Maybe you've started noticing the little red veins around your nose or cheeks.

Perhaps your skin tone looks less even, or your skin just feels a little dull after holidays, sunshine and warmer weather.

If any of that sounds familiar, autumn is a really good time to start looking at what we can do about it.

And this year, I have a new option available in the clinic.

IPL has officially arrived!

Last month I told you it was coming. This month I can finally say IPL is here — and appointments are now open.

IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light. It uses controlled pulses of light to target particular structures within the skin and can be used to treat a number of different concerns, including:

• Pigmentation and some forms of sun damage

• Visible thread veins and redness

• Acne

• General skin rejuvenation

• Unwanted hair

  
  

One of the reasons I wanted to bring IPL into the clinic was because pigmentation and vascular concerns are things patients ask me about regularly, and previously there were limitations to what I could offer.

I now have another tool available when we're putting together a treatment plan.

And I say another tool deliberately.

IPL isn't automatically the right treatment because you have a brown mark or some redness. We still need to look at your skin properly, establish what we're treating and make sure it is safe and appropriate for you.

For most IPL indications, we will start with a consultation and patch test. This is £30 and redeemable against your treatment.

So if you've noticed something over the summer and have been wondering whether anything can be done about it, you don't need to diagnose it or choose a treatment yourself.

That's my job!

What about those lines that aren't really “wrinkles”?

Another concern I hear quite frequently is:

“I don't necessarily want filler, but I don't like these lines.”

Not every line is caused by muscle movement and not every line needs volume adding to it.

Sometimes what we're actually seeing is a change in the quality, hydration and structure of the skin itself.

I've recently attended further training in Hydromax, an injectable treatment designed to improve hydration and skin quality.

I'm particularly interested in using this for fine, crepey or etched lines — including some of those frustrating lines that aren't suitable for treatment with botulinum toxin.

The recommended protocol is two treatments, four weeks apart, followed by maintenance approximately every six months. Each treatment uses 2ml and costs £250.

Again, it isn't going to be the answer for everybody. But it gives me another option for patients where our goal is to improve the skin rather than simply freeze movement or add volume.

Five years on, my approach has actually become simpler

It's very easy in aesthetics to become overwhelmed by treatment names.

Polynucleotides. Skin boosters. IPL. Microneedling. Peels. Toxin. Filler…

As a patient, how on earth are you supposed to know what you need?

You aren't.

More and more, I want you to come to the clinic with the problem, rather than the treatment.

Tell me:

“These brown patches are bothering me.”

“I always look tired.”

“I hate these little red veins.”

“My skin just doesn't look as good as it used to.”

“These lines are bothering me, but I don't know what treatment I need.”

Then we can look at why it's happening and what our options actually are.

My approach is increasingly based around three very simple things:

Consult. Correct. Maintain.

We assess first. We treat something if there is a safe and appropriate reason to do so. Then we think about how we maintain the result without continually chasing more treatment.

Sometimes the answer might be IPL or an injectable treatment.

Sometimes it might be skincare, a facial, microneedling or a completely different approach.

And sometimes I may tell you that I don't think you need to do anything at all.

And dare I mention Christmas…?

I know. It's only September.

But if there is something you'd like to improve before Christmas parties, photographs or events, now is the time to start planning rather than waiting until December.

Some treatments require a course. Others take time for the skin to respond, and certain treatments need to be appropriately spaced apart.

Starting the conversation now doesn't mean committing to months of treatments.

It simply gives us enough time to make a sensible plan.

So, what is bothering you?

Rather than finishing this month's blog with a long list of everything available at the clinic, I want to ask you one question:

When you look at your skin or face at the moment, what is the ONE thing you would most like to improve?

Pigmentation? Redness? Fine lines? Texture? Acne? Loss of volume?

Or perhaps you can't put your finger on it — you just feel as though something has changed.

Drop me an email and tell me.

You don't need to know which treatment you need. Tell me what you're noticing, and I can advise you on the most appropriate next step.

If a consultation is needed, we can arrange that from there.

You bring me the concern. I'll help you understand the options.

Emily x