For years now, one of my biggest skincare insecurities has been the melasma that’s speckled my forehead and cheeks. I’ve talked to several dermatologists, done topical treatment, and slathered myself with SPF every time I’ve left the house to make sure it doesn’t get worse. I felt so dejected when nothing worked and resolved to the fact that my skin will always have this sun damage.
But myEvergreen restored my hope! While most lasers make melasma worse, the Halo laser can improve or even remove melasma. I was so sold, even after learning how intense the downtime and recovery is for the treatment (which we will discuss!).
All in all, this treatment was well worth it for me. While my melasma didn’t completely disappear, I have a treatment plan with Kalya at myEvergreen to continue clearing up with the Halo got started!
On Nov. 26-27, myEvergreen is offering $500 off one session (regularly $1500) of the Halo laser. Call now to book it — (346) 646-3518 — this is not a drill! The laser treatments rarely go on sale!!
Treatment day
Per Kalya’s instructions, I stopped my tretinoin a week before my Halo appointment and stopped my resurfacing pads two days before too. I drove out to MyEvergreen with nothing but a little mascara and checked in at the front desk.
We started with a numbing cream that took about an hour to fully set in. My face felt completely numb as we started the laser. At first, I felt nothing, but the laser quickly got spicier and spicier. It was only 20 minutes from start to finish but it felt like an hour. My face was on fire and I felt so betrayed by the numbing cream.
Unfortunately, it got worse before it got better. For the next hour or so, my skin would feel like it was on fire. I cranked my AC in my car and aimed vents at my face (pro tip: wear something warm because the rest of my body was freezing from the AC). Getting out of my car without that flow of air was torture.
Just like Kalya said, about an hour late, a switch flipped and the intense burning stopped. Instead, I still felt a little numb and some mild discomfort, but nothing like the hour of lava fire.
The entire day of your treatment you are not to use anything (not even water!) on your skin except one product — which I’ll talk about on day 2 — and not until that switch flipped and the burning abates. I used it about three times the rest of the day.
Aside from the treatment itself and the hour or so after, my skin felt essentially fine the rest of the day — just very red and slightly swollen. I wasn’t comfortable leaving my home (either from a physical comfort level nor a physical appearance level), which I hadn’t planned to anyways, so that was as I expected.
Day 2
I woke up feeling a lot less discomfort but immediately knew the swelling had gotten worse. The most noticeable puffiness was around my eyes, and, just in case this was exacerbated by allergens (I’m actually allergic to cats despite owning and adoring one), I popped a Zyrtec. I also used a jade roller (just around my eyes) and that helped slightly!
The other thing I noticed is the expected tiny spots came in! I basically looked extremely freckled. These tiny dark spots are called MENDs (microscopic epidermal necrotic debris). And I was told that it’s suuuper important not to mess with them. These spots are my old skin — treated by the laser — rising up and, eventually, falling off to make way for new skin.
Today, I’m allowed to start my new Alastin Skincare regimen that MyEvergreen provides. Let’s talk about each of the four products I’m allowed to use — and nothing else!
Step 1: Alastin Ultra Calm Cleansing Cream — I used some lukewarm water to gently press into my skin, rinse, and pat dry. Super important not to rub! This is a very creamy wash and it and the water felt so nice.
Step 2: Alastin Regenerating Skin Nectar — This was the only product I was allowed to use yesterday. It has a very silky feel, so it was easy to gently press into my skin.
Step 3: Alastin Ultra Light Moisturizer — It’s super important to keep the skin moisturized in this process so I applied this generously. It too felt very nice and light!
Step 4: Alastin SilkShield All Mineral Sunscreen — I have zero plans to leave my home (lest I scare children and unsuspecting passersby with my monster face) but I applied this anyways. It’s a must to protect the incoming baby skin!
I’ll repeat these steps at bedtime too! All in all, while my skin was puffy and felt tight (and slightly itchy), there was way less discomfort but visually it’s a lot more noticeable than it was the previous evening when I was just a little red.
Day 3
Waking up on day three, my skin felt very tight. When doing my skincare routine, I realized the texture of my skin is much rougher than it was yesterday — all those little MENDs! Seriously, I keep thinking there are even more developing every time I look at my face. It’s wild!
The tightness is a little itchy, but it’s not so bad. There’s nearly no swelling anymore aside from a tiny bit of puffiness around my eyes.
I lathered on the sunscreen because I will be venturing out into the world today — for lunch and a few errands! Hope I do not scare any children (day 3 falls on Halloween, so I guess it’s ok if I do terrify a passerby.)
Day 4
Ahh, yes, the peeling begins! I will say, I thought the process would be faster. But the peeling is much more subtle than I was expecting! It’s much harder not to mess with the peeling than it was the little dots, but I tried very hard to be hands off! I’m still not doing any makeup (other than a swipe or two of mascara). With all irritation gone, I’m starting to get impatient for my results!
Day 5-7
My impatience continues as does the peeling. By day six, I’m very shocked I still have quite a lot of lil black MENDs dots still on parts of my face! I think I could start using face makeup at this point, but I’m just a bit nervous to mess anything up, so I’m sticking with my four-step skincare and a little bit of mascara and I feel fine about that!
Final thoughts
My peeling went into days 8 and 9 even — which I wasn’t expecting, but ultimately not a huge deal. At my follow up, Kalya and I agreed that progress was made, but needed to continue a little bit. She got me on a prescription-level tretinoin and hydroquinone cream that’s going to keep up the good work that Halo started. I love the results and feel myself not reaching for my foundation as much when I put on my makeup! And that’s totally my ultimate goal — look my best with as little makeup as possible!