Can Laser Treatments Really Make Your Skin Look Younger? An Investigation

I didn’t always have acne. Back in college, my skin care routine essentially consisted of one thing: putting on sunscreen. I had no blemishes, no uneven skin tone—nothing. But within months of moving from Florida to New York City, my combination skin went from normal to nonsense. Whiteheads and cystic spots suddenly started popping up everywhere. Ugh.

My skin before the laser treatments.

Now, after five years of living in the city and testing out every face product I can get my hands on, my skin’s gotten better, but I still have scarring from my acne outburst that bugs me. When I heard about the Clear + Brilliant laser treatment, I knew I had to try it. It’s a noninvasive procedure that is said to improve your skin’s tone and texture, minimize the look of pores, and give your complexion an allover glow. Four sessions are recommended, but results can be seen after just one. I signed up for two sessions at New York City’s Skinney Med Spa. (If you don’t live in New York, here’s a list of other derms who perform the treatment.)

Here’s exactly what went down.

The consultation:

Not everyone’s skin reacts the same way, so I had to go in for a consultation before my first session. During my chat with the technician, she asked me about my beauty regimen and how much water I was drinking, and she ultimately suggested I cut gluten from my diet (to see if it had an effect on my skin). I’m not on Accutane, but she noted it wouldn’t be a good idea to combine the two—and I had to avoid retinoids two weeks before and after my treatments. She also warned me about the potential side effects, which included everything from mild redness (common) to burns (rare but possible).

The laser in action.

The procedure:

Each session lasted about 20 minutes and was fairly painless. Starting with the center of my forehead, the technician pressed a rollerball against my skin. The rollerball has Intelligent Optical Tracking, which is a fancy way of saying that it ensures energy is safely and precisely applied. Then came the Clear + Brilliant laser; the technician glided it over my cheeks and down to my chin. My face felt really warm, and I could feel little, mild pricks, but nothing unbearable. To be fair, though, I’ve done more invasive laser treatments in the past, so my pain threshold might be a bit higher than that of a laser virgin.

The result:

I was expecting my skin to be bright red for the rest of the day, but it turns out, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated. My face did look a bit pink—kind of like I had a sunburn—but immediately my pores looked smaller and my skin tone seemed more even. Within two hours, my face was back to its normal shade of pale, and I went on with my day and even put on makeup as usual.

The difference after two sessions.

As for long-term results? Sadly, they weren’t as permanent as I had hoped. My acne scars, which disappeared right after the treatment, started to return about a week later. Sure, it was great to enjoy a new glow for a few days, but the $450 price tag per session (which included a bottle of SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic serum for at-home care) is pretty steep.

If you have less intense acne scars and have a big event coming up that you want to prep for, it’s definitely worth trying. But if you (like me) are looking for something that’ll make marks vanish, your skin will probably need a more aggressive laser treatment than this one.