Treatment to try: MOXI laser at Clinic 1 Aesthetics

Last year I visited Clinic 1 on College Hill in Ponsonby for a BBL BroadBand Light treatment, which delivered serious results (for my skin type at least) - with next to no downtime. And yes, it came in well under 40 minutes, leaving me with enough time to grab lunch on the way back to my office and check my emails.
One of the first clinics in New Zealand to offer BBL BroadBand Light treatment, Clinic 1 is unabashedly chic and my therapist, Sophie was an absolute wonder when it came to skin knowledge and answering even my most tricky questions. I felt in great hands from the get go, which is so important when you’re dealing with any sort of skin issues and maybe not initially feeling your best. I hadn’t tried BBL before visiting Clinic 1, but soon learned that it’s been called the ”Rolls Royce of IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatments”, and yes, it delivered some great results in terms of overall skin rejuvenation, dealing with my rosacea/redness and generally bringing back my bounce. Highly recommend!
I returned to Clinic 1 again a few weeks ago to experience what the team calls the “new kid on the block” - MOXI™ laser from Sciton™. A gentle yet extremely effective, non-ablative laser that works for ALL skin types ALL year around, MOXI is a veritable game changer for addressing the signs of premature ageing, skin texture and pigmentation - including melasma!!! - without the downtime often associated with more aggressive laser procedures.
I am often asked by people what they can do to address their melasma, and the answer isn’t always one they want to hear – now with MOXI, that changes dramatically. Melasma is a type of hyperpigmentation that is known to be incredibly hard to treat. It looks like blotchy, brownish spots mostly on the face, and it’s most common in women and darker skin types. UV radiation, pregnancy, contraceptive pills, hormonal unbalance are all things that can cause melasma, and until MOXI, laser treatments could actually make the condition worse as lasers produce a lot of heat and melasma can be triggered by it. The gentle MOXI is breaking boundaries for melasma sufferers, making healthy, glowing skin accessible to everyone. I also love that you can receive treatments year-round, which if you’ve got an event coming up is huge. Add to that the fact that after an application of numbing cream it’s virtually painless? I was hooked.
To begin, Sophie applied numbing cream to make the treatment as comfortable as possible for me, which got to work over about twenty minutes. The actual MOXI treatment takes only about ten minutes for the whole face and neck, and with three levels of intensity able to be reached, the treatment is totally customised to you.
The treated area does feel extremely warm for 1-2 hours following, and this can continue up to 12-24 hours later. Redness is also normal and expected, increasing in intensity for the first few days after treatment with day three usually being the most intense. Redness can persist for up to seven days if you’ve had a treatment on the more intensive end of the spectrum, but it’s easily covered with mineral makeup, I swear. Despite my sometimes super sensitive skin I experienced very little redness post-MOXI, and again, mineral makeup worked a charm.
You will also experience MENDs (microscopic epidermal necrotic debris), which will appear on the second or third day after treatment as tiny dark spots in your pores. These are part of the healing process where treated tissue is working its way out of your body as new fresh skin is regenerated, and can make your skin feel very dry and a little like sandpaper before flaking and peeling off. Keep your skin well moisturised to support the healing process, and most importantly, don’t exfoliate or pick any bits off! I used nothing but Augustinus Bader's The Rich Cream twice a day for around five days, and my skin healed beautifully.
As with many a transformative beauty procedure, the number of treatments required will vary from patient to patient, and the team at Clinic 1 will personalise a treatment plan based on what you want to achieve. Even one treatment is beneficial, but a series of treatments is usually recommended and I can’t wait to have another one.
The beautiful beauty destination also offers a raft of other options, such as facials, microneedling and even injectables, so if you’re looking to work on your skin health as we head into winter, I highly recommend you pay Clinic 1 a visit. Did I mention the clinic premises is also incredibly serene and really rather chic? Even better!

Main image: Project 290 on Unsplash