Sk:n Clinics

So if you've read any of my other reviews I am on a never ending quest to find skin care products and hair removal items that mean little pain and no hair growth.

I read about sk:n on the ciao reviews website and was quite concerned with some peoples experiences but I had already booked my appointment so thought I'd head along.

Sk:n has been around for apparently 25 plus years but I had never heard of them before. The clinic I went to was in Chelmsford, Essex as it was the closest but I know there are some in London and 1 in Norwich as well as others doted around the country.

~~The initial contact~~

I filled out a form on their website and within 24 hours a member of their team had contacted me to find out what I was interested in and to give me more information. The person on the phone was very friendly and helpful and was able to answer most of my questions straight away. There and then I decided to take the plunge and book the initial consultation.

~~The initial consultation~~

The one thing that disappointed me was that the initial consultation was not free, it was £25 non-refundable deposit so you had to turn up to your appointment or lose the money. I believe that they should do this because I was in there all of 30 mins and most of that was to fill out forms that I could maybe of done over email. Again the staff were very helpful and friendly giving me all the information I required. We discussed the process and prices and then patch tests were done on the areas that I required the treatment. The room was very clean but cold which wasn't pleasant but was required for the laser to work?! (I'm not sure why this is)

~~Laser Hair Removal~~
==>Growth cycle and colour of your hair:
In order to understand the laser hair removal process and how some lasers can remove hair, it is important not only to consider the structure of a growth cycle of the hair, but also the colour of the hair. Hair consists mainly of a hard protein known as Keratin, produced by the hair bulb, which is situated deep within the dermis.

The colour of the hair depends on the presence of a pigment known as Melanin. Melanin is produced by pigment-forming cells (or melanocytes), which are found in the hair bulb. The ultimate colour of the hair is determined genetically and by the type of melanin produced by the melanocytes.

Hair growth occurs in a cyclical fashion, with an active growing phase, anagen, and a resting phase, telogen. During anagen, the hair is connected directly to the hair matrix in the base of the hair follicle. During telogen, however, the hair bulb moves away from the base of the follicle so that there is a gap between the bottom of the hair and the bottom of the hair follicle.

==>When to have laser hair removal treatment:
The more commonly-used laser hair removal treatments depend on the high level of energy in the laser light being taken up by the melanin pigment within the hair. The melanin converts the energy into heat, destroying not only the hair but the hair matrix and hair bulb at the base of the follicle. The heat generated in the hair follicle is conducted down to the base of the follicle much more readily in an anagen hair (which is still connected to the base of the follicle) than in the resting telogen hair (when any heat generated has to cross the gap to reach the future hair-producing region). This is why most effective laser hair removal occurs when the follicles are in the active anogen growing phase. Because not all follicles are in this phase, multiple laser hair treatments are almost always required.

The best results also occur when there is plenty of target pigment melanin in the hair and therefore white, blonde and grey hair cannot be treated.

So this information was all quoted to me and after careful thought I decided to give it a try. Biggest problem is I have fairly blonde hair on my legs and this is the main area I wanted done as I hate having to shave/wax but they are a little bit dark so we tried anyway.

~~The Actual Treatment~~
I turned up early to my appointment as I got the time wrong but the staff were very nice and gave me magazines to read and water to drink. Luckily the "nurse" was running ahead of time so she could get me in quicker.

Lines were drawn on my legs in white pencil to mark out where the laser was going and had been. You have to wear funky sunglasses to avoid looking at the laser and protect your eyes. The laser has to be switched on 5 minutes in advance to warm up and then your good to go. The laser is a small syringe looking object attached to a large tube that blows cold air over the skin. Because the laser is omitting heat the cold air cools the skin to avoid burning or blistering (sounds a bit drastic).

The process is very quick and not too painful once you get used to it. I had my legs, bikini line and underarms done and the most painful as always is the bikini line. It feels a little bit of a sting like your being flicked with an elastic band but you do get used to it. They have to avoid moles because they have more melanin in.

For all these areas it was over and done with in 25 minutes so not too long at all.

~~The Price~~
Well I'm not going to lie to you it's very, very expensive. They advise you to have 6 treatments in total but this is not always the case. They do offer price plans and package deals but I chose not to do these as I'm not sure how many I will need. I got a package of under arms, legs and bikini for £355 which is very steep, however, so far my under arms have minimal hair and my bikini line has none so 4 weeks down the line I'm quite happy. The legs unfortunately haven't not gone to plan but this was to be expected. You can get 0% finance on some of the offers as well.

~~Conclusion~~

Overall it was quite a good experience the staff were friendly and professional, the clinic was clean and tidy and the information provided was very helpful. My negative points were obviously the price which lets face it's almost a form of cosmetic surgery so it's very pricey. The other thing I was disappointed in was the pressure they put on you to buy their products. Comments such as "well your skin may be in a poor condition if you don't use this product" and I thought this was completely un-necessary. The other problem is the parking for this specific clinic there is a pay and display car park but they do not offer you any money back for this which I think they should as we are using their clinic.

If you can avoid it and have a lot of hair then I would recommend it!