Since I started the blog, I have spoken extensively and quite frequently about my relationship with my skin and acne.

What I haven’t written a lot about is what’s left behind, regardless of having active spots or not: the scarring, which is deeper in many ways.

Not only they are a reminder of all the tough times I had with acne, but they also make me feel very conscious of how my skin looks like – as if all the acne wasn’t enough to do that.

I am now long into the journey of loving a skin I hated most of my life and these improvements only came way after I decided to accept the skin I am – it is, after all, the only one I have this lifetime, so I have to love it. And love it I did and started to caring for it as the problematic child it is. Then it finally started to love me back.

I came a long way from the excessively long fringe that was always on my cheeks, never having my hair up and caking it with the most unsuitable (for lack of choice at the time) makeup.

Before I go into talking about the latest treatment I tried to help tackle acne scarring, I want to thank Dr. Ariel Haus, who has been brilliant and given me the chance to try something I always want to do but never found the confidence in a professional (and the income) to. So, thank you for inviting me.

Sublative laser is one of the suitable treatments offered at Dr. Haus’ clinic that will not only help with scarring, but is also brilliant for signs of ageing. But I’ll get to that…

As I underwent treatment for texture scars, Dr. Haus increased the power of the laser on each of the 3 sessions.

As as treatments at Haus Dermatoglogy are bespoke, my laser sessions consisted of 3 steps: a salicylic acid peel, that acts as a drying and antibacterial agent on the skin, the laser application on the whole face and finally, a gorgeous peel of mandelic acid and tretinoin, to maximise skin renewal.

Sublative laser is a process that makes microscopic holes in the outer layer of skin (dermis) to target damaged cells deep in the dermal layer, thus being more appropriate for my old, deeper scars, which are hard to tackle.

Worth mentioning that before the treatment, there is a patch test and a form, with a psychological evaluation as it is very important for Dr. Haus that people have realistic expectations of their results, especially when something that affects them as much as my scars do.

The peels do not hurt, at all. The laser, on the other hand, is another story. It is nothing unbearable and numbing cream is applied beforehand, but each zap is not a very pleasant experience. Having said that, they are well worthy it.

Depending on how many treatments you had, you can stay with the last peel for longer. On my 3rd treatment, I left it overnight and washed in the morning. After each treatment, when you wash you face for the first time, you can a smell burnt skin a little bit. Fear not, this is normal, but weird.

In all cases, about 2 days after the treatment, my skin started peeling. And by day 3-4, it was like my face was falling off. Overall, I had 3 days of heavy peeling and things started looking more normal again and I could use light makeup.

During the treatment, professionalism and care are second to none at the clinic – not just from Dr. Ariel Haus, which is sympathetic, caring, gentle and thorough in his methods and explanations, but from his staff, especially his clinical practitioner (and sweetest professional ever) and his front of the house staff.

And after you leave, you feel reassured not only by the comprehensive after care instructions and products provided, but the knowledge you’ll be supported should you have any questions or concerns post-treatment.

In terms of results, obviously there are no miracles when it comes to acne scarring. I did however, noticed an improvement in texture; some shallower scars have disappeared, some deeper seem shallower. Make up sits better and overall condition improved and even my active, hormonal acne has decreased a bit.

As for anti ageing, I noticed superior contour on my face – not even joking: my cheekbones are higher and fuller, the under eye area is slightly plumper and lighter.

Some may say it is a small improvement for a relatively high investment but when you have lived with something that affects you so much psychologically, any visible improvement has a huge impact on mental wellbeing and perception of self, so I highly recommend if you can pursue.

The last session was completed well over a year ago (and I miss Dr. Haus), but this wasn’t the last measure in my quest to leaving the effects of acne behind and searching for my true skin.

It might feel such a long time ago to talk about now, but for these procedures I feel we can only talk about results at least 6 months after it is done as skin takes time to regenerate and the results are meant to be long lasting, as long as the source of the scarring does not come back to create new ones.

Plus, I find the actual writing about my skin takes a lot from me emotionally and it is always a hard subject to approach. So here it is – expected, long last results with some bonuses thrown in for good measure.

You can get more information on Dr. Haus’ impressive aesthetic medicine credentials, awards (yep, I said it) and multitude of cutting edge treatments on their website.

Get in touch via phone on +44 20 7935 6358 or email for appointments: appointments@drhausdermatology.com.

They are based on Harley Street and have a fantastic clinical and support team to deliver truly tailored, solution based, tech-forward treatments that are build especially to your needs for optimal results, be it medical or aesthetic for face and body.

And very soon I will also talk about the big one: ablative laser…

I was invited to receive the treatments prescribed by Dr. Haus after consultation, with no obligation to post.