Skin mapping is a technology which is a great tool for the beauty conscious who want to know what’s really going on with their complexion – and aren’t afraid of knowing what damage the sun might have done.
There is so much information out there about how you should be looking after your skin. But in order to get the best results you need to find out what’s really going on beneath the surface. Anantara Spa at Eastern Mangroves is using a new skin mapping machine to reveal just what damage our daily routines and the harsh UAE sun are doing to our faces.
The machine uses white light and cross-polarised flash photography to record your surface and sub-surface skin condition. The technology provides visualisation of sub-surface melanin and vascular conditions. It then visualises the skin’s surface in 3D from any angle, rendered in natural skin tone and greyscale.
Zoe Wall, the spa director at Anantara, explains that every individual customer is different, with different skin types requiring individual prescription. ‘A person’s daily routine and the different living environments can suddenly change to affect a skin regimen’s long-term results. Every customer is unique, so we have to build and develop personalised awareness and understanding. The skin mapping system intelligently maps every detail of your face, is totally noninvasive and is painless. The analysis allows you and your therapist to fully understand your skin concerns allowing for accurate prescription of the correct treatments and products for you.’
Sounds a bit scary, and it should. This is a cold, hard reality of what past damage you have done to your skin. We sit in front of the machine with our therapist and place our head on the chin rest. The machine then takes two pictures. The first picture uses standard flash lighting, and depicts how your skin looks on the surface. A second picture is taken through crossed polarising filters, which eliminates surface reflections from your skin. This enables the machine to see beneath the skin’s surface.
The first picture shows any wrinkles that we have and fortunately we don’t have many at all apart from a few small ones on our forehead. The next shows red areas and we don’t have many of these either. Normally red areas can represent a variety of conditions, such as acne, inflammation, rosacea or spider veins. We have a couple of small breakouts and a few tiny scars but that’s about it. Next up is pores and we’re a bit shocked to see that we’ve got some issues. Our therapist, Inge, says not to worry as this is very common here due to the UAE climate causing dehydrated skin. You can prevent this by using a hydrating mask twice a week, drinking loads of water and using a toner to close your pores. We then move onto brown spots and sun damage and even though we are meticulous with sun protection, the results aren’t pretty. We’ve got quite a bit of sun damage around the top of our forehead, our top lip and across our cheeks and nose. Zoe gives us an explanation.
‘Brown spots are lesions on and deeper within the skin such as hyper pigmentation, freckles, lentigines and melasma,’ she says. ‘Brown spots occur from an excess of melanin, often associated with sun damage. Melanin is produced by melanocytes in the bottom layer of the epidermis. Brown spots associated with sun damage is something we see a lot of, and clients will not understand why they have this – especially because they are not lying in the sun, sunbathing. However a lot of damage can be caused from walking around: even if you are wearing make-up it’s not enough to protect your skin which is why you need to wear sunscreen every day and not just when you are lying on the beach or by the pool. You also need regular facials and to use products like pro-collagen creams which regenerate your skin cells.’
From here, Inge recommends individual and specific products and treatments which, for us today, is the Elemis Try-enzme facial to hydrate and resurface our skin. It involves a deep double cleansing, two masks and three serums including basil, peppermint and sandalwood. We can see a difference straight away. Our skin is smooth, supple and glowing.
Most importantly, Inge tells us the specific areas we need to focus on and how we can improve our skin by using certain products. Inge explains why each product is needed and how it will benefit us. From assessing the client’s skin, Inge then recommends further treatments that can help focus on specific concerns. You are also given the skin mapping report to take home with you and a useful prescription card with product suggestions and future treatment recommendations.
Skin mapping is free with any facial at Anantara Spa, Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara (02 656 1000).
Some more to try…
Face mapping: A similar concept to skin mapping, but the therapist will just look at your skin to tell you what sort you have and what you can do to improve it. The Dermalogica face mapping technique is free with any facial.
Bellacure Nails, Al Mamoura (02 658 4100).
Microdermabrasion: Best for acne scarring and pigmentation, skin is polished and dead skin is removed to achieve a visible improvement.
Kaya Skin Clinic, Abu Dhabi Mall (02 645 4858).
IPL Skin Rejuvenation: Designed to rejuvenate the skin with a simple and convenient procedure. Benefits include reducing fine lines and scars, diminishing the appearance of enlarged pores and stimulating the cells that produce collagen resulting in smoother, firmer skin.
Silkor Laser Medical Centre, next to The One, Khalidiyah (02 681 6070).
