Revisiting Obagi and laser treatments

Well, maybe I have to rethink this whole Obagi thing after all.

I went to a local medical spa this afternoon and had a nice, long consultation with one of their aestheticians. We went over my skincare concerns (acne, hyperpigmentation, the usual suspects women of color have to deal with), and she strongly recommended the Obagi Nu-Derm line. She said that the Neutrogena Facial Foam Wash I've been using isn't strong enough to address my skin problems. She also said that, from my description of the package I bought at the Belo clinic in Manila (I forgot to bring it with me to my appointment), I should be able to make it last for at least 4 months, if not more.

Big sigh of relief. The last thing I want to do is fork over hundreds of dollars a month on just my skincare program. I mean, I'm awfully vain and am willing to spend good money to achieve healthy skin, but seriously, if I have to decide between my rent and my face, uh, I think even I would prefer to have a strong roof over my head.

Anyway, I'll give the Obagi a try and see how it goes. Also, tomorrow night the medi-spa is going to have an open house at their facility, with wine and hors d'oeuvres and representatives from various laser and cosmetics/cosmeceutical companies such as La Roche-Posay, Obagi and Jane Iredale (a mineral makeup line). A bunch of my friends and I will be attending, and I'll be getting more detailed information about the various treatments the spa offers. Also, they'll be doing drawings and giving away coupons, so I'm holding off on signing up for any treatments until then in case I win something!

I'll post more re: my tentative foray into Obagi later. Also, the aesthetician recommended a laser treatment called ScanLite that uses an IRIDEX laser system, to cut down on hyperpigmentation on my face. In addition, she suggested Fraxel (there it is again!) to target past acne scarring. Treatment costs aren't negligible (i.e., they're freakin' expensive), so I'll have to determine what's best for my skin and my wallet.

But for now, I'll do the due diligence I wrote about yesterday and engage in some heavy research. In the meantime, tomorrow's Open House should be fun -- hey, at least they'll have food and wine!