Try The Best Post-Procedure Products In My Stash

What’s in my after-tweakment stash? All the products that can speed up skin recovery. You know I love trying tweakments, and they’re the sort of things – laser, plasma, needling etc. – that often leave my face looking scorched, bruised and generally the worse for wear. Mostly, recovery just takes time, but none of us wants any more downtime than we have to put up with. So when I want to help things along, these are the products I reach for.

1) The new recovery boosters

While the old recovery staples – Vaseline or Aquaphor – are still the go-to for just-treated, traumatised skin, there’s now a slew of new products designed to enhance the speed – and comfort – of wound-healing and skin regeneration.

The recovery-accelerator: Alastin Regenerating Skin Nectar, £180

It soothes, it nourishes – but even better, it improves the results of procedures like laser or microneedling. Use it two weeks before and two weeks after a procedure, and you’re promised less downtime, redness and inflammation and improved results thanks to Alastin’s TriHex technology which clears up old shreds of collagen and elastin and stimulates production of new collagen and elastin.

The pain-reducing one: Revision CMT Post Procedure Cream, £68

A ‘neurocosmetic’ that basically takes down the pain after peels, or needling, or laser (the CMT bit stands for Chemical – ie peels, Mechanical – such as needling, Thermal – including laser. How it does this is fascinating – it’s not by numbing, but by boosting beta-endorphin levels in the skin, making your skin happier, if you like, by reducing your perception of pain. Oh yes, and it speeds up recovery, too.

The anti-bruising one: Alastin Enhance Post Injection Serum, £60

Reduced bruising? Yes please! If you’re someone who finds they bruise as soon as their practitioner picks up a needle, you’ll want to know about this clever serum and it’s Chromafade technology, which decreases the red and violet undertones that come with a bruise. I’m told bruises may look darker for a day or two, but then they’ll fade fast – and yes, there are clinical papers to prove the claim.

The exosome-concentrate one: Morphiya Intensive, £170

Warp-speed skin regeneration is what Morphiya promises thanks to its innovative ‘hybrosomes’ – a novel combination of exosomes and liposomes that act directly on skin cells to accelerate repair. Trial results are impressive and I had the chance to put the serum into action last summer when my face was recovering from an intense plasma treatment – just one day of split-face testing left me in no doubt that this was doing a great job, so I stuck with it for the rest of my skin-recovery.

The growth-factor ones: Cellderma GF-5 Bio-Regenerative Growth Factor Serum, £156, and Calecim Multi-Action Cream, £175

Getting skin to mend faster is a key benefit of growth-factors, more biotech ingredients that are skincare favourites for encouraging damaged skin back to equilibrium. These two products are both hugely popular with aesthetic practitioners for helping their patients out at home.

The green gloopy ones: SkinCeuticals Phyto-Corrective Masque, £62, and Skin Matters Calming Gel, £65

The first of these is a soothing, calming, rehydrating mask; the second is a soothing, rehydrating, calming balm-to-gel. Both are lovely for reddened, irritated skin.

The high street one: Dermalogica Smart Response Serum, £145

A hydrating, brightening serum that’s rich in antioxidants, which adapts itself to what your skin needs. It’s sold as a general skincare product but I’m told it’s also really useful for skin recovery after treatments.

2) The bathroom beauty basics

The easy-to-use mist: Clinisept+, £15

To calm skin that’s feeling hot, puffy or bruised or to spritz-cleanse when skin is too sore or fragile to dab or rub, this is a terrific bathroom-cabinet standby. It’s anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal.

The ice globes: Pacifica Chill Baby Cooling Cryo Globes, £25

There are plenty of great ice globe facial tools on the market (which can range widely in price!). They are fab for bringing down post-procedure puffiness with a touch of light lymph-draining massage. Keep them in the fridge or freezer, and use on top of your chosen serum for cooling and soothing.

The barrier repairing balm: Aquaphor, £25.99

To keep recovering skin moist and hydrated for faster healing, you can’t go wrong with Aquaphor. Vaseline also works wonders.

The healing makeup: Oxygenetix foundation, £66

It not only covers bruises. It helps skin healing by encouraging the oxygen uptake. It’s antibacterial, too, and reduces inflammation.

3) High-tech recovery-boosters

The medical-grade LED light therapy: Dermalux Flex MD, £1895

The Dermalux Flex MD and any of the Celluma devices offer clinic-standard, medically certified LED light. Red and near-infrared wavelengths will reduce redness and inflammation while speeding up healing.

For more skincare product guidance, head to our Skincare Shop or book a consultation with our skincare expert Shenaz.