You’re a bride to be. Your wedding date is closing in. In the mad rush of completing your massive checklist, you forgot all about the multiple-facial-sessions you were supposed to “begin 6 months prior to your wedding.” NOW WHAT?!

Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. If you’re willing to spill some serious dough (think, 20k plus), you can make your skin wedding-ready in under 1 hour. NO JOKES.

What is this thing that makes your skin look great in under 40 minutes?

A facial.

It’s no ordinary facial, mind you. It’s the New York Facial. Done under the care of Dr Kiran Lohia at Lumiere Dermatology.

When the team at Lumiere contacted me offering a session of the NY Facial back in January, I was skeptical, to say the least. You know I’ve only ever gotten 2 facials in my life before this (both during the run up to my wedding in 2012), so I’m not one to experiment with my skin, thankyouverymuch. But they convinced me it was a totally safe procedure and that they would even change the treatment if Dr Lohia suggested I should go for something else, once I was at the clinic.

So I agreed. To be a guinea pig for you brides. *sigh* the kind of tough things I have to do for you 😉

First Impressions

Lumiere Dermatology is a clinic in Panchsheel Park, New Delhi. It looks exactly like it sounds – a clinic. But a nice, fancy, clean one. Once you’re seated in the waiting area, you’re asked to fill out a form giving details about any health and skin issues you may have. And then come the consent forms – nothing scary about these, till they get to ClearLift. It’s a relatively new technology only a handful of places in India have access to currently, and is one of the 3 steps in a New York Facial. The form says I should be aware this could lead to temporary reddening or peeling of the skin. I’m officially freaked out, but then the staff inform me they’re just being super careful in ensuring I’m completely aware of all the “risks” although there is nothing to worry about – redness, if at all any, should disappear in two days.

Slightly more convinced about how safe the facial is, I walk into Dr Lohia’s private room with still only half my mind made up about getting any procedure done here today.

Meeting The Doctor

Bubbly, beautiful, professional – Dr Kiran Lohia is all three rolled into one. She’s excited about her work, her new clinic in Delhi, and ignites a confidence in me that finally makes me feel “I’m in safe hands. She knows what she’s doing.” Notice how stunning her own skin is? I’m pretty confident she had no makeup on. The most she might have used is a tinted moisturiser. A dermatologist with great skin is a good dermatologist, according to simple logic!

New York Minute

I spill all my concerns to Dr Lohia, which honestly, aren’t too many, and confess that I rarely ever get anything done to my face because I’m so skeptical of all these harsh treatments. I have sensitive skin, so she recommends we go with a New York Minute instead of the full-fledged New York Facial. The difference is that New York Minute does not include exfoliation, which might just get too much for my sensitive skin. I’m more than ok with that – I’d much rather get lesser done to my skin, than over-do it!

Step #1: ClearLift Laser (10 minutes)

The Process

I lie down on a long-chair, the kind they keep at a dentist’s office. An assistant wipes my face with a cleanser, and the gloves on her hand bring back unpleasant memories from my dentist’s office – it’s the same smell! Dr Lohia says she’s a stickler for hygiene since she’s practiced in the US, and therefore the gloves and the smells. If hygiene is the reason behind it, then bring on those damned dentist gloves! No problem-o!

Protective eye gear is placed on my eyes, but I keep them shut anyway. From the fear of what’s about to come. Sounds like I was sitting through a horror movie unwillingly, right? It’s just because I’m such a coward when it comes to any beauty treatments. Like I said, this was the 3rd facial of my entire life.

The second ClearLift laser is used on my face, I shut my fists tightly, afraid of what it’s going to feel like. Turns out, it’s just a small tool that they rub all over your face and it feels – surprise, surprise – just fine. It makes a click-click-click noise continuously for those 10 minutes, and there’s an intermittent flash of light. After about 5 minutes, my paranoid mind tells me, “Shinjini, something is burning!” I ask the doctor about it in my most concerned voice, but she just says “nothing to worry about.” The slightly burnt smell continues during the remaining minutes, but my fists loosen up and I relax a bit. It was genuinely painless, and in a few areas which are probably more sensitive, I felt like something was tickling my skin. Dr Lohia kept talking through the whole procedure to keep my mind off the (pointless) stress I was feeling and told me things like “your skin is not even red, it’s looking good!” It felt better just hearing it 🙂

Benefit

ClearLift targets the second layer of the skin, where it stimulates collagen. It’s a US FDA approved laser that brightens and tightens your skin, and gets rid of open pores. It’s pain-free.

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Step #2: Mask (20 minutes)

The Process

I’m moved into another room on the other side of the clinic, where I sit and relax while a gel mask is applied all over my face. It feels cool after the tingling sensation of the ClearLift laser.

Benefit

The mask contains Biosaccharides (could barely pronounce it, let alone trying to understand what it means!), that’s meant to soothe, moisturize and plump the skin.

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Step #3: LED therapy (10 minutes)

The Process

Once the mask is gently wiped off my face, I’m made to sit in front of what seems like a red LED light for 5 minutes with my eyes closed. Followed by application of what seems like some form of Soframycin skin cream on my face (probably to soothe the skin some more) and lots of sunscreen.

Benefit

ReD RX LED therapy “naturally penetrates the skin to improve skin rejuvenation, reduce redness and overall augment the glow.”

Post-Facial Care

I was given After-Care Instructions on a sheet of paper, and being the over-cautious person I am, I read every word of it right there and then. It said I needed to apply sunblock every 4 hours for a period of 2 weeks, non-negotiable. And that I should avoid foaming face washes for about a week. Unfortunately, the only face wash I owned back then was a foaming one, so Dr Lohia handed me a bottle of their special non-foaming, natural facewash – Avederm. I’ll tell you more later in the post, but you should know one thing – it’s my favourite face wash in the whole wide world now.

I asked if I needed to avoid washing my face or applying makeup for a day, since that’s what my salon lady says you should always do after a facial. But they said I could immediately go back to my normal routine – wash my face that night, apply makeup – no restrictions. Ummm…convenient much?!

Immediate Results

I had a few brown spots on my face that honestly did seem a little lighter. When I came back home, my MIL said there was a definite glow on my face, and my skin just looked clearer. The doctor said that my skin’s condition would improve over the course of the next one week.

A Few Months Later

I’m a skeptic when it comes to expensive beauty treatments, but even I can’t deny it – the damn thing works.

First of all – NOTHING was actually burning during my ClearLift session. My face was perfectly fine. All that paranoia was unnecessary. And my skin neither reddened nor peeled post the facial.

My skin behaved really, really well for the next few weeks. In fact, it was pretty amazing for the next few months. I didn’t get a single pimple for 8 months. Although I think that’s more because of that amazing face wash they handed to me – Avederm Soothing Facial Cleanser. But the combination of New York Minute and Avederm led to totally pimple-free skin for as long as I used the facial cleanser. How perfect is that for a bride to be?

Overall, I feel they genuinely do use really great technology here, and Dr Lohia seems to know what she’s doing. Her own skin is so insanely gorgeous – which I believe is a great sign to a good dermatologist. Honest to God, she seemed to have no makeup on her face and her skin was absolutely flawless. So if you want to get any of those scary sounding procedures done – like laser hair removal, peels, scar reduction, acne treatment, I recommend you give her a shot. Lumiere Dermatology has just opened up last year, but Dr Lohia has been practicing for quite some time. She’s offered to extract those stubborn blackheads on my nose during my next visit, and I might just take her up on that offer! You know I’ve struggled with blackheads since I was a teenager, and I’d love to get rid of them under her supervision.

How Much Does It Cost?

For those of you who don’t want to bother with 6 facials in 6 months, New York Facial is the perfect replacement. Yes, it costs INR 35,000 but 6 facials together at a salon will easily cost you the same amount, if not more! BUT, BUT…BUT. Of course, thedelhibride readers get a SPECIAL RATE! On not just New York Facial, but also other services!

A Special Offer Exclusively for TDB Readers

• As a special festive offer, the New York Facial is available at INR 25,000 upto mid-October. But for TDB readers, you can avail this special rate all the way up till 1st December
• 25% off on laser hair removal
• NanoOxy Cleanup for INR 3500 instead of INR 4500 (NanoOxy Cleanup is a replacement to any facial a bride may get. Typically, salon facials use 10-15 different unknown products and do aggressive painful blackhead extraction – this can lead to marks, redness and after some days it can ultimately cause breakouts. The Nano-Oxy Cleanup is safe, gentle and highly effective at getting rid of dullness and pesky blackheads. This is a triple cleansing therapy combining an advanced professional blackhead extraction with a nano-cleansing and followed by a catalase-activated oxygen facial. Your skin looks cleansed, refreshed and brighter after just 30 minutes!)

These offers are valid up till 1st December, 2014. Just tell them you read about it on thedelhibride, or show them this voucher (save it on your phone)!

Lumiere Dermatology is located at E-41, Panchsheel Park, 3rd Floor, New Delhi. Call them on 011-41642288. You can also follow them on Facebook and get skin care tips directly from Dr Lohia on Instagram.

What beauty treatment have you tried to get your skin ready for your wedding? Did it work?