My two favoured lasers for treating ethnic skin are the Thulium LaseMD 1927 & Pico Lasers. These two lasers are gentle on the skin and heat transfer is controllable making treatments safe with minimal side effects.

Fraxel or LaseMD Ultra provides general skin rejuvenation- namely a decrease in skin pigmentation, improvement in fine wrinkles, tighter skin tone as well as increased radiance. This translates to younger, fresher and rejuvenated skin.

Pico lasers including the latest Picoway can treat specific spots, such as freckles, sunspots and age spots.  The Picosure Pro laser is the very latest 3rd generation laser the works betting than the Picoway in the context of Asian skin rejuvenation.

Unlike lasers, this device uses controlled heating to stimulate collagen. Best around the eyes.

I also use an erbium laser to treat conditions that are raised on the skin’s surface, such as age warts. Most Asian patients will benefit from a combination of lasers as well as bleaching creams for optimal results.

Pico laser treatments have NO recovery time, meaning that you recover immediately. This treatment is ideal for skin pigmentation disorders such as melasma or laser skin toning.

Fraxel & LaseMD laser takes 3 days to recover from. Best conducted on a Friday, you will recover by Tuesday at the latest.

Spectra Laser Toning has no downtime. This laser is best for treating sensitive skin conditions such as Melasma.

Yes. IPL can be used on Asian skin however the settings and parameters must be exact or skin darkening can occur after IPL. IPL treatments in ethnic skin types must be approached with extreme caution, with a reliable machine that produces adequate skin cooling and replicable power settings. We use the Sciton BBL system.

We see more complications from other clinics such as burns and skin darkening from IPL than with any other device.

There are many unique features in Asian facial structure compared to Caucasian faces. Injectables in Asian’s are adapted accordingly. A few fundamental differences include-

• Less expressive facial movement in ethnics usually means less Botox.
• Broader lower face means more Botox to specific muscles, AKA facial slimming.
• Maxillary hypoplasia (less projected cheekbone) means more medial dermal fillers.
• Broader upper cheekbones means less dermal fillers.
• Broad base of nose means nose shaping with dermal fillers.
• Lip ratio different in Asian & ethnics, means different volume of upper vs lower lip (1 to 1 ratio)

See the section on injectables for a more detailed explanation.

Chemical peels are still relevant in darker skin patients, however at Cutis I have limited them to superficial peels only. As a guide-

Salicylic acid peels: great for acne, blackheads, oily skin, congestion.

AHA peels: Lactic, glycolic, mandelic acid for overall skin rejuvenation, wrinkles & pores.

Retinoid Peels: Vita peels are useful for acne prone skin & pigmentation.

For an understanding of what is your ideal peel, book a consult with my clinical team @cutis_dermatology.

Acne scarring can be treated just as effectively in darker skin types compared to Caucasian patients. There are however key differences, but the end goal is the same.

• Firstly PIH or skin pigmentation changes are universally seen in darker skin patients. This is 100% certain, however will fade with prescription creams and sunscreen.
• Secondly treatments with lasers can be just as powerful, but the ‘overlaps’ are less. Laser treatments must be conservative.
• To reduce the chances of skin lightening, I usually perform an extra one or two TCA CROSS treatments prior to full laser resurfacing.
• For laser resurfacing, I use both erbium or the CO2 laser, albeit gentler settings

Acne scars in Asian and ethnic skin types can be treated with Fraxel or Fractional lasers. 3-4 fractional laser treatments are needed for best results. The same applies to Pico lasers.

• Fraxel – LaseMD laser from $990 per session (3-4 sessions ideal)
• Pico Laser from $490 per session (3-4 sessions ideal)
• Chemical peels from $98 per sessions.
• Skin tightening with Tempure, Pelleve, Genius RFM, Infini RFM or NuEra, please email for latest pricing.

Skin of colour/ethnic patients require specific skin care as our skin is different;

• We don’t burn easily; hence most of us forget the importance of SPF. This leads to a false sense of security, in turn leading to more pigmentation.
• Pigmentation is a frequent concern as illustrated above.
• Scarring is worse in Ethics, including keloids, acne & PIH scars.
• Combination skin types are more common; namely dry skin (especially during winter) as well as oily T zone skin. We don’t adapt to a less humid environment well.
• Pores are bigger in Asian & Ethnics as this is our way of regulating temperature in the tropics.
• Dermal layer is thicker in Asian & ethnic skin (that is a bonus). We have more reactive fibroblasts, which means better contraction of collagen; the flip side? Easier to scar.

Skin care is thus aimed at-

Pigmentation prevention; SPF 50+ twice a day, no exceptions.

Pigmentation treatment; vitamin C, arbutin, azelaic acid, bearberry, liquorice extract, AHAs & BHAs.

Dry skin management; ceramides, niacinamide, tocopherol, humectants, glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid.

Pore size shrinking: Retinol, retinoids, ascorbic acid, BHA washes.

Acne management: Retinol, retinoids, salicylic acid washes, benzoyl peroxide.

Scar mitigation: early treatment of acne. Silicon gel for scars; Strataderm.

It is important to understand that titration of skin care actives is more difficult in Asian skin types, especially is you have dry-sensitive skin. My suggestion? Book a consultation with our senior nurses or dermal therapist.

*I DO NOT do skin care consults, my work is procedural, namely to cut, laser, deep peel, inject.