Not just skin deep

Living Magazines Koha Skin Clinic

Living Magazine visits the Koha Skin Clinic in Berkhamsted for a consultation with an expert on skin enhancement and rejuvenation…

When I visited the Koha Skin Clinic, I had been hoping to try out the Hydrafacial, which I had heard so much about. The treatment ‘removes dead skin cells and extracts impurities while simultaneously bathing the new skin with cleansing, hydrating and moisturizing serums’. However, unfortunately, I was not a good candidate – a fact that my consultant Fortunata ascertained having taken a medical history. The good news is that my trip was not wasted – in fact far from it!

Living Magazines Koha Skin Clinic waiting area

Covid safety was adhered to well during my visit – with hand sanitiser and masks provided. Staff wore masks or visors and guests were asked to wait outside until their appointment time to avoid having too many people within the rooms.

The clinic itself is very appealing, with clean lines in the reception area, leading to a cosy waiting area with comfy and on-trend seating, with water and coffee on tap.

Instead of the facial, Fortunata offered me another service offered by the clinic, a skin consultation, which turned about to be a fascinating – and very useful – offering. Having taken some details about my skin type, colouring and so on, Fortunata asked me to place my chin in a large box, which looked a little like the machines you get at the opticians, to take an image of your retina, but which turned out to be a facial skin scanner. A few seconds with my eyes closed and the clever machine had taken some fascinating images of my face. It allows the consultant to diagnose skin issues such as acne spots, pores, pigmentation, wrinkles and UV damage.

One of the images that we are all familiar with now shows the depth of sun damage on the skin. I already know it is there thanks to my abundance of freckles, but the image also showed some white patches that showed some deeper damage – probably from my early childhood in the late 60s and early 70s when sun cream wasn’t as widely used as it is now, and was probably no higher than 10 SPF anyway!

Other images showed a few areas of dehydration, broken capillaries and so on. Despite all this, Fortunate said that I actually had good skin (thanks Mum!) and followed up the detailed discussion about the images with some recommendations for a skincare routine (especially as mine didn’t go much further than trying to remember to slap on some moisturiser).

Fortunata was incredibly knowledgeable and gave some good advice about wearing sun protection every day (even in English weather!), as well as looking out for products that protect the skin from the blue light emitted by smartphones and computer screens.

There was no hard sell either. Of course, like all places of its ilk, the clinic has products and services that it likes to recommend, but by writing down the key ingredients for me to look for, Fortunata left me free to decide for myself when and where I decided to buy the correct products for a good skincare regime.

With phrases such as Hyaluronic acid, vitamin A, hydration serum and more written down for me to digest and reflect on, I left the Koha Skin Clinic with a new resolve to look after my skin, and the correct tools to do it properly. NM

Find out more at: www.kohaclinics.com.