How long do I have to stay out of the sun?

Through your entire recovery, and you should be cautious well beyond it. Sun on freshly lasered skin causes rebound pigment that can undo the whole treatment. This is also why we schedule most laser for fall and winter, and why a tan means we reschedule you.

When can I get my next laser session?

Once your skin has fully recovered, which depends on the treatment. Most modalities are spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart, with deeper resurfacing spaced longer. We'll set the timing based on how your skin healed and where we are in your plan.

Laser Treatments

BBL Laser

Broadband light targeted at pigmentation, redness, and vascular irregularities.

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terra device treatment client cheek — 512 Skincare

512.OVERVIEW

What it is

Light for pigment and redness

BBL stands for BroadBand Light. It targets pigment and redness without disrupting the surrounding epidermis.

BBL delivers broadband light energy that targets specific chromophores in your skin: melanin in pigmented lesions and oxyhemoglobin in vascular concerns. The energy heats the target and breaks it down while leaving surrounding tissue intact.

On the Sciton Joule, BBL is precise and calibrated. Spot size, fluence, and cut-off filters are adjusted based on your skin type and the specific concern being addressed. It is not a one-setting treatment.

512.FIT

Who it's for

Best for tone and redness

BBL is for surface pigmentation, uneven tone, and vascular redness, not structural remodeling.

Sun and age spots

Pigment accumulation from sun exposure and time.

Freckles and lentigines

Surface pigmentation that responds to light-based treatment.

Redness and capillaries

Visible capillaries, rosacea-adjacent redness, and diffuse facial redness.

Post-acne redness

Red marks left after active acne has calmed.

Uneven tone

General dullness and uneven color from photodamage.

512.EXPECTATIONS

What to expect

Fall and winter, in a series

BBL is seasonal, series-based, and dependent on strict sun avoidance.

During treatment, you feel a series of light pulses with a mild snapping or warming sensation. Most people tolerate BBL without numbing. Treatment time is typically 30 to 45 minutes depending on the area.

After treatment, pigmented lesions darken before they shed. This is expected. The darkening lifts and sheds over 7 to 14 days as cell turnover cycles. Do not pick or scrub. Let it shed on its own.

BBL is scheduled outside peak sun-exposure months. Sun before or after treatment increases the risk of rebound pigment and reduces results.

512.AFTERCARE

Aftercare

Let the spots flake

BBL aftercare is light, but the rules still matter for the result.

Sun avoidance

Avoid sun exposure and tanning for at least 4 weeks before treatment.

Pause actives

Stop retinoids and active exfoliants 5 to 7 days before and after treatment.

Do not pick

Pigmented areas darken and flake. Let them shed on their own.

SPF daily

Wear SPF 30 or higher every day, starting the morning after treatment.

Avoid heat

Skip hot showers, exercise, and saunas for 24 to 48 hours.

After your treatment

Care depends on which laser you had, but the foundations are the same.

Physical sunscreen, every day

Wear a physical (mineral) sunscreen daily, no exceptions. This is the single most important thing you can do to protect your result.

Go easy on hydration up front

Counterintuitive, but less hydration on the front end actually means better tone and texture in the long run. Follow the plan we give you.

Know your downtime

BBL and Nano are minimal: BBL sun spots darken to look like coffee grounds for 5 to 7 days, then flake off. Resurfacing lasers like Micro, Profractional, and TRL run from a few days of flaking up to a week or more of real recovery.

Follow your post-care exactly

Each laser has its own protocol. Do it to the letter. This is where good results are won or lost.

What to avoid

Lasered skin is heat-sensitive and pigment-prone. These all wait.

Sun, strictly

Stay out of direct sun through your whole recovery and beyond. Sun plus fresh laser equals rebound pigment and ruined results. This is the rule we're most serious about.

Picking or peeling

Whether it's flaking skin or darkened spots after BBL, let it come off on its own. Picking risks scarring.

Actives

Keep retinols, acids, and active ingredients off until we clear you. Your skin is mid-repair.

Heat and sweat

Skip saunas, hot showers, and hard workouts while you're healing. Heat aggravates already-warm skin.

What's normal, and your next session

What healing looks like depends on the laser. After a BBL, sun spots darken and look like coffee grounds for about 5 to 7 days, then flake away to reveal more even tone, so don't be alarmed when they get darker before they clear. With resurfacing lasers, expect redness, swelling, and a sandpaper texture that smooths out over the recovery window, anywhere from 3 days for a Micro peel to 7 to 10 days for a deep TRL, where you'll genuinely look raw. Plan around the heavier ones.

Almost everything we do is a series, spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart for most modalities and longer for deeper resurfacing. Laser is fall and winter work in Texas, roughly October through March, because sun exposure is the enemy of a good result. We'll schedule your next session once your skin has fully recovered. If you see signs of infection, blistering beyond what we told you to expect, or worsening pain, that's not normal, so reach out.

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3 months

PigmentationBBLMicroneedlingLaser Treatments

5 months