Broken Thread Veins Begone! IPL at Renew: Part One

I recently took myself off to Renew Aesthetics just off Baggot Street in Dublin to have a chat about some broken thread veins around my nose that have been bugging the bejaysis out of me for years now. They give me a schnozz which is naturally the colour of a hard-living whiskey drinker's and are the main reason I'm such a complete foundation fiend. They're why I couldn't even contemplate leaving the house of a morning without a full face of Double Wear.

Following my assessment, the lovely Sinéad Gallagher, who owns and operates Renew with fellow Registered General Nurse Jeanette Dunne, is full sure that a spot of laser zapping with the clinic's medical grade Lumina IPL will have those pesky broken capillaries packing in jig time. Sinéad advises that three to six sessions a fortnight apart are generally required to get rid of these wee red nuisances, and warns that although results are classed as permanent, broken thread veins can re-emerge with pregnancy. Nice. The high-intensity pulses of light emitted by the laser are absorbed by the blood vessels and cauterise the veins so that they can no longer carry blood and are reabsorbed and disappear over a short period of time.

Then it was on to the patch test - two pops of laser action just under the jaw - which made my eyes water. Some people describe the sensation as akin to an elastic band being snapped off the skin, but I'd say try " red hot supersized elastic band studded with razor blades being snapped off the skin" and you might be getting closer. As you may be gathering, it is not a pleasant feeling. However, it is a very, very brief, momentary (albeit sharp) discomfort, so I grit my teeth and think of the flawless skin I'll have in three to six sessions...

Prices start at €80 per area.