I Thought the Broken Capillaries on My Face Were Acne Scars — Here's How I Got Rid of Them

Here is my completely bare face with blemishes and red scarring that wasn't major but noticeable to me. My aim was mainly to get rid of congestion, but getting rid of the scarring too was a total bonus.

This is the face of a gal who is ready for a treatment.

Every facial at the clinic is bespoke, so I spoke about my concerns (congested but dehydrated skin with a few "acne scars"), the esthetician talked me through a facial plan of action, and we got started.

The facial involved hydrodermabrasion and audio sonic therapy, with the addition of non-ablative laser, a noninvasive laser that has zero downtime. (FYI, this looks way more scary than it actually was thanks to my incredibly red, reactive skin.) During my treatment, my facialist threw an absolute curveball and told me that the red scars I disliked weren't scars at all but were, in fact, broken capillaries. Say what?

Much to my horror, I had memories flash in my mind of all the spot treatments I'd tried on the scars and how I had definitely made the marks so much worse. Oops.

Broken capillaries are small, dilated blood vessels that are visible on the surface of the skin and appear red in colour. They can be caused for a number of reasons including rosacea, alcohol, ageing, sun damage, and genetics.

After being zapped with a laser, I welcomed these incredibly cold balls on my face.

During my treatment, the esthetician zapped the areas of my face that had some scarring with a laser, and much to my surprise, I didn't feel any pain or discomfort; it was easy-peasy. Postfacial, my face was very red, however, this calmed down within an hour.

Excuse me, dull-faced Tori can't come to the phone right now, because she's f*cking glowing.

Capillaries aside, I had a G.L.O.W. All of my tiny red marks were immediately less noticeable, and my skin seemed much less red and angry in appearance. However, the scarring got slightly darker in colour, almost like blackheads, and took about seven to 10 days to completely disappear. I could wear makeup as normal the next day and following week.

Hello, broken-capillary-free face. Not only did the facial help with redness, but it also helped with lots of congestion and gave me a glow that lasted weeks, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Next time, I'll definitely be careful before using any pimple treatments.