Hi guys, welcome back to my blog! Today I'll be sharing all about Sliq Clinic, as well as the silk peel & DEKA laser treatment I tried.
Sliq Clinic is a laser, aesthetics & cool sculpting clinic here in KL that is KKM (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) compliant and is registered under the Ministry of Health. They were previously only located in Oasis Village Mall in Ara Damansara, but they recently opened another branch in KL Eco City Mall.
Address:
L1-13 Kompleks Perniagaan, No. 3, Jalan Bangsar, 59200 KL ECO CITY, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours:
Open Daily: 10am to 8pm
Phone:
Phone:
+603-2201 7727 / +6012 772 7134
Website:
The new branch is quite accessible now as KLEC Mall is now connected to both the Abdullah Hukum LRT, KTM and The Gardens Mall (which connects to Mid Valley Megamall as well). I quite like how accessible it is to public transport because I work in Bangar, which means it's only 1 LRT station away from me and takes less than 10 minutes in total to reach.
Sliq Clinic offers quite a variety of aesthetic treatments for the face body and even hair. Some of their signature treatments include PRP treatment, laser scar removal, tattoo removal, double eyelid stitching and even fat freezing.
They've also been featured on various local publications here in Malaysia!
Before coming by for a consultation, I, of course, did some background check on Sliq Clinic. I quite pleased to see that there were a lot of good reviews from their real customers and that their staff/procedures got a lot of good feedback as well.
I booked an appointment with them to schedule my consultation, and I dropped by one December day.
As I mentioned, it was very easy to get there via LRT and I had no trouble finding the clinic when I reached KLEC mall. Their reception area was quite cozy and featured some informative video contents for me to watch while I waited.
I was greeted warmly by the staff and asked to fill in this form while I waited. It contained a questionnaire about what I was curious to inquire about, my main concerns, any medical history, etc.
For my consultation, I met with Dr Steve Chia, Sliq Clinic's medical director. He's a licensed Aesthetic LCP holder who was in the Sarawak General Hospital from 2007-2009, Miri General Hospital from 2009-2012 and the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine in the USA from 2012 to 2013.
Dr Steve was quite easy to talk to and was very accommodating with all of my inquiries. My main concerns were my deep skin pigmentation/acne scars which are quite hard to fade, my uneven skin tone and these small bumps on my face. All this time I actually thought that those bumps were hormonal acne that just wouldn't budge, but they were actually clogged pores that resulted in congestion/build up.
After a while of discussing options and listening to Dr Steve's recommendation, we settled on a silk peel and a CO2 laser treatment. I booked my appointments with the receptionist and went about my day.
One week later, I came by again for my first treatment: the silk peel. But first, what's a silk peel?
SilkPeel is actually a brand, but it has been a watered-down term because of it's popularity.
A silk peel is a dermal-infusion or hydro-dermabrasion skin treatment that combines non-invasive exfoliation with the infusion of skin-specific topical solutions to improve and revitalize the skin. An advanced form of microdermabrasion, Silkpeels are unique because they do not use crystals.
The simple explanation? Silk peel exfoliates your skin gently to remove the top layer of dead skin cells, and then infuses your skin with a solution. The solution can be customized based on what kind of effect you want (hydration, brightening, anti-ageing, etc).
Silk peels are suitable for all skin types, helping to improve and revitalize the skin. Because silk peels stimulate new cell growth and address your specific skin condition, it gives you smoother, clearer, younger-looking skin!
One of the reasons why Dr Steve recommended silk peel to me was because of my comedones. Comedones are the skin-coloured, small bumps frequently found on the forehead and chin areas of those with acne-prone skin. Silk peel will help exfoliate my skin (getting rid of those bumps) and help hydrate it as well.
Another thing I would like to highlight is that Dr Steve was really informative in giving my skin diagnosis and helping me figure out the causes of my skin problems. It was through him that I learned to not use sleeping masks too much + other tips to help prevent the formation of future comedones/skin problems.
Anyhoo, on to the actual process! We started off the session by taking shots of my skin with their Observ520 skin analysis machine:
After the analysis, we headed into one of the treatment rooms and started off the procedure with a double cleanse:
After that, we did one round of the silk peel. Here's what the back of the machine looks like:
The bottle on the left is the specific solution Dr Steve recommended for my first silk peel treatment, while the transparent bottle on the right is the "gunk bottle" where my dead skin cells and other impurities will end up in.
The process itself was very comfortable and had virtually no pain whatsoever. If I were to describe the sensation, I would say it feels like bubble tea straw gently sucking + scrubbing my skin hahaha. It's very gentle and was very comfortable.
The therapist did one side of my face first to show me the difference, and I was quite happy to see that it was visibly brighter! It was also softer to the touch.
After the first round of silk peel, we did extraction. As with any other extraction process, a little pain should be expected. I handle pain on my face quite well (after all the pimple popping I did back in high school lol) and thought the extraction process was pretty bearable.
After extraction, we did another round of silk peel again to really get that solution deep into my skin + to remove any excess dirt/impurities.
Here you can see how much dead skin the machine managed to remove! If you look at the centre, you can also see some big pieces of dirt/blackheads that have been removed:
At this point, although my skin was soft and smooth, the areas that underwent extraction were pretty red. I noticed that they were quite raised as well. To combat this, the next step in the process was a hydrating gel to soothe the skin, further enhanced by an LED mask.
My face was fully covered so I couldn't see through, but here's some shots the staff helped me take. I look so futuristic!
After my skin was calmed, I was left with a sheet mask for 15-20 minutes:
Immediately after the whole treatment, I noticed that my skin looked brighter and felt nicer! The irritation from the extraction which I mentioned earlier? Gone after the gel mask+LED mask+sheet mask. I went about my week pretty much normally after that, and I noticed a great improvement in my skin, especially when I did my skincare routine.
It's recommended to take this treatment on a monthly, and I would say 1 treatment per month is pretty accurate. It's the perfect timeframe for your skin's renewal cycle + is a great monthly pick-me-up since there's no downtime.
I asked about the price and found out that it's RM350 per silk peel treatment. You can also get 1 free treatment if you buy a package of 5, or 3 free treatments if you buy a package of 10.
If you ask me if it's worth it to go, I would say it is. They use the original brand of silk peel and do not dilute/change their formula/technology like other clinics do.
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I returned to Sliq a few weeks back to try out the DEKA Fractional CO2 Laser. First off, what is Fractional CO2 Laser?
Fractional CO2 Laser is a laser scar removal treatment that helps remove acne scars on the face and body, as well as stretch marks. How it works is it precisely makes a controlled injury/trauma the skin, prompting it to heal itself and to produce collagen.
Our skin contains a very high-water percentage, making fractional CO2 laser ideal for making precise, safe ablations to damaged or scarred skin (lil' info, ablations means to scar or destroy tissue) to create new collagen. Fractional CO2 laser can be used to remove moles, skin tags and oilseed as well. Here are some before and after pics of Sliq's previous customers who have undergone this treatment:
Generally, laser treatments are preferred over chemical peels as it has better results and can treat multiple indications in the same session. Fractional CO2 laser is generally safer for many skin types compared to other laser treatments, and this specific laser treatment has lower downtime + promises to give excellent results.
Also, I found out that at Sliq Clinic, the fractional CO2 laser they do is FDA approved and safe without compromising on its result. With its wavelength in the at 10,600 nm, the CO2 laser energy is well absorbed in water. Also, they use a DEKA laser for their treatments. DEKA is a top brand from Italy, and I've heard that it's regarded as one of the most top-of-the-line laser brands out there.
Similar to the the silk peel treatment I did before, we started off this treatment with a double cleanse. After that, numbing cream was applied on my face for 30 mins:
After that, my face could truly feel nothing. I even tried to slap my cheeks a bit and felt no pain at all hahaha.
I was then led to another treatment room where the laser was placed:
I met Dr Semantha Chia who would be performing the laser treatment on me.
Here's what the laser looked like:
Dr Semantha would first work at a certain part of my face, adjust the intensity based on what she thought that area needed and then used the laser. To make things more comfortable, there was a tube blowing cool air on my skin at all times as well:
The process was actually not painful at all and moved on quite fast. Since the tube with cool air was there, I was expecting it to be very hot. On the contrary, I hardly felt any heat at all. All I could sense was that my skin smelled a bit like Korean BBQ hahaha.
Immediately after being run through with the laser, here's what my skin looked like:
As you can see, the area that underwent laser is much more red/irritated compared to my neck. It also left some marks on my face, and those marks are the "holes"/ablations that will trigger collagen production.
Dr Semantha did my entire face and focused/increased the intensity on a few areas which needed it (like those with darker pigmentation). At the end of the treatment, here's what my skin looked like:
To help soothe the skin, cryotherapy was done. It was cold and super soothing on the skin, and we did it for around 10-15 minutes (if I remember correctly).
Since my skin would have downtime, Sliq actually had an aftercare cream that I bought to help soothe my skin & help with the recovery process.
Here's some of Sliq's products available for sale:
This is what the special recovery cream I bought looks like:
On top of that, I was given a list that acted as a guideline on things that I cannot do/eat as well as ingredients in products I should avoid.
Downtime may vary from as little as 4 days to as much as a week, depending on your skin. According to Dr. Steve, people with oily skin usually experience 5 days, which was pretty much on the spot for me.
Immediately after I left the clinic after the laser, my skin started stinging a bit. It would have been ok if I were just in my room, but I had to walk back to the LRT station. This meant sweating! Since my holes/ablations were still open, my skin was quite irritated because of the sweat. On the train (under the aircon) it was great, then it stung again as I walked from the LRT to my place.
At night when I cleansed my face, my face also stung because of the water. I used my basic, non-irritating and holy grail Kiehl's Calendula cleanser and to my surprise, it didn't sting me at all (whereas just plan water hurt lol). After screening through my products, I used the Klairs Unscented Supple Preparation Toner + Sliq's special recovery cream.
Although the cream really did help, my skin was still fairly red. Here's what it looked like after using the cream for the first time:
The next day when I woke up, I did my super basic skincare routine again and made the mistake of using my sunblock (which contained vitamin C) and it stung a lot lol. After I calmed down, I saw that scabs were already starting to form. By the second day, my face was already fully scabbed/the holes already closed!
By the 3rd day some of the scabs were already dropping off (especially when I used a cotton pad and wiped toner on my face). It unveiled pretty smooth/non-hole-y skin underneath, though my skin was still patchy-ly red in some places. It was slightly itchy, but at this point it was no longer stinging/painful.
According to their website, the skin generally will look better in day 7, with scars appearing shallower by then. Around day 5 all the scars and scabs were fully gone from my face and my skin was back to normal.
If you're curious about the price of the CO2 laser, it costs around RM1k-1.5k for the face, depending on the person/state of your scars. If you only want to do laser on a certain part of your face, you can also do it in sections (which will decrease the price of course). You can also get packages if you book a few treatments together.
As for the results? Well you'll have to stay tuned for my next blog post! I'm going tobe doing the silk peel and CO2 laser a few more times, and I'll update you guys with the result + my thoughts on doing the treatments soon.
And that's it for this post! Thanks for dropping by my blog, see ya next time!
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