How to prepare for NeoGen

The useful preparation for NeoGen is boring. That is a good sign. You do not need a new bathroom shelf of ten serums before you come to The Lee. You need skin that is calm, a diary that can take the downtime, and a few things told to me honestly.

The fortnight before

• Keep the skin well hydrated. A barrier that is already angry heals worse. A simple moisturiser you already like is enough.
• Pause retinoids, acids and anything that makes you flake, on the schedule I give you. Do not invent a longer or shorter one from a forum.
• Stay out of deliberate sun and tanning beds. A tan is a reason to move the date, not a detail to hide.
• Tell me about cold sores, keloid scars, isotretinoin, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and prescription creams. Leaving them out is how complications start.
• If you get cold sores, we plan for that before the day, not on the morning you arrive.

The week of the appointment

Clear the diary for the energy you agreed, not the downtime you hoped for. If we are doing eyes or neck at a stronger setting, that means photographs, events and on-camera work live outside the first 7 to 10 days. Buy the SPF you will actually wear. I use Heliocare, from Cantabria Labs, because it sits well enough that people put it on. You will go home with an eLIVEate Me AllSkin Med kit. You do not need to arrive with a bag of products to impress me.

On the day

Come with a clean face. No makeup on the area we are treating, no self-tan, no retinol the night before if I have asked you to stop. Eat something normal. You are not having an operation, but you will not want to be faint and hungry in a warm room. Give yourself time for the lane. Sat nav sometimes drops people at the wrong end of Swan Bottom.

Afterwards you need a gentle cleanser, the repair products you are sent home with, shade, and patience. That is the whole routine. If something worries you in the first week, you message me. You do not experiment.