You’ve been hiding in the house for a week, looking like you just lost a few rounds to Mike Tyson. Finally, the swelling is down, the blisters have scabbed over or healed. If you could cover this mess with makeup you could make your escape. But now what??!! Your usual makeup, which did a find job covering your PWS, couldn’t begin to blot out this new color scheme: black, blue, grey, burgundy? Sounds like a great wardrobe option for fall, not something you want all over your face.

This was the dilemma I faced as I prepared to dress for my friend's wedding only six days after my left eye and cheek were blasted with the VBeam at maximum wattage. I began experimenting the day before, dabbing various concealers over the least damaged parts of my PWS, hoping to avoid the dreaded plastic mask effect.

Eventually, I decided to stick with my favorite Estee Lauder Maximum Coverage. It took a bit of effort, but when I got to the wedding, my girlfriends said I looked so good they thought I’d had my makeup done by a professional. You can’t get a better compliment than that.

Here’s how I did it.
I chose a silky makeup sponge to avoid trauma to the newly-treated skin, and dabbed the makeup over my PWS, pressing it lightly onto the dark areas. Then I swept the sponge lightly over the rest of my face. I used a liquid under eye concealer with a sponge tip applicator, avoiding heaver products such as thick creams and sticks which can drag on the skin. Ouch! An alternative would have been a light cream concealer such as Cover Blend applied with a Q-tip or a soft brush. While the makeup set, I got busy with eye makeup. Since my birthmark covers part of my eyelid, I had a black spot on the outer corner of my left eye. I decided I’d have to work with it. I used the concealer all over my eyelids, applying a light coat. Then I chose a dark plum shadow, which I applied all over the lids. Dark colors recede, so this helped camouflage any residual swelling. With a damp brush, I applied the shadow in a darker shade – a deep eggplant- to the outer corners of my eye, and brought the line up and around the outside corners, smudging lightly. Rather than try to cover the bruised color, I imitated it with the eggplant shade, so that both eyes matched. I had to draw in the part of my left eyebrow that the laser burned off. It’s best to avoid pencils while you’re healing, since they tend to drag and pull the skin. I used a brown powder instead, with an angled brush. Then I applied one coat of mascara.

By this time, the concealing foundation had dried, and my dark, bruised PWS was leaking through like a grey shadow, so I went over it again using the sponge and let it dry while I did my hair.

Finally, I applied a very light dusting of loose powder with a soft puff. I used a neutral browny-peach blush over both sides of my face, working from cheekbone down and and back to the hairline, and across the temples, effectively covering the bruised area. I used a bit more on the PWS-free side of my face. This further camouflaged any dark shadows where the bruises were and balanced the face. Then I brightened up just my cheekbones with a pink powder blush.

I spritzed my face with a light spray of water to take down the powdery look and set my pain-staking work. To avoid smearing, I was careful not to touch my face again until it was dry. No one could have guessed what was under that makeup!

When I got home from the wedding I had a new problem. How to get all that makeup off without irritating the delicate post-treatment skin? To avoid pulling and rubbing, I used a cotton pad saturated in a gently eye makeup remover and gently went over the PWS area as well as my eyes. Eye makeup remover is designed to emulsify stubborn products like waterproof mascara, so I was able to wipe all that concealing makeup off easily. Covermark Waterproof Makeup Remover is another great option. Then I washed my face with Cetaphil, a very gentle cleanser.

In the following days as the bruising faded, I could use less and less concealer, and every night when I took off my makeup, I was thrilled to see how much my face had healed.

Post –Treatment Tips:

1. Make sure you have an extra-gentle cleanser on hand: Cetaphil, Dove Sensitive Essentials and Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Solutions are good choices.
2. On areas where there is no blistering, use a light moisturizer several times a day, especially while you are applying ice packs, which can be drying. Try Cetaphil or Eucerin, creamy lotions that won’t weigh down the skin. Exuviance Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream is extra-gentle.
3. If you have been using a lighter concealing makeup, you may need to revert to a foundation with serious coverage, such as Keromask, Dermablend or Covermark for a couple of weeks while the bruising fades.
4. Try layering coverage products over the darkest areas. A concealing mineral powder, like Jane Iredale Amazing Base or SheerCover gives extra coverage when used instead of a setting powder over the darkest areas.
5. Take your time and be very, very gentle when removing makeup.
6. Boost your SPF for at least a couple of months. The sun can cause brown patches on newly-treated skin, so I use a much sunscreen as I can find. I like Total Block with a staggering SPF 65 or Total Block C.O.T.Z SPF 58 for sensitive skin. I wear a hat when I’m out in the sun, and I’ve recently invested in a reflective sun umbrella, which acts like a shield, blocking out UVA and UVB rays.

Resources: Cetaphil, Eucerin, Dove and Neutrogena at major drugstores. Estee Lauder Maximum Coverage at department stores or www.esteelauder.com. Total Block, www.skinstore.com. Keramask, www.beautycafe.com. Jane Iredale Pure Pressed Base, www. JaneIredale.com. Sheer Cover www.sheercover.com. Sun umbrella, www.sungrubbies.com. Exuviance, Covermark and Dermablend: link through our home page.