Every treatment at Model Standards starts the same way: with a proper look at your skin. It's the rule the clinic has worked to since it opened in 2014: assess the skin first, then decide what to do with it.

Here's what that involves, so you know what to expect.

We'll ask about your health, not just your skin

Some treatments aren't right for everyone, and the reasons aren't always obvious. We'll ask about any medication, including anything prescribed for your skin, pregnancy or plans for one, recent treatments elsewhere, and any skin condition you've been diagnosed with. These are what practitioners call contraindications: things that mean a treatment should be changed, delayed or not done at all.

We'll look at your skin type and tone

How your skin responds to exfoliation, heat and light depends partly on its type and tone. Practitioners often describe this with the Fitzpatrick scale, which helps us decide how cautious to be with a particular treatment.

We'll check how your skin barrier is doing

If your skin barrier is irritated, perhaps from over-exfoliating, a new product or a condition such as eczema, the right first step is often to calm it down rather than start something more active.

We may suggest a patch test

For some treatments and products, a patch test is a sensible first step. It won't predict everything, but it can show a reaction before it affects your whole face.

And sometimes we'll refer you on

Not every skin concern is ours to treat. If something needs a diagnosis or a prescription, such as persistent acne, suspected rosacea or a mole that is changing, the right thing is to send you to someone who can diagnose and prescribe. We would rather do that than treat something we shouldn't.

If you'd like to understand any of this in more depth, each link above goes to Skinipedia, the free skincare encyclopedia written by our sister academy, MSTA.