Randi G asks about the value of VISIA: Is there really any value to the VISIA skin care analysis, or is it just a marketing tool to sell skin care products and services?

The Right Brain responds:

VISIA is a digital camera system that uses multi-spectral imaging (different kinds of light) to analyze your skin`s condition. It takes a picture of your face and separates the image into different views based on different wavelengths of light. One view shows melanin, the pigment in you skin that gives you freckles and makes you tan. Another view shows blood flow in the skin and is useful for evaluating facial flushing and redness. A third view shows damage done to your skin by sun exposure.

This is a legitimate technology that is used by professionals in cosmetic medicine, clinical dermatology, and plastic surgery. But how does it apply to beauty care?

For the most part, it’s useful in establishing the baseline condition of your skin before treatment and then showing how much better your skin is after treatment. For example, if you’re being treated with a skin lightening product such as Meladerm, VISIA can measure the reduction of melanin in your skin and thus prove your skin has been lightened.

This kind of analysis can be useful in two ways: it provides the spa a basis for recommending skin treatments to you and it gives them a way to prove to you that their Meladerm treatment is really working.

Is VISIA analysis critical? Probably not. But we’ve seen spas offer this treatment for less than $50, so it’s not outrageously expensive. If you can afford that kind of indulgence, it might be worth it to see all those products you`re buying are really doing any good.