PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES · THE LASER EDITION
Victoria’s Secret.
Stop covering up. Show your skin.
The spots you cover, the texture your makeup catches, the recovery your calendar can accommodate. Those are useful starting points. BBL HEROic, MOXI and HALO do different jobs; understanding the difference makes the conversation easier.
Polka dots. Plot twist.
“Why do you have polka dots all over your skin?” That is what the other kids would ask Victoria. She had always had freckles; their questions made her feel differently about them.
“After tennis tournaments, it could be a hundred degrees outside, and I would wear a sweatshirt just to cover my arms. I always wore a hat and sunscreen because I didn’t want freckles on my face.”
Victoria, from the Laser Edition
She loved visiting department-store beauty counters with her mother. Skin care started young, became a passion, and eventually became her work. Her story explains why the conversation begins with what you notice—not simply which machine is available.
BBL HEROic. The cover-up gets a day off.
Years of sun can leave uneven pigment. BBL HEROic uses filtered broadband light to address selected brown spots and visible redness. It is a form of intense pulsed light, or IPL, rather than a laser with one particular wavelength.
Selected targets absorb light and convert it into heat. Treated pigment may look darker before it gradually sheds. The intended change is more even-looking color; that is different from adding volume or surgically lifting tissue.
HEROic’s Intelligent Control and motion tracking help coordinate delivery as the handpiece moves. The person treating you still chooses the settings and watches your skin. Read how BBL HEROic is used at PETRO or start with the dark spots you keep covering.
MOXI. A smoother finish.
When color is only part of the story, look at the surface: dullness, uneven texture and the way makeup sits. MOXI is a 1927 nm non-ablative fractional laser. Its energy is absorbed by water in the skin, creating small treatment zones.
“Fractional” means that skin between those zones is left untreated to help recovery. “Non-ablative” means heating the zones rather than vaporizing open columns of skin. Redness and a fine, sandy feel can be part of the process as treated skin renews.
“When I first tried HALO, I was in between offices. I had it done in my living room, on my couch. I wasn’t really set up to love it.”
Dr. Melanie Petro, from the Laser Edition
She describes noticing how her skin felt, how her pores looked and how her makeup glided on. That personal experience led to bringing HALO into the practice. It is her story, rather than a promise that another person will have the same experience.
The HALO discussed in this edition combines 2940 nm ablative and 1470 nm non-ablative wavelengths. One component creates small surface openings; the other creates zones of heat beneath the surface. Treatment depth and coverage influence both the change being pursued and the recovery.
BBL HEROic can address selected color concerns while MOXI adds fractional resurfacing. The guide calls this “Seoul Stacking”: choosing complementary steps with a purpose. It is not a rule that everyone needs two treatments.
For some skin, a combination in one visit makes sense. For other skin, spacing treatments is the better fit. An expert needs to understand the science of each treatment, what it adds and the recovery the combination creates.
Controlled damage. A repair response.
Resurfacing lasers and chemical peels use controlled injury to prompt repair. A peel uses chemicals; a resurfacing laser uses light energy. Depending on the treatment and its depth, the response can include surface renewal and collagen remodeling.
That is the idea behind biostimulation: asking tissue to respond. It does not mean every device, peel or skin-care product works the same way—or that more treatment is always better.
Your skin. Your itinerary.
In the illustrated guide, recovery is compared with a trip. The names are a way to discuss commitment, not a promise about healing.
Lake Martin / BBL HEROic
The closer-to-home conversation. Visible treated spots may darken and shed even when you feel able to resume usual activities.
Rosemary Beach / BBL HEROic + MOXI
A combination needs room in the calendar for redness and a sandy surface. Your settings and skin influence how long those changes remain visible.
Charleston / HALO
A bigger recovery conversation, including redness, swelling and bronzing. Stronger treatment can require more time.
Tell Victoria about upcoming events and travel before scheduling. Ask when makeup, exercise and your usual products can resume, and plan sun protection. The illustrated edition gives example recovery windows; your own instructions take priority.
Nothing off the rack.
Start with what bothers you, what you want to spend and how much downtime fits your life. Reassess as your skin responds. A series should still have a reason for each next treatment.
Light and laser treatments can cause burns and pigment changes; resurfacing can also cause infection or scarring. Skin tone, recent sun exposure, medicines, skin conditions and previous treatments affect the plan. Bring them into the consultation, along with any questions about products applied afterward.
Good skin care bookends the treatment. The team will explain what supports your skin, what takes a break and what belongs on newly treated skin. The machine does not know your plans for next weekend. The person treating you should.
PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES · THE LASER EDITION
Victoria’s Secret.
Stop covering up. Show your skin.
Read all 12 pages below. Tap a page to enlarge it, or open its text for easier reading.
THE LASER EDITION1 / 12Read page 1 text
PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
THE LASER EDITION
THE LASER EDITION
01
VICTORIA’S
Secret
SKIN, EXPLAINED BEAUTIFULLY
Stop covering up.
Show your skin.
The secret is her skill.
From old beauty rituals to the
science behind your skin.
BBL HEROic + MOXI
HALO · Seoul Stacking
Your skin. Your itinerary.
VICTORIA / MASTER ESTHETICIAN
THE LASER EDITION2 / 12Read page 2 text
PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
VICTORIA / IN HER OWN WORDS
THE LASER EDITION
02
POLKA DOTS.
Plot twist.
I started taking care of my skin
long before it became my career.
“Why do you have
polka dots all over
your skin?”
WHAT THE OTHER KIDS WOULD ASK ME
I didn’t understand it because I’d always had them. Then I started feeling really
insecure about my freckles.
After tennis tournaments, it could be a hundred degrees outside, and I would wear a
sweatshirt just to cover my arms. I always wore a hat and sunscreen because I didn’t
want freckles on my face.
I loved going to the department-store beauty counters with my mother. I started skin
care young, and I became passionate about it. I knew that was what I wanted to do.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
BEAUTY SECRETS / THEN & NOW
THE LASER EDITION
03
BEAUTY’S
little secrets.
Sour milk. Yes, really.
Milk baths were part of beauty routines long
before modern peels. Sour milk contains
lactic acid, which helps loosen the bonds
between surface skin cells. The smell?
Another story.
Beauty has a long history of
silence.
For generations, admitting to cosmetic
enhancement was taboo. You wanted the
result without admitting what you had done.
Shhh.
The bottles and the devices have changed. The wish is the same.
Everyone wants it.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
BBL HEROIC / COLOR CORRECTION
THE LASER EDITION
04
THE COVER-UP
gets a day off.
Years of sun can leave pigment unevenly distributed. If the
spots keep asking for concealer, BBL HEROic targets
selected brown spots and visible redness.
BROADBAND LIGHT / FILTERED IPL
A laser uses a particular wavelength. BBL HEROic uses a range of light wavelengths,
filtered for the target. Pigment absorbs the selected light and turns it into heat. The
treated pigment can darken, then gradually flake away.
The payoff: a more even-looking canvas, so your skin gets
the attention instead of the spots.
HEROic matters. Intelligent Control and motion tracking help deliver pulses consistently
as the handpiece moves. It is designed for faster, more comfortable treatments than
older BBL HERO systems. Victoria still chooses the settings.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
MOXI / TEXTURE & TONE
THE LASER EDITION
05
A LITTLE MOXI.
A smoother finish.
When the color is only part of the story, look at the surface:
dullness, uneven texture and the way makeup sits on your
skin.
1927
NANOMETERS
MOXI’s wavelength is absorbed by water in the skin. It
creates tiny zones of controlled heat near the surface,
prompting renewal as those treated cells are shed.
Non-ablative means it heats these small zones without vaporizing open
columns of skin. Fractional means it treats tiny areas and leaves skin
between them to help healing.
The result we’re working toward: a smoother feel, a fresher finish and more
even tone. A few days of that fine, sandy texture can be part of getting
there.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
HALO / WHY I BOUGHT IT
THE LASER EDITION
06
HALO.
“When I first tried HALO, I was in between offices. I had it done in my
living room, on my couch. I wasn’t really set up to love it.
But within a few days, I thought: I could never do
another laser on anybody if I didn’t buy this one.
That’s how dramatic it was. My skin felt glowy and tighter. My pores looked
different. My makeup would glide on. I knew that if I didn’t get that laser, I would
have to send people to someone who had it.
It wasn’t the best time to buy a laser, but it was truly better than anything I’d ever
used. I couldn’t tell people to have something else knowing it existed.”
DR. MELANIE PETRO
TWO WAVELENGTHS / ONE HYBRID TREATMENT
2940 nm renews the surface with tiny, shallow openings. 1470 nm creates deeper
zones of heat that support remodeling. HALO combines both in the same microscopic
treatment zones.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
BBL HEROIC + MOXI / THE COMBINATION
THE LASER EDITION
07
BETTER TOGETHER.
Seoul stacking.
One treatment for the color. Another for the finish. A
combination chosen for your skin.
BBL HEROic
+
MOXI
Brown spots + redness
Texture + tone
This is what we mean by Seoul Stacking: taking inspiration from Korean combination
treatments and choosing complementary steps with a purpose. An expert knows the
science of each treatment and what it adds.
BBL HEROic can address selected color concerns while MOXI adds fractional
resurfacing. For some skin, that pairing makes sense in one visit. For other skin,
spacing treatments is the better fit.
The goal is less covering up, a smoother finish and a result
that makes sense for you.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
BIOSTIMULATION / BEFORE THE BUZZWORD
THE LASER EDITION
08
CONTROLLED
damage.
Resurfacing lasers and chemical peels use controlled
injury to ask your skin to repair itself. Different tools, the
same repair principle.
A peel uses acid. A resurfacing laser uses energy. Both prompt renewal. Depending
on the treatment and its depth, that repair can include new collagen and remodeling.
How much we treat, and where, changes the result and the recovery.
01
THE SIGNAL
Controlled treatment tells
skin there is repair work
to do.
02
THE RESPONSE
Cells renew. With the
right treatment, collagen
remodels.
03
THE PAYOFF
Texture and skin quality
can improve gradually.
That is biostimulation: asking your own tissue to respond. Lasers
and peels were doing it long before “biostimulatory” became the
word everybody wanted on a label.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
DOWNTIME / PICK YOUR DESTINATION
THE LASER EDITION
09
HOW FAR
are we going?
Think of recovery like a trip. A little farther can mean a bigger
commitment in time and cost.
01
Lake Martin
BBL HEROIC
The close-to-home option. Usually little social downtime. Spots can look
peppery or slightly rough, then shed over about 1-2 weeks.
02
Rosemary Beach
BBL HEROIC + MOXI
Think long-weekend energy, with a buffer. Redness and a sandy feel can
linger; allow roughly 5-7 days for the surface to settle, sometimes longer.
03
Charleston
HALO
A bigger itinerary. Plan for more visible redness, swelling and bronzing.
Often about 5-7 days of visible recovery; stronger settings can need longer.
We’ll plan your recovery window and sun protection before you book around an event.
Your settings and your skin decide the timing.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
YOUR PLAN / ROOM TO CHANGE
THE LASER EDITION
10
NOTHING
off the rack.
“So I think that’s a huge advantage in this practice, is
that we actually take time with our patients.”
VICTORIA
We start with what bothers you, how much downtime fits your life and what you want
to spend. Then we keep listening as your skin responds.
Your plan keeps moving as we see
what the treatments do. If the next
best step changes, we change with
it.
Any package you buy here can be applied
toward other treatments. Buying three
sessions does not tie you to doing the same
thing three times.
Skin changes. Your plan should, too.
THE LASER EDITION11 / 12Read page 11 text
PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
VICTORIA / THE FINISHING TOUCH
THE LASER EDITION
11
THE SECRET
is her skill.
Sixteen years of experience. A lifelong interest in skin.
And yes, she is fun.
“You never know what you’re gonna get. It’s always fun.”
VICTORIA / ON WORKING WITH DR. PETRO
The machine doesn’t know your plans for next weekend. Victoria does. She connects
what you want with the device, the settings and the recovery you can manage.
I have dark skin myself, so we obsess over settings. Burns are possible with light and
laser devices. Experience, careful choices and attention during treatment help reduce
that risk. — Dr. Petro
GOOD SKIN CARE BOOKENDS THE TREATMENT
We get your skin care right before and after: what supports your skin, what takes a
break and what belongs on freshly treated skin. If we choose a PDRN topper, it is a
specific product for a specific plan.
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PETRO / THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
THE LASER EDITION
12
YOUR
CUSTOM
FITTING
Starts here.
Bring Victoria your skin.
And your calendar.
We’ll talk about what you want to see
and what you don’t want to see when
you look in the mirror.
PETRO FACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY
903 Montgomery Highway
Vestavia Hills, Alabama 35216
205.824.6334
petromd.com/contact
BBL HEROic is broadband light — the current generation of what used to be called an IPL photofacial: more power, more control, less sting, and settings for your skin rather than the factory default.
So it really doesn’t hurt at all. That’s what the difference in broadband light or BBL and traditional IPL is.
Does BBL hurt?
No numbing, no downtime beyond a little pinkness for most people. It feels like warm snaps of light and the whole face takes under half an hour.
This does not hurt. Only place I felt it I did not numb.
Can lasers be used on darker skin?
Yes. We buy lasers that are approved for and safe on dark skin, and settings are chosen for your skin, not the factory default. Light-based treatment for brown spots works best when there is contrast between the spot and the skin around it; I will tell you what to expect for yours.
So anything we do in our office definitely is approved for dark skin, because I’m going to have it.
What is the downtime?
BBL and Moxi: a day or two of pink, sometimes a little swelling, makeup the next morning. Halo: several days of rough, bronzed skin before it flakes. Contour TRL and ProFractional: a week or more, planned around your calendar.
Only thing I noticed was itching and maybe a little bit of redness, a little bit of swelling, which looked better with the swelling.
How many treatments will I need?
It depends on what we are treating. Spots and redness often show after one; collagen and texture are built in a series. You will know the plan, and the whole price of the plan, before the first one.
Do you do laser hair removal?
Yes — the Nd:YAG, which is the safe one for darker skin, in a series. Face, underarms, bikini, legs. Ask at the desk for the series price.
Who runs the laser?
I set the plan and my esthetician, Victoria, runs most of the light and laser treatments. The machine is only as good as the person holding it.
The machines can’t be as good. They can only be as good as the person.
SkinTyte uses infrared light to heat deeper skin while the contact window cools the surface. It is a non-invasive option for the appearance of mild looseness on selected areas of the face and body.
Magnified skin cross-section · select a stage to follow treatment and repair.
01 / SkinTyte
Cool the surface
The sapphire contact window provides surface cooling while the handpiece is moved over the treatment area.
02 / SkinTyte
Build dermal warmth
Repeated infrared pulses create a broader zone of heat within collagen-rich tissue. No needles or open laser channels are used.
03 / SkinTyte
Remodel over time
The thermal response is followed by gradual tissue remodeling. Firmness changes develop over a series and the months that follow.
The science, in more detail
SkinTyte is a heating treatment, not a resurfacing peel. Its infrared-rich light and repeated passes are used to build a controlled thermal effect in the dermis while cooling helps protect the epidermis. Dr. Petro selects the filter and treatment plan for the location, skin and degree of looseness.
What SkinTyte treats
Match the treatment to the change you want.
Mild looseness
Selected face, neck, arm, abdomen or other body areas where a modest change in firmness is the goal.
Low visible recovery
A choice to discuss when you want to avoid peeling or open-surface healing and are comfortable with gradual changes.
Know the limit
It does not remove excess skin or reproduce the structural change of a surgical lift.
Your treatment. Your calendar.
SkinTyte recovery. What to expect.
01
During the visit
Expect repeated warming passes with cooling at the surface. Treatment time varies with the size of the area.
02
Afterward
Temporary warmth or redness may occur. There is generally little visible recovery because the surface has not been removed.
03
Over the following months
A series is often planned. Assess firmness after time for remodeling, rather than expecting an immediate surgical-style lift.
Your questions, answered here.
Is SkinTyte the same as a brown-spot BBL treatment?
They may use the same platform, but the filter, delivery and goal differ. Pigment treatments select light absorbed by melanin; SkinTyte is used to build a broader dermal heating response.
Can SkinTyte treat the body?
Selected body areas can be treated. Dr. Petro assesses whether the concern is skin laxity, volume, fat or a combination before recommending it.
Treatment prices
SkinTyte · standard patient prices
Treatment area or option
Price
SkinTyte
$500
BBL face + SkinTyte
$700
Per treatment. Standard prices; packages and promotions are listed separately.
MicroLaserPeel removes a very thin layer of superficial skin. The depth is chosen for roughness, fine surface lines or uneven tone, allowing new surface skin to replace the treated layer.
Magnified skin cross-section · select a stage to follow treatment and repair.
01 / MicroLaserPeel
Choose a shallow depth
The plan focuses on superficial skin quality. A NanoLaserPeel is the lighter end of this resurfacing family.
02 / MicroLaserPeel
Remove a thin layer
Water absorbs the Er:YAG energy, allowing precise removal across the treated surface rather than separated deep channels.
03 / MicroLaserPeel
Allow fresh skin to emerge
The surface heals and sheds. A smoother feel and more even appearance become apparent as redness settles.
The science, in more detail
MicroLaserPeel and deeper Contour TRL resurfacing use the same Er:YAG wavelength but differ in planned depth and treatment effect. A shallow peel still removes surface tissue. It requires appropriate aftercare even when the recovery is shorter than deeper resurfacing.
What MicroLaserPeel treats
Match the treatment to the change you want.
Surface texture
Fine roughness and superficial irregularities that make skin feel less smooth.
Fine lines and tone
Selected early surface changes and uneven pigmentation after assessment.
When more is needed
Deep wrinkles, tethered scars and substantial looseness usually need a different strategy.
Your treatment. Your calendar.
MicroLaserPeel recovery. What to expect.
01
At the appointment
Skin preparation and comfort measures depend on depth and area. The laser passes over the selected surface.
02
During healing
Redness and peeling are expected. Protect the area with the prescribed skincare and let it shed without picking.
03
After the surface settles
Texture often feels smoother first. Sun protection and maintenance help preserve the result; deeper concerns may need another treatment.
Your questions, answered here.
MicroLaserPeel or MOXI?
MicroLaserPeel removes a shallow surface layer. MOXI creates separated non-ablative thermal zones. Their mechanisms and recovery are different even when both are used for tone and texture.
Can I choose the depth myself?
Dr. Petro chooses depth after assessing your skin, history and goals. A treatment name alone does not tell you how much recovery your particular plan will involve.
