Pacific Beach, San Diego · Laser hair removal and skin resurfacing
Every plan starts with the Skin Read: a nurse practitioner reads your skin type and sun history, fires one test patch, and writes down the device, the settings, the sessions and the price. Then the same nurse treats you every time.
or call (619) 555-0147
Physician-supervised. Nurse practitioner and registered nurse clinicians only. Test patch included.
The Skin Read
Three steps, and the first one is a test.
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Step 01
Read
Skin type on the six-point scale, sun history, medications and anything that changes how skin takes a laser, recorded by Leila or Dr. Vasquez. One test patch is fired on the area and you come back in forty-eight hours.
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Step 02
Plan
A written plan: which device family and wavelength, the settings range, how many sessions and how far apart, the plan price and what maintenance usually looks like after. Nothing is added at the desk.
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Step 03
Track
The same nurse at every session, standardised photographs at sessions one, four and final, and a reaction protocol you receive in writing before session one.
Published plan prices
San Diego chains sell three sessions at the desk and the rest in the room. We publish the per-session and plan prices, and the plan sets the number of sessions before you start.
Plan prices
- Hair removal, small area, plan of six
- $395
- Hair removal, full legs, plan of six
- $1,595
- IPL photofacial, series of three
- $945
- Fractional resurfacing, series of three
- $1,895
- CO2 resurfacing, one treatment
- $1,950 from
- Skin Read and test patch
- Included
Laser treatments
Each is planned at the Skin Read, tested on a patch first, priced in writing and tracked by the same nurse.
- Alexandrite and long-wavelength laser Laser hair removal Underarms, bikini line, legs, arms or back, for any skin type, with a test patch first. From $79 a session, $395 for a plan of six
- Intense pulsed light IPL photofacial Sun spots, uneven tone and diffuse redness from decades of San Diego sun. $349 a session, $945 for three
- Non-ablative fractional laser Fractional resurfacing Texture, fine lines and acne scars, without two weeks off work. $695 a session, $1,895 for three
- Fractional CO2 laser CO2 resurfacing Deeper lines, scars and sun damage, performed by the medical director, downtime stated plainly. From $1,950
- Vascular laser Redness and facial veins Redness associated with rosacea, broken capillaries and small facial veins. $395 a session
- Pigment laser and IPL Sun damage and pigment Sun spots, age spots and uneven pigment, treated with the right tool or not at all. $395 a session
Medical, in writing
A physician who writes the protocols
Dr. Helena Vasquez, MD, founded the studio, writes every setting range the nurses work to, performs the CO2 resurfacing herself, and is in the building during laser hours.
Nurse practitioner and registered nurses only
Leila Haddad, NP, does the exam and the plan. Kenji Watanabe, RN, and Danielle Brooks, RN, fire the lasers under physician supervision. Nobody else does, in line with how California regulates lasers.
A test patch before any full treatment
One patch at the planned settings, checked at forty-eight hours. If the skin reacts, the settings change or the plan changes, before anything larger is treated.
A reaction protocol you can read
What we do if skin blisters, darkens or lightens, who you call, and how fast you are seen. You receive it in writing before session one, not after something goes wrong.
Sun-season calendar
A tan changes how skin takes a laser. We plan faces and resurfacing for the low-sun months, cover-able areas for most of the year, and we wait when your skin has had sun.
Filled months suit treatment; empty months are beach months when we wait or treat covered areas only. Every plan is checked against your own sun exposure at the Skin Read.
What people say they wanted
Illustrative stories. Saltgrass is a fictional studio; these are written examples, not patient reviews.
Kenji did all seven of my sessions. He showed me the settings on the plan before each one and the photos at session four. Nobody had done that before.
I was told elsewhere that my skin was too dark for laser. Danielle did a test patch with the long-wavelength laser, waited two days, and then we started. No burns.
The plan said six sessions and $795. It was six sessions and $795.
Where our patients come from
One studio in Pacific Beach.
We see people from across San Diego. Two hours of free parking in the lot behind the building, and the bus stops on Mission Boulevard outside.
- Pacific Beach
- La Jolla
- Mission Beach
- Point Loma
- Hillcrest
- North Park
- Mission Valley
- Clairemont
4150 Mission Blvd, Suite 120, San Diego, CA 92109. Directions and hours
Will laser hair removal burn darker or tanned skin?
It can, at the wrong wavelength or settings, which is why skin type comes first. For types IV to VI we use the long-wavelength laser, we test a patch before any full treatment, and we wait if you have had sun. Our deeper-skin-tones page explains the protocol.
How many sessions will I need?
Most hair removal plans are six to eight sessions, four to eight weeks apart depending on the area, then one or two maintenance sessions a year. Resurfacing and IPL are usually planned as three. The plan gives you the number before you start.
Does it hurt?
Hair removal feels like a hot snap, like a rubber band, with cooling on the handpiece. Resurfacing feels like heat and prickling and is done with numbing cream. We say what each treatment feels like on its page and at the Skin Read, and we never promise that a laser will not be felt.
Who performs the treatment?
A nurse practitioner or a registered nurse under the supervision of our physician medical director, who is in the building. The nurse who starts your plan does every session of it.
What does it cost?
Every price is published on the pricing page as a per-session price and a plan price: small areas $79 or $395 for six, full legs $319 or $1,595, IPL $349, non-ablative fractional $695, CO2 from $1,950. The Skin Read and the test patch are included. Prices are fictional for this concept site.
Can I go to the beach between sessions?
Covered or sunscreened, yes. Treated skin should not tan for two weeks before and two weeks after a session. The sun-season calendar shows which months suit which areas, and Mateo sends you the version for your plan.
Skin Read · 30 min · complimentary
Thirty minutes with a nurse practitioner, complimentary. You leave with a written plan whether or not you book a session.