My Path to Perfect Skin

The relationship I have with my skin is complicated. How could it not be? We are told that as we age, we must pursue aesthetic perfection with a fervour that inevitably grows with each passing year. But lately, I have experienced a kind of dissonance when looking at my reflection. Who is she? I ask myself, gazing at the dark circles and once-luminous complexion. At thirty-one years old and with two (wonderful) children at home I couldn't help feeling like my prime was behind me. (Something I know is propelled by our deeply-embedded and wildly unrealistic beauty standards but indulge me.) I had also, while working on VEIL, been discussing the concept of 'bridal skin' ad nauseam with friends, couples and skin experts to understand how those preparing for an event as significant as their wedding were thinking about their appearance. Why was it such a focus, what could be done, and how long would it take?

My own insecurities aside, I think it is easy to pass off our obsession with 'wedding-perfect skin' as vanity. But what I heard from others was less about an aesthetic pursuit and more about a feeling. The feeling of wanting to be the best version of themselves on such a memorable and significantly life-altering day. That, I understood. Because when I thought about how I felt, it was sharp, alive and purposeful, but my skin told a different story. And so, for the first time, I decided to change the conversation.

Enter Clinic1. Walking into the College Hill clinic felt like stepping through the looking glass. I met with the Co-Owner, Olga King, in one of her treatment rooms. Her calm, precise and reassuring manner gave me immediate hope, and she asked me what I wanted, not what I feared. “To feel alive again,” I told her with a laugh, “glowing and clear.” She listened, then carefully set out a plan, thoughtfully, personally — each detail in service of the whole.

We would begin, she told me, with three rounds of BBL and Moxi: the perfect duet. BBL, harnessing light to target pigment, redness and uneven tone; Moxi, refining the surface, softening fine lines, brightening texture. Together, they promised to coax my skin back into clarity, to switch the light on again. Alongside this, exploring subtle injectable treatments that could prevent or boost or correct. And, month by month, facials. My first was the clinic’s HydraSilk, and the glow it delivered was immediate. It was as though I had been living behind a foggy mirror, and someone had finally come with a cloth to clear the condensation.

But through it all, Olga made one thing clear: this was not a fixed prescription, it was an ongoing dialogue. “Your skin will tell us what it needs,” she said. The plan would shift, evolve, grow with me. And there was something that felt both scientific and poetic in that approach, something that made me feel less like a sell-out to mainstream culture and more like someone seeking out change in their life — like picking up a new hobby or going to the gym.

Ultimately what sets Clinic1 apart and what makes them particularly perfect for anyone seeking a pre-wedding glow up is their insistence on nuance. They offer one of the most diverse ranges of treatments in New Zealand and yet the experience never feels generic. Each journey is bespoke, shaped around the individual, designed not to erase time but to restore balance. And it is completely driven by you.

For me, this journey is less about chasing perfection and more about alignment — allowing the woman I see in the mirror to look and feel as luminous as the one I know inside.

So here I am, at the beginning. Three rounds of BBL and Moxi, monthly facials, subtle refinements, an evolving plan. It is my skin story, and I will share it as it unfolds. Follow along — because the most powerful transformations are never one-size-fits-all. They are personal, they are bespoke, and at Clinic1 it seems, they are entirely yours.