I Tried the Moxi Laser

Derms say it treats hyperpigmentation and revitalizes skin—and works for skin types that are typically not good candidates for lasers. Here's how it went for me.

Hi, friends! As promised, I wanted to share my experience getting a Moxi laser treatment a few weeks ago. It’s not my first time trying lasers—I tried Fraxel in 2018 and had a little IPL around my jawline to treat a rosacea flare. Since then, however, I had mildly sworn off laser treatments for a while because many of them can exacerbate hyperpigmentation in certain skin types (like Asian skin).

But I’ve been curious about the Moxi laser, which claims to be safe for darker skin tones, for a while and a bunch of people have asked me about it. Then I saw that my friend (and fellow Asian-American-skin-haver) Faith Xue, the executive beauty director at the Bustle Digital Group, wrote positively about her experience with Moxi so it tipped me over into the “okay, let’s try it” category.

The Moxi is made by a company called Sciton which also makes the Halo and BBL Hero lasers (broad band light; not Brazilian Butt Lift). It’s been quite buzzy lately, becoming one of the top “tweakments” in Google search. It’s a non-ablative laser (meaning it heats up targeted tissue without destroying it which stimulates your body’s collagen production) that treats sun damage, uneven skin tone, texture and more.

The day of my Moxi laser treatment

My skin, makeup-free, the morning before the Moxi treatment

I went to Dr. Jennifer Channual, a Board Certified dermatologist at Laguna Dermatology (full disclosure: my treatment was comped). She explained what to expect and we talked through the aftercare instructions (essentially: gentle cleansing, hydration, sunscreen). The longest part of the process was waiting for the numbing cream to fully take effect. After a proper schmear, I waited for about 30 minutes. The actual laser treatment took less than ten minutes. The numbing cream must have been pretty powerful because I hardly felt anything once the laser started zapping away.

How did it feel? Oddly, it felt a little like an at-home dermaroller, like a very light, brief scraping. Nowhere near as intense as Fraxel, which had my eyes tearing up. I was curious what the Moxi would feel like without numbing cream so I asked Dr. Channual if I could try it on the back of my hand and even that didn’t hurt.

Immediately after the procedure, my face looked red (like a mild sunburn) and started getting hot. The medical assistant gave me a handheld fan which really helped to pull away some of the heat. And the doctor applied a cooling hydrogel sheet mask to bring some relief.