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Medical-Grade Skincare at AARVA
Clearer, more even, better-behaved skin, from a routine short enough to keep up
About Medical-Grade Skincare
Medical-grade skincare means professional ranges with active ingredients at strengths chosen to change how the skin behaves, not just how it feels. Used in the right order and at the right strength, a home routine can help acne, melasma, pigmentation and sun damage, dull, uneven skin and enlarged pores, dehydrated skin and the fine skin under the eyes. At Aarva we work mainly with Mesoestetic and ZO Skin Health, and add prescription creams where appropriate, after consultation.
Your routine at Aarva is built by Dr Shivani Malhotra, a practising GP who leads our skin and regenerative medicine, in our practice on Midland Drive, Royal Sutton Coldfield. Skin that will not settle often has a medical story behind it, from hormones to medicines to an underlying skin condition, so a doctor looks at that before choosing a single product. It is common to leave with fewer products than you arrived with. You leave your consultation with a written treatment plan with clear pricing.
“What you do at home every day matters more than anything we do in clinic a few times a year. I would rather get your routine right first, because everything we do in clinic works better on top of it.”
Is Medical-Grade Skincare Right for You?
Likely a good fit if you:
- have breakouts, pigmentation, melasma, dullness or dehydrated skin that shop-bought products have not shifted
- have a shelf of products and no idea which ones are helping
- are about to have, or have just had, a peel or laser treatment and want your skin prepared and protected
Probably not the right first step if you:
- have severe or scarring acne, which may need medical treatment through our private GP service first
- mainly want to soften deep lines, scars or loose skin, where a routine supports treatment but will not do enough alone
- want a visible change in a week, as skincare works over months
Not sure which side you are on? That is exactly what the consultation is for.
Medical-Grade Skincare Before and After
Real Aarva patients, photographed in the same light and at the same angle, three months after their last session. No filters, no retouching.
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
FACE · PATIENT A
FACE · PATIENT B
Every patient is different. These images show what happened for them, not a promise of what will happen for you. Shared with each patient’s written consent.
Our Promise to You
The standards every Aarva patient can expect, whatever they come in for.
- You see a doctor before any routine is planned.
- You get a written treatment plan to take away, with clear pricing, so you can go ahead on the day or decide in your own time. There is no pressure to buy on the day.
- We will tell you if new skincare will not help, even if that means keeping what you already use.
- If something does not feel right afterwards, a doctor sees you.
- Your consultation is time with a doctor, set aside just for you.
From First Conversation to Follow-Up
Four simple steps, with the same doctor-led care from your first message to your follow-up.
Tell us what is bothering you
Request an appointment online or get in touch. Bring or photograph the products you use now, so we can see what to keep.
See a doctor from the start
A GP takes your history, examines your skin in good light and looks for anything medical behind it. You leave with a written treatment plan with clear pricing.
Your treatment
Your routine is written down step by step, morning and evening, with the order to use each product and how to build up the strong ones. We show you how much to use before you leave.
We follow you up
A named person to call if your skin reacts. We review you at six to eight weeks against your starting photographs, and adjust or step products down as your skin improves.
Why a Doctor Plans Your Skincare
Every routine at Aarva is planned by Dr Shivani Malhotra, GP, who leads skin and regenerative medicine. Because we are GPs as well as skin doctors, we can see what a counter cannot: a contraceptive pill that may be feeding your breakouts, a medicine that makes you more sensitive to sun, or a pregnancy plan that rules out certain ingredients.
Mesoestetic is a Spanish pharmaceutical laboratory and the maker of Cosmelan. Its home ranges cover pigmentation, ageing, sensitive and oily skin, with daily sun protection designed to work alongside them. We often use Mesoestetic for melasma and pigmentation, for skin that reacts easily, and to keep results going after Cosmelan or a peel.
ZO Skin Health was developed by dermatologist Dr Zein Obagi. Its routines are built around exfoliation, retinol and antioxidants, often at higher strengths, and suit many people with acne, oiliness, sun damage and early signs of ageing. Stronger ZO routines can cause a settling-in period of dryness, flaking and redness for a few weeks, so we build them up slowly and tell you what to expect.
Some skin needs more than a cosmetic range can give. Where appropriate, and only after a face-to-face consultation with a prescriber, we may add a prescription cream for acne, pigmentation or signs of sun damage. We explain the benefits, the side effects and the alternatives, and review you before any repeat.
Skincare is the base of most treatment plans at Aarva. It prepares skin for chemical peels, iS Clinical Fire & Ice and LaserMe, and protects the result afterwards.
Why Patients Choose Aarva
Questions Patients Ask About Medical-Grade Skincare
Cannot see your question? Our doctors are happy to talk it through at your consultation.
It usually means professional ranges sold through doctors and skin clinicians rather than on the high street, with active ingredients chosen and dosed to change how the skin behaves. The label matters less than the plan: the right actives, at the right strength, in the right order, for your skin.
Many shop-bought products contain good ingredients at gentler strengths. Professional ranges often use stronger or better-studied forms, and come with advice on how to introduce them. The biggest difference is that a doctor chooses what you use, and what you stop using.
It can help acne and breakouts, melasma, pigmentation and sun damage, dullness and enlarged pores, dehydrated or sensitive skin, and fine lines, including the delicate skin under the eyes. It also prepares skin before peels and laser, and helps protect the result.
It suits most adults who want their skin to behave better and are happy to use a routine every day. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning a pregnancy, some ingredients are not suitable and we adapt your routine. Severe or scarring acne may need medical treatment first.
Yes, with care. Darker skin is more likely to darken after irritation, so we choose gentler routes into strong actives and put daily sun protection at the centre of your routine. Pigmentation in darker skin often responds well to a patient, steady plan.
Dryness, flaking, redness, tingling and a few extra spots in the first weeks are common while skin adjusts to retinol or acids. Occasionally the skin becomes irritated or more sensitive to sun. A true allergic reaction is rare. If your skin reacts, you call us and we adjust your routine.
A GP takes your history, examines your skin in good light, takes starting photographs and looks at what you already use. You leave with a written routine, a price and time to decide. There is no pressure to buy on the day.
With some routines, yes. Stronger retinol and exfoliating routines, particularly from ZO Skin Health, can cause a few weeks of dryness, flaking and redness before skin settles. We build strength up slowly, and you can carry on with work and make-up throughout.
Skin often feels smoother within a few weeks. Changes to breakouts, pigment and tone usually take 8 to 12 weeks, because skin renews itself slowly. Melasma can take longer and needs daily sun protection to hold its gains.
That depends on your skin, not the brand. We often reach for Mesoestetic for melasma, pigmentation and reactive skin, and ZO for oily, acne-prone or sun-damaged skin that can tolerate stronger actives. Many routines mix both.
Often, yes. Bring them with you. We keep what is working, remove what is fighting your routine, and only add what fills a gap.
Medical-grade skincare is available at Aarva on Midland Drive, Royal Sutton Coldfield, a short drive from Four Oaks, Walmley, Erdington, Lichfield, Tamworth and north Birmingham. Parking is available nearby.
A skincare consultation at Aarva is priced individually, with course pricing where it helps. Products are priced individually, and your written plan shows the cost of your full routine before you buy anything. Skincare bought at Aarva also earns points in the Aarva Circle.
Come With the Problem, Not the Treatment
You do not need to know which serum or which brand is the answer. Tell a doctor what is bothering you, and you will leave with an honest view of what will help, and what will not.
Conditions we treat with Medical-Grade Skincare: Under-eye hollows and dark circles · Melasma · Pigmentation and sun damage · Acne and breakouts · Dull, uneven skin and enlarged pores · Dehydrated, tired-looking skin
Related treatments: Cosmelan · Chemical peels · iS Clinical Fire & Ice · LaserMe