How We Decide What Is Safe for Your Skin: The Rules Behind Every Treatment Plan
Every facial, peel, laser and device treatment at AI Aesthetics is planned by a treatment engine that reads your AI skin analysis, your history and your answers, and applies a written set of rules before any step is chosen. The rules were written by Dr. Aakriti Mehra for Indian skin in a Jaipur climate, and they are the reason a therapist here will sometimes tell you that the treatment you booked is not happening today.
We publish them because clients deserve to know why, and because a clinic that will say no is the only kind worth trusting with your face. This page sets out the rules in plain language: what each one checks, what it withholds, and what happens instead.
Content verified by Dr. Aakriti Mehra · Last reviewed October 2026 Editorial policy
AI Skin Analysis — the scan that feeds these rules →
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Why rules, and not just judgement
A good therapist’s judgement is essential, and it is not enough on its own: it varies with the day, the client’s insistence and the clinic’s sales targets. Written rules applied by the planning engine mean the same exclusion is applied to the same risk every time, by every therapist, whether or not the client is a friend, a bride in a hurry or a regular. The doctor still confirms every plan and can override a rule with a documented reason; the rule cannot be quietly ignored.
The history rules: what you tell us
| If you report | The engine withholds | What happens instead |
|---|---|---|
| More than two hours of daily sun exposure | The Q-switched laser; medium and deep peels | Sun protection plan, gentle peels and facials; corrective work once exposure is under control |
| Travel or an event within the next seven days | Medium and deep peels; energy-device treatments | A no-downtime facial — hydradermabrasion, enzyme peel, LED — timed for the event |
| Exfoliating acids used in the past day | Further exfoliation that day | Hydration and calming steps; exfoliation at the next visit |
| Retinol in the past 24 hours | Aggressive exfoliation, peels and abrasion | A gentler protocol; the client is asked to stop retinol before the next session |
| A laser treatment within the past seven days | Everything except RF, LED, hydradermabrasion and barrier support | Barrier-first care until the week is over |
| Pregnancy | All energy-based devices including LED, all acid peels, injectables, laser hair removal, IV wellness drips | The hydradermabrasion system plus the two gentlest enzyme-based peels, and barrier care |
| Blood thinners | All but gentle exfoliation; scalp and skin injections reviewed by the doctor | Gentle protocols; the doctor assesses anything involving needles or heat |
| Age under 30 or over 60 | HIFU, unless the doctor documents a clinical indication | RF and skin-quality treatments under 30; thread lift or a surgical opinion over 60 |
| Photosensitising medication, isotretinoin, recent facial surgery | Lasers, peels and devices as appropriate | Deferred until the doctor clears it |
HIFU — why the 30-to-60 rule exists →
Pumpkin enzymes — one of the two peels permitted in pregnancy →
The scan rules: what your skin tells us
The AI skin analysis scores barrier health, hydration, redness, oil, pores and pigmentation, and the engine reads those scores as gates on the energy devices and the exfoliating steps.
- A severely compromised barrier — flaking, strong redness, very low hydration — denies all energy devices and all but the gentlest exfoliation that day; the session becomes a barrier-repair session
- A barrier in the caution band reduces the energy and the number of passes on any device, and swaps acid exfoliation for enzyme exfoliation
- A facial surface temperature of 36.9 °C or more on arrival blocks every heat-based device for that visit — RF, HIFU, lasers — because heat on already-hot skin is how pigmentation and burns begin; you will be asked to cool down and rescan, or rebooked
- Freshly tanned skin, read by the scan or seen by the therapist, is never abraded, peeled at corrective strength, or lasered
- Active, inflamed acne withholds abrasion and extraction of inflamed lesions; the salicylic spot rule applies instead
The treatment-selection rules
- One hero: every session has one corrective modality chosen for the main concern — a peel, the carbon laser, RF, hydradermabrasion — with the other steps in support. Two correctives at full strength are not stacked in one session on Indian skin.
- Energy versus peel: when both could address a concern, the engine weighs the barrier score, pigmentation risk and recovery time, and a peel is preferred over heat on a reactive, pigment-prone face.
- Combination over escalation: a gentler step combined with support (LED, infusion, barrier care) is preferred over a stronger step alone.
- Mandelic is not a default: the gentlest acid is chosen when sensitivity or pigmentation risk calls for it, not as a routine substitute for a peel that would work better.
- Salicylic spot rule: on active acne, salicylic acid is applied as a targeted spot treatment to lesions rather than as whole-face aggression that inflames the surrounding skin.
- The Q-switched laser is never used as a standalone treatment for active acne.
- Every facial ends with serum, moisturiser and sunscreen applied in clinic, regardless of what came before.
Mandelic acid — the gentle acid, and why it is never a default →
The IV rules
- No wellness IV in pregnancy or breastfeeding
- No IV with kidney disease, heart failure, active infection or fever, or uncontrolled blood pressure
- No high-dose vitamin C with G6PD deficiency or a history of kidney stones
- Glutathione discussed, and given slowly with observation if at all, in asthma
- Diabetes, thyroid and anticoagulant medication recorded and the composition reviewed by the doctor
- Nothing pre-mixed; single-use kit; a therapist present for the whole infusion
What a rule looks like in the room
A client books a carbon facial before a wedding in five days. The engine reads the event date and withholds the laser; the therapist explains, and the session becomes a hydradermabrasion facial two days before the function, which is what the week needed. A client arrives for a pigmentation peel in May after a week of outdoor work; the scan shows a fresh tan and the sun question exceeds two hours; the peel is withheld, a sun plan is written, and the course starts in July. A client at 28 asks for HIFU because a friend had it; the rule says no, the doctor agrees, and an RF course does the job at a fifth of the cost. None of these is a lost sale. Each is a face that did not get a mark.
Overrides and review
Dr. Aakriti Mehra can override any rule with a documented clinical reason — a HIFU candidate at 29 with marked laxity, a peel for a client whose ‘sun exposure’ is through a tinted office window. Overrides are recorded, not improvised. The rules themselves are reviewed as the evidence and the clinic’s experience change, and this page is updated when they do; the last-reviewed date is shown at the top.
Frequently asked questions
Why was my treatment changed when I arrived?
Because a rule applied: most often sun exposure, a tan, an event within seven days, retinol use in the past day, or a barrier or temperature reading on the scan. The therapist should have explained which; if not, ask, and the plan will be shown to you.
Can I sign a waiver and have the treatment anyway?
No. The rules exist to prevent harm to your skin, not to protect the clinic. The doctor can override a rule with a clinical reason; a client’s insistence is not one.
Why is LED excluded in pregnancy when it is harmless?
Because in pregnancy we use only what is positively established as safe, not merely what has no evidence of harm. A pregnant client loses little by skipping a calming light step and gains a protocol with no asterisks.
What is the facial temperature rule?
If your facial surface temperature reads 36.9 °C or more on arrival, heat-based devices are withheld for that visit. Heat on already-hot skin raises burn and pigmentation risk. You will be asked to cool down and rescan, or rebooked for a morning slot.
Why will you not do HIFU under 30?
Below thirty the structural layer HIFU tightens has rarely loosened enough for the treatment to help, so the money buys discomfort for little return. RF and skin-quality treatments serve better, and the rule prevents a sale that would not have been in your interest.
Do the rules apply to the doctor’s injectable treatments?
Yes, with the doctor’s own assessment on top: pregnancy, anticoagulants, bleeding disorders, active infection, recent procedures and unrealistic expectations all defer or exclude botox, fillers, boosters and thread lift.
