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Keep Calm I’m A Skin Therapist

You’ve got questions? I’ve got answers. So please ask away!

do this before your next facial

Raise your hand if you don’t brush or floss for months on end but still expect to have an amazing dental cleaning and amazing teeth???? SMH! Truth is both dental cleanings and facials rely on at home care. The more prepped your skin is walking into a facial the better the results you will get walking out of the facial. In addition to your at home daily skincare regimen here are 5 simple tips that will ensure you get the amazing facial results you paid for.

Take your Beauty Vitamins – When it comes to skin it really is an 80/20 rule. 80% internal nourishment via what you eat and 20% external nourishment via what you apply topically. Supplementing your diet with the necessary beauty vitamins will fortify and strengthen your skin leaving it ready to receive and support an amazing facial treatment. For great results start your beauty vitamins about a month or so before your next facial and keep taking them on a consistent basis after.
Beauty Vitamins Rock!
Don’t Over Exfoliate – Follow the directions of your exfoliant and don’t get creative or excessive. Over exfoliated skin can lead to sensitized skin. Sensitized skin limits what your facialist can or can’t do with your skin. Usage of prescription topicals can also limit your facialist. Also discuss your prescription topical usage with your facialist and physician prior to your facial. Specifically you want to know how far in advance of a facial should you refrain from using your prescription topical.
Don’t over exfoliate with this angelic beauty
Do over hydrate – Well-hydrated skin is a facialists dream! It gives us a truly open playground to advance your facial treatment. Hydrate skin is supple and moist and prepped for pretty much anything. Go overboard with hydration by applying hydrating masques, hydrating toners and moisturizers. Also limit the alcohol and caffeine please!
Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!
Say no to a Full Face of Makeup – Although cleansing is a part of the facial routine, removal of your theatrical or cirque du soleil performance makeup takes more time than what a facialists allots for cleansing your skin. More time we spend removing your mounds of war proof makeup the less time we can spend on the more important parts of the facial like exfoliating, extractions etc.
“I’m ready for my facial!”
Take an Instragramventory of your At Home Skincare – I know it’s hard to remember your at home skincare routine. so take a pic and show it to your facialist. This will help your facialist in correcting skin issues and it also will guide if necessary future skincare purchases.
Instagramvetory

Please meet my newest obsession and object of my affection, Ms. Visia. It was love at first sight when I met Ms. Visia at the Clear Clinic. In fact I fell so hard for her I was determined to buy her and bring her home! Ms. Visia is one expensive biotch! But I still love her and you should too! If you pride yourself in practicing great skincare habits you must get a Visia analysis to really see 2 things: 1) what you need to work on with your skin 2) how great your current skincare regimen really is.

The reason I must profess my love for Ms. Visia is that she is able to see the real me! She goes so deep in analyzing your skin she gives you a 3D powered visualization of the deep layers of your skin inclusive of surface and subsurface skin conditions. Now you can base your skincare product choices/repurchases on the proof in the Visia picture versus pie in the sky product claims! In short, no one can (insert NeNe voice here) “read” you like Ms. Visia can!

You can find Ms. Visia mainly at Derm offices (please call an inquire before you go). Also some skincare brands are catching on to the power of Ms. Visia by offering complimentary analysis with purchase like this natural brand I just discovered at wholefoods called Mychelle. Wherever you can seize the opportunity of a Visia Analysis take it and run with your results in hand. Check out my baseline result pics. As we can see I have to step my game up in the pores, texture and spot categories. Shortly After my Visia analysis I bumped up my glycolic usage so I will be anxious to see if my efforts were worth it or not. Till the next Skin treat!

Confession alert: I secretly delayed in posting this because I am very self- conscious about my bacne pics. But what the hell here goes everything!

Remember this question from my previous blog post –

Quick multiple-choice question: How will Renee (my name is Renee) treat her recent Bacne Breakout?

A) Dermatologist Visit

B) Lactic Acid Body Scrub

C) Glycolic Peel

D) Extractions and a Jessner Peel

E) Fraxel

F) Retin A

G) All of the Above

The answer to the above question is

G) all of the above.

Can you blame me? Do you see how bad my bacne is? Sigh.

I love specialists. I seek out my skincare providers based on his/her specialty. I do this because in life and beauty, a jack of all trades is a master of none! I don’t know about you but only Masters get my Money!

Clear Clinic, a division of Schwieger Dermatology, is a medical skincare clinic solely dedicated to the treatment of Acne. Its sort of like a luxury al la carte Acne Bar filled with acne specialist producing amazing acne clearing results. I need an acne specialist in my life so i figured I would give them a try.

When I scheduled my appointment I notified the clinic that I will blog about my experience, take pictures etc. They obliged my demands I mean after all I am a paying customer not a freeloading blogger. LOL I wish I was a freeloading blogger instead according to the IRS I’m a broke blogger.

My appointment was with a licensed physesthetician. Have you ever been to one of those? Please don’t Google it I just made it up lol. All jokes aside I saw two people during my appointment. The appointment started with a physician assistant and ended with an esthetician. Get it “physesthetician”?

Physician Assistant Emily Isenberg asked me about my concerns at which point I began my show and tell story about my skin and bacne. Emily analyzed my bacne and then called in some paparazzi to take pictures of it. Once the paparazzi left the room Emily told me her plan of approach starting with stopping the breakouts and then treating the scars. She then presented me with my options in the following order. My response to each option is listed in bold.

1. Oral Prescription – 3 month trial

No thanks. Not trying to get hooked on a script for bacne breakouts especially not before exhausting non script options. Also the script only tackles active and future breakouts. What about these scars?

2. Benxyl Peroxide Topical Prescription

Once again no thanks I’ve noticed in my skin tone benzyl peroxide promotes pigmentation and uneven complexion.

3. Glycolic Pads w/ Retin A prescription

Sounds interesting so you want me to use Retin A at night and glycolic in the day. I wasn’t aware that was kosher.

4. Extractions

Most definitely. I need those badly. Is your esthetician available to do that today? So I assume a la carte extractions means no exfoliating the skin before and masking the skin after? My assumption was indeed correct.

5. Jessner Peel

Yes!!! Now we’re talking! Let the peeling games begin! I learned about these in skin school. But never had the chance to physically experience one. Can we do that today? These peels are prescription grade peels only performed under a doctor’s supervision.

At this point I like a few of her suggestions but I really want more. So I asked Emily about Fraxel. Emily explained to me that I would be a great candidate for the Fraxel Laser Dual. This laser seems so awesome it smoothed acne scars while treating red/brown pigmentation. The before and after pics I saw for this laser had me sold. How soon can we do this, where do I sign up , oh and how much? Wellllll…WElllll…..$1500 per Fraxel Dual treatment and a minimum of 2 treatments needed making that a grand total of $3000!

God bless this woman’s patience with my inquisitive ass. After that $3000 Fraxel bomb she dropped on me I then reverted our conversation back to the previous options she already explained in detail prior to my Fraxel request. LOL #brokegirlproblems

45 minutes later we had a set bacne plan that also fit my set budget. While still in office I would get extractions and Jessner’s Peel performed by Jane Mackinnon, Licensed Esthetician. 5 days later I will begin my at home care regimen which includes the Clear Clinic Attack Back glycolic wipes in the AM and Retin A in the PM. After about a month or so if no improvement then we will consider an oral antibiotic, stronger chemical peel, and Fraxel. Emily and Jane don’t know this but I also plan on giving myself a total body lactic acid scrub to help speed up the process and stretch my pockets. Although the price of Fraxel is scary ultimately I plan on making the investment after summer probably sometime around September which will ensure the summer sun doesn’t damage my expensive investment. In treating my Bacne I choose g) all of the above just not at the same damn time!