Hello! I am so excited to share the second part of my skincare journey with you today! I posted back in December about my
microneedling experience I had with
Annie Bruno over at
Hobgood Facial Plastic Surgery, and today I am going to share my Photofacial experience with you! Now that we are well into the month of January 2017 many of us have set resolutions or goals to reach this year. How about looking younger? Or taking care of your skin?! YES PLEASE! I have learned it is SO important to have good skin care. I am no spring chicken anymore, and that 3 minutes in the sun does do damage. Take a look at my journey of photofacials and how it has changed my life!
Date: October 26th, 2016: no make-up and pre at home skin regiment + pre facial treatments.
Here is a little description on photofacials and who/what the benefit:
Intensed Pulse Light Treatments (also known as photofacials) are one of the most effective treatments available for sun damage (brown spots), broken blood vessels (capillaries), skin tightening, and evening out the complexion of the skin. Photofacials are most effective when done every 4-6 weeks because of the skin’s natural cell turnover cycle, and every patient is different for the amount of treatments necessary. Depending on how much damage the patient has, how deep the pigment penetrates, and what the patient’s ideal baseline is can alter the treatment pathway.
My first facial was sure interesting! It was quick (maybe 10 minutes total!) Annie sat me down and explained the procedure in detail. After going over any questions I had she laid me on the chair, covered my face with this gel like substance and went to work. I wore these glasses for eye protection (just like the dentist) and then felt a cold bar against my face. Annie did a patch test first to make sure my skin would react correctly and the voltage wasn't too high. It felt like little quick zaps against my face. Nothing that hurt just startled me each time it went off. I of course jumped like a baby!
There is zero downtime for the treatment. I left feeling a little hot all over (she also treated my chest) but by the time I arrived home I felt fine. I moisturized a little more than usual and my skin felt tight but other than that no side affects. As a few days passed I could see the damaged areas of my face start to get darker and come to the surface.
Here is a before and two weeks after photo. As you can see in the second photo my skin looks worse! I freaked out for a minute and immediately called Annie. She was excited, saying "thats great progress" which means all the damaged pigment is coming to the surface and will eventually "fall off"! Looks like I had more damage than I originally thought.
I had my second treatment on November 22nd, almost one month after the first. Nice and quick session and my skin reacted amazing. It wasn't as dry or red after the second treatment.
Above in a before and 2 weeks after my 2nd photofacial. In this photo I could really see the results of my skin and the dark spots disappearing especially under my eyes and tops of my cheeks (where the sun hits often!). My skin looks and feels so much healthier, it is tight, firm, and the overall tone is becoming consistent. I don't have as many dark spots or "redness" that I tend to be insecure about.
My third and final photofacial was right before Christmas on December 20th, 2016. This last photo was taken again 2 weeks after the treatment so I could show the results after the color pigment had fallen off. I took my mom to my last appointment since she was so interested in seeing how the photofacial treatments worked. After the treatment was finished my mom kept saying, "Annie, it looks like Stesha is wearing make up! Her face is so even!" As you can see, almost ALL of my brown skin kisses have disappeared, my chest is looking so even, no broken capillaries (which reduces redness!) and all over consistent skin tone.
I can't tell you enough how these photofacials have changes my life. May sound dramatic, really changed my life? But yes! I used to be so self conscious about going make up free but now I almost feel more comfortable with out face make up on. I won't lie I definitely do still get full face ready but not nearly as much as I used too. I do however always make sure to load on the sunscreen. With all this work done to remove my sun kisses, it really only takes one time with no sunscreen to get them back. I am currently using a PCA tinted sunscreen in SPF 40 that Annie recommended.
I mentioned in my previous post about
microneedling my skin care at home regiment but here it is again. I LOVE all these products, the eye cream is amazing (used it night and day). The Vitamin C + E is so soft and it tingles your problem areas so you really feel it working. Retinal, I use at night but since I have extra sensitive skin I only use about 3 times a week and I mix it with my moisturizer. Finally the Lytera extremely helps with the dark spots, I use it all over but make sure to really target any brown areas I see!
Thank you for following along on my skincare journey! It has been such a treat working with Annie from Dr. Hobgood's practice. If you have any questions at all or want a complimentary skin care consultation with Annie Bruno, RN please call 480.214.9955. Mention this post during scheduling and receive your first photofacial treatment for 50% off by mentioning this post. Trust be you will be addicted and going back for more!
