I went for my first ClearLift treatment. It's a laser treatment and in about 4 months, I might notice a bit of lifting and firming. If I do, I will rename it the ClearMiracle treatment. All the literature (of course) and most of the reviews said it does lift. We're not talking face lift territory, so don't get all excited. It's a series of three treatments, each one month apart. I bought a Groupon. Groupon is fabulous for any face treatment kind of thing whether it is Botox or a chemical peel. Do a search on Groupon for pricing in your area.
I really need IPL treatments but I don't like pain. I have a very low threshold for pain. For example, I started asking for an epidural in my 7th month of pregnancy. Then I bought a t-shirt to wear to the hospital that read Epidural Now! Extra Strength! I'd rather not think about that.
The worst part of the ClearLift treatment was the smell. A little like burning hair and a little like the inside of a car repair garage. Most reviews said that the client would not feel anything. Well, I will disagree. I barely felt anything but I did feel it. If you took the tip of your fingernail and tapped it lightly (don't leave a dent!) on your forehead, that kind of quick snap. The aesthetician moves the laser, which is blinking (another scientific term I use) across your face in a grid pattern, takes about 20 minutes. Science behind it is the laser frequency doesn't effect top layers of skin but does heat up (burn?) the layers beneath. When skin is damaged in any way, it reacts by creating collagen. You know that scab? That's a whole lot of collagen! The more collagen in your skin, the firmer and stronger it will be.
I asked the aesthetician what is the procedure to remove red capillaries. IPL. Age spots? IPL. Does it hurt? She said you definitely feel it. Ok, in my mind that is a yes. We talked about it so that I could understand the level of pain. Like the ClearLift, it is done all over the face. I'm not sure I could take pain all over my face for 20 minutes. Tracey, the aesthetician, said if I was up for it, she could give me one sample snap of the IPL either before or after my ClearLift. At first I said no and then I thought about it and decided to go ahead and do a test run after my ClearLift. The intensity (aka pain in my book) can be adjusted. With lower intensity it might take more treatments but results would be the same in the long run. I asked her to set it to average, whatever that is. She set it in the average range but a tiny bit on the lower side. To the best of my ability, I warned her about my possible reaction.
Holy smokes! How do you ladies do it? She chose the age spot on the left side of my cheek. She explained it would turn down, like scab but not feel like a scab and eventually fade back to normal but with the age spot lighter. It turned dark that night! Tracey was quite the trooper, she didn't laugh at me at all.
I'm in a beauty group and one of the posters (thank you Karen!) said she gets IPL treatments and everyone is always commenting on how creamy her skin looks. No age spots, no capillaries. I started looking around on Groupon. I'm thinking the clinic would match the price. Thanks to Karen, I'm getting braver. But then do I have black spots all over my face as the age spots go through their transformation? I have a career outside the house but I can work from home depending on my schedule. There is no way concealer or foundation would cover this. It's just about black, a very dark brown. Like coffee without cream. Once again, for pricing I suggest doing a search on Groupon.
Nail Polish News
My heart be still. Do you have a certain color of nail polish you are drawn to? I don't necessarily mean your favorite. My favorite nail polish color is a warm, medium pink cream, leaning slightly bright. OPI Elephantastic Pink comes to mind. But I'm drawn to greige colors and deep smoky plums. I found a beautiful dark smoky plum this week. I'm not sure the color will come across as true. The color is New Oxford Street by Nails, Inc.
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| Nails Inc New Oxford Street |
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| Biore UV SPF 50 Face Milk |
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Hi Lulu,
ReplyDeleteThe dark "scabs" can be covered up fairly easily with a powdered mineral foundation (eg. BE). They usually go away within a week. I, too, work from home! I felt like I had to explain myself to people so they wouldn't worry about what was going on with my face. I also found out the lighter the spot, the harder it is sometimes to get rid of (multiple treatments). It's because it's deeper under the skin. I actually had to have one layered off because IPL did not do the trick. If you do it,please make sure you go to an experienced person. They may put the settings too high and could cause scarring (didn't have that problem). Just a few worlds of advice!
PS--Love you blog!