Peri-oral wrinkles : A challenging area to treat

So many people have this problem of barcode lines (sometimes called Smoker’s lines)
Smoker's lines or lip wrinkles need combination treatment because the cause is a combination of factors - loss of volume, muscle hyperactivity, smoking and habits such as lip biting . Multiple treatments over a long period may be necessary before achieving the desired result.- this is especially true in severe cases
Despite what many people believe, smoker's lines or vertical lines above the upper lip are quite common regardless of whether or not someone smokes. This muscle is quite strong and constricts the lips - appearence of tightly pursed lips. I usually recommend a treatment plan that combines more than one modality. Using small doses of Botox will help relax one aspect of the underlying problem--an overactive muscle
Using cosmetic dermal fillers is a nice option with or without Botox and offers more longevity. An excellent filler to use is the iconic Restylane Vital Pen Injector. The technique for fillers above the vermillion border is important to provide a natural, appealing appearance. Chemical Peels as well as Medical micro needling is also an excellent treatment to improve the texture of the skin. This area benefits from combination treatment.


Also it is important to restore volume to the actual lip and peri-oral area using dermal fillers such as Restylane and Perlane

Smooth-skinned and Fresh-faced

YES! Onward to a grammatically correct blog post! For the most part at least.

Shiny Happy Faces

Singing the praises of Chemical Peels

Tra-la-la-la Alpha Hydroxy Acid doo-bee-dooooo(singing in high C . . . badly) .Last Friday, I got my monthly chemical peel fix. Yey!

 What peel am I having done at the spa? I have been having RégimA “peel and heels” (check out http://www.regima.com/). A series of mild glycolic acid (alpha hydroxy acid) peels starting out at a concentration of 20% to 40%. For the first 3 months I went in for a peel every two weeks and now I go in once in month (this is dictated more by time constraints). There really wasn’t any downtime and with a series of peels my skin feels much softer, is more radiant, the pore size has reduced and skin is even.

Although these peels are superficial the cumulative results are quite good. With any peeling programme, excellent at home care is crucial to the success of the treatment. Don’t be tempted to cut corners here because you’ll be doing yourself a disservice. You are in it for the long haul. Sure you get quick fixes with trade –offs (think Phenol peels – beware brown people! More on that later).There is an impressive array of peeling products, well-researched product ranges and treatments out there that I’ll delve deeper into with my next few blog posts.

Back to that leisurely Friday. After a productive and informative meeting with Ilze, the rep from Conquest Surgical, I made my way to Somologica Day Spa and arrived  quite early for my appointment with Kim ( the super somotologist). “Be with you in a minute Anjana” Yey”. I flopped onto their comfy, floopy couches. Finding it difficult to look elegant while being sucked into the snug sofa I inelegantly got to my feet (in heels) and made my way to the impressively stocked product display.

I surreptitiously made my way to the mesmerizing Nimue display, slinking past Guinot and RegimA. I was scanning the shelves for the new Nimue Glycolic peel product when something else caught my eye - a big square box advertising the Nimue dermaroller. Mental note to self "I must ask Kim,doyenne of Somologica, what this is about because I've seen this contraption somewhere else". I poked the box, for the life of me I still cannot tell you why. After ogling the booster serums hypnotic colours and pretending to intently scrutinize the shrine-like shelves of Nimue, I pseudo-purposefully took a few pamphlets so it might appear that I wasn't just aimlessly eyeballing the Nimue display.

I turned around and lo! The salon owner is looking straight at me and took a few steps toward me. "Whoa,did she see me poke the box?"I grinned my manical, Cheschire cat grin hoping to look charming.She looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Aren't you the Botox lady?" "Yes!" (me being relieved) "So tell me how it works . . .".

Phew, so after that almost Spa Faux Pas I was grateful when Kim led me to her treatment room. As always , she had to remind me to take off my jewelery. Kim left the room so I could get into the velcro towel wrap. For Spa newbies or the completely uninitiated Spa non-bie this towel wrap is like a sarong-like boobtube top secured by a velcro strip. Usually it's comfy and protects "your modesty" but it was super-squeezy that day. Yikes!



Something like that, but not so pose-worthy



 While the peel was on, Kim and I were laughing about the Nimue poking. "Defector!". RegimA is an awesome product and I'll never part with my RegimA Quantum Elastin (awesome cream) but I have been thinking about other peels like the Nimue chemibrasion.

 So Kim showed me the Nimue dermaroller system which improves skin texture by means of collagen induction (will show you how in my dermaroll post).






This is a dermaroller




Looks innocuous hey?So how does this stimulate collagen and increase product absorption then? With all those tiny micro-needles on the roller (Bwaahhahahhahah -evil laugh)  . . .more on that in the dermaroller post.


 After discussing the derma-roller and Nimue chemibrasion - I thought " M m m m m I'm so going to try that". Must gather Moola $$$$$. I've seen great results with the chemibrasion on my sister but it is definitely a more hectic peel even though it is classed as superficial.


Peels aren't as scary as they sound, they won't burn a hole through your face - Kim and I were chatting while the peel was on my face before the soothing mask .They are a worthwhile (if not essential!),relatively cost effective (RegimA is R450 up) way of keeping your skin looking good.


Besides facial peels you can do full body peels and also peel your hands to rejuvinate your skin and improve skin tone.Start small with mild glycolic peels like a 20% RegimA but be certain that your therapist has training with that product and find someone that you can trust.


You also get some super mild at-home peels. I've used a product from Gatineau for a flash-fresh up.

The Kit comes with a peel, an after care serum (I just use the Quantum) and SPF15. It's very mild , I once fell asleep with it on (daft I know) during the Face of Sutra contest and had no adverse effects. If it there is peeling the next day it's usually very localized and minor.It's a nice product but to see good results you can't use it sporadically - that will be a total waste of your moola $.  DISCLAIMER!DISCLAIMER!DISCLAIMER! : You may have a super-duper hypersensitive skin.Please do not use peels if you are on Acne medication like Roaccutane or topical prescription strength Retin-A and do not use peels  until you have at least stopped using the medication for at least 6 weeks.These medications make your skin extremely sensitive.

Okay , moving on after the precaution -So fresh-faced and shiny (due to the RegimA myo-relax serum)  I left the spa happy.Yey! On the first day of the RegimA peel (20-40%) , you look very shiny and super smooth and super bronze and you peel a bit the next day (depending how your skin reacts and how long the peel was on) but relatively mildly.

 

Quick note : I want this blog to become educational and interactive so along with me entertaining you about all the remarkable,daft and exciting things I do to myself and other people (Botox, fillers etc.) in the pursuit of looking and feeling good I will also take a crack at educating you about what’s out there. So this week there will be a series of posts on the different chemical peels,dermarollers as well as some info on some of the products out there.  I'll give pre- and post care tips as well as precautions.


There is also a controversial topic I want to dig into before the week is up -crazy stuff!

A sheepish apology and a Chemical peel

I offer my sincere apologies for the atrocious grammatical errors that may have popped up in the blog posts. I am going to blame:

Ø  Me reading way too much Lol.cats

Ø  Text messaging

Ø  Tweeting

Ø  Watching too much of The Style Network channel

Ø  Being out of school too long ( even though I got the English prize and an A+ in matric back then , you’ll never say that now)

Ø  Wits Med School – short hand notes with multi-colour pens, losing the ability to write legibly, learning ‘ having no sense of banking’ and speaking and writing jargon

Ø  Google – where you can type in any trash and you will get what you’re looking for.

Oh well, whatever! I’ll try and be better now. Also in the unending  quest to snazz up and improve my blog I will be experimenting  with HTML , widgets and gadgets. Please do not be alarmed if the blog takes on crazy shapes or falls off the page – it’s just a minor , fixable calamity resulting from me fearlessly exploring HTML code. So to exciting times ahead!

Now on to something completely different . Tomorrow I am going for my long awaited chemical peel. My skin needs it! It’s an awesome treatment for your skin provided you use the correct peel and have a great therapist. I had my first peel in 2008 and it made my skin look awesome! So more on chemical peels  in the next post.