Julie’s journey to having her best skin! The perfect skin & color formula
July 31, 2016
I am so excited to get started on a new skin care adventure with Skin Perfect! I’d lost faith in the products I had been using and as a new member of the 40 and over club, I’d pretty much resigned myself to the fact that acne and dull skin were my destiny.
I arrived at Skin Perfect to meet Ashlee on a Saturday afternoon. I completed a more extensive than normal questionnaire for a spa and I was off to start the skin evaluation. Ashlee cleansed my skin and removed the miniscule amount of make up I managed to throw on between my workout, shower and race out the door. We then went back up to the front of the spa for “pictures.” Although I was unprepared, this is where the amazing begins at Skin Perfect.
I set my face inside a small white box, right next to a few very powerful appearing light bulbs. She told me to close my eyes and hold still until I saw the flash that looked like a bulb burning out. It was quick and painless, but what followed, not so much. Before I knew it, I was examining two photos of myself, both of which revealed the not so pleasant truth about my skin. Starting with the good news, the collagen and elastin in my face is at a good level. That means fewer lines and wrinkles. There was less bacteria then I expected, considering the regularity of my breakouts. Next, we looked at the red areas that started at the bridge of my nose and finished at the bottom of my chin. She told me that is inflammation and was the result of the products I’d been using. Finally, we looked at the brown spots that littered my t-zone. Undeniably sun damage. It was not as bad as I was expecting, but still very unsettling to see. The most interesting thing the photos revealed was that my skin is completely dehydrated. Ashlee saw this almost immediately. Dehydrated and breaking out? And 40? Yep.
We proceeded back to the treatment room to get started. Step one was dermaplane. If you’ve never had it, text me and I will send you Ashlee’s number. Although it might sound a bit daunting to have an esthetician run a scalpel across your face, it is completely worth it. When she was done, my skin was softer and smoother than it was on the day I was born. If you are a skin care junkie like me, you’ve tried every product on the market in attempts to find that perfectly exfoliated face. It is a delicate balance between soft and smooth and turning into a roma tomato. Dermaplane is, by far, the most amazing exfoliation out there. Ashlee removed the top layer of skin cells, which disproved part of my self diagnosed skin destiny: glowing skin…on my face.
Extractions were next. If you, like me, are 40+ and breakout on a regular basis, you feel my pain. The moment I walked though the doors of Hastings Middle School, my skin started breaking out. And it hasn’t taken a break since. My sixty something mother frequently tries to “make me feel better,” by telling me she still breaks out from time to time (misery loves company, right?) and by reassuring me oily skin means fewer wrinkles (so we can budget less for Botox). Before Ashlee got started, we discussed milia. Those pesky white spots that appear to be a breakout, but are really a collection of yuck under your skin. If you’ve ever tried to remove them yourself you know, its not easy and it doesn’t ever end well. I have quite a few. After two tough extractions by the professional, we decide to wait and see if the others take care of themselves with the combo of dermaplane and new products.
The final step is a quick pumpkin enzyme peel that tingled in a great way and did not cause a house fire on my face! From there, Ashlee took me to the front of the spa where she pulled and explained my new skin care regime (new products!) and sat me down for a quick off with mineral makeup done by the cosmetic manager. Who wants the rest of the world to know they just had a facial? I don’t. And neither does Skin Perfect. So the dust off is included with every treatment. As soon as the dust off was complete, I was off.