I was chatting to an elderly client the other day, she was 86, and was delighted to hear that she still has pride in her personal appearance. She was having some barnacles removed with our marvelous Clinical Skin Clear machine after she had had her skin check with Nigel. She said that she loved life and the investment in herself made her more relaxed and happier within herself. She could not understand why she should put up with unsightly spots and lesions that were not dangerous but looked ugly. I agree. How nice to look in the mirror and NOT see those kinds of things.
She got me thinking, just what kind of investment are you looking at that helps your skin stay young?
Skin Care
It is not limited to clients of her age. There is nothing better than knowing that your skin is at its best and glowing. None of us will ever look 20 again, but to look the best we can for minimal effort and no surgery these days is very achievable. The best place to start is good skin care consistently used. I love Beaute Pacifique’s creams, their magic ingredient is vitamin A in a form that can get to the deeper layers of your skin without any irritation. Vitamin A does many things- reduces recurrence of pre-cancerous lesions (now who of us who have grown up in Sunny Queensland would not understand that), increases collagen for that younger skin , decreases wrinkles, balances oil, exfoliates inside the pore so increases cell turnover and is great for acne. Win Win Win, in my opinion. For an investment of around $170 per year – that’s $14 a month or $3 per week- you can dramatically improve the freshness and quality of your skin. If you only add this one treatment cream to your regime ( and that includes men, too) you are doing yourself a favour. You can always add other things to your skin care regime or include a professional facial every couple of months. https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/skin-care-products/
For acne sufferers, we use a tried and true system at Revive that includes professional treatments fortnightly. For around $250 for initial product outlay, a solid personal commitment to home care and the $100 fortnightly treatments we offer, most acne sufferers can regain their self-esteem. That is a serious return on investment. I have seen many people over the years, who suffered acne, come to me to help them reduce the scarring, both on their faces and in their hearts. Some have depression due to a lack of confidence. I have to say that the most satisfying thing I see is the before and after photos- usually the before have sad eyes, the after tells a different story. I have done an acne specialist course through the USA and just love the knowledge that gives the results.https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/acne-treatments/
Other Investments – Non- surgical anti-ageing
Several clients have come to me seeking help to de-age as they feared losing their jobs due to ageism. I’m pleased to say that with wonderful treatments such as Dermapen, a microneedling device, laser resurfacing and the all new, HIFU (high intensity frequency ultrasound) great results are achievable. Basically all therapies are doing is trying to increase your collagen content you had when you were young (think of those beautiful babies’ and children’s skin) and tightening or erasing lines or unwanted pigment and lesions.
Lasers, ultrasound and microneedling all do this in varying degrees and varying ways by causing microwounding to your skin that encourages your own body to make the collagen. Some treatments are less invasive than others, while results can be similar, there are definitely reasons to choose one treatment over another. Downtime is where your skin has obviously been treated and needs to be managed for a while until it has returned to its healthy state. Treatments such as fractional laser and dermal needling do require a bit of care post-procedure. You need to be guided by your therapist.
HIFU does cause micro-wounds with its focused ultrasound waves, but the beauty of it is that there is NO downtime because it does not harm the skin’s surface. So for tightening you can’t go past it. You usually need to have 3 sessions up to 3 months apart to get to the point where the tightening is satisfactory. If you have quite marked wrinkles you may want to combine it with a CO2 fractional laser- https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/laser-ipl/co-2-laser/even on the same day, as that does ablate the surface of the skin and gives extra superficial tightening to erase the lines. HIFU treatments at Revive are around $995 dollars for the first treatment and then subsequent treatments start at $400 and are charged at $2 per line of HIFU depending if you wish to treat larger areas such as neck and décolletage. As this is a top-up treatment you may need less lines than your first treatment. So, look at an investment of around $1800 for a face and jaw treatment. CO2 fractional treatments are $500for a face, and $250 for an adjunct after HIFU. Dermapen treatments are $250 for a face. https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/hifu/
Another interesting treatment we do at Revive is to treat fungal nail infections with laser. I did not realise how much difference that can make to people until last week when a lady came in and waited for me to finish with my final client just so that she could show me her feet. We had been treating them last year. I thought they looked pretty good until I opened her file and took a look at the ‘before’ photograph. My jaw dropped, as did hers. Originally her nails looked thickened and jagged with terrible color, what she has now are nails that she proudly told me she can now wear sandals with. After 20 years! 4 treatments required, a week apart $60 per treatment. I confess that she did do 2 rounds 18 months apart as she thought that they could improve further. https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/laser-ipl/fungal-nails-treatment/
CIM radiofrequency is another life changing treatment that Nigel and I brought back from Spain a few years ago. Basically it uses radiofrequency to get the blood and lymphatics moving to optimize healing. In Europe, all those injured soccer players get treated with it to get them back onto the field quickly. I have used it on many patients for pain relief, circulation improvement (remember my Dad’s leg from a previous blog?), incontinence, enlarged prostates, broken bones. Just last week a young lad came in with a moon boot on- he had sprained his ankle. So we gave his somewhat bruised and swollen ankle a treatment and he was amazed to see the swelling reduced and the bruise lightened. $80 a treatment and for chronic pain usually a minimum of 8 treatments is required. $100 per treatment for incontinence and prostatomegaly. https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/cim-radiofrequency/
Clinical Skin Clear is what my elderly patient had to remove her barnacles. A barnacle is basically any lesion that is benign and many people get them as they grow older- hence the term ‘barnacles’- like the barnacles on a ship that has been in the water for a long time. It removes things such as skin tags, milia, xanthelasma (cholesterol deposits), clogged pores, small veins, age spots and pigment. For a 15 minute session to remove as many as we can we charge $200. Clients love that their skin no longer has the extra things growing on them. https://www.revivecosmetics.com.au/clinical-skin-clear-machine/
Conclusion
So, in a nutshell, my elderly patient was onto something. Spending some money on non-invasive treatments that reduce the ravages of age or injury on our skin does make you feel better, and even put a spring into your step. If you have any questions regarding any advice on treatments for your skin, please call Revive for your free consultation. 38015824
