In January 2016, after seeing DJ and party photos of myself, I noticed that there wasn’t the same glow that I used to have in most of my older photos, and as someone who doesn’t really enjoy wearing a lot of make-up generally, I wanted to do something but I wasn’t quite sure what.  After many years of late nights in clubs, bars, parties and at weddings, my skin was looking “dull”.  Taking the bull by the horns, I switched cosmetic lines and spent quite a lot on some really nice Clinique and Lancome products which were really nice to use, but didn’t actually do anything to improve my skin.  Through one of my wedding music consultations with a bride that same month, we got onto the topic of anti-aging and skin care, and what she was planning on doing in the year leading up to her wedding, and after a lively chat, I made the decision to do some “work” to my face this year to bring back that glow, and more importantly (for me), to wear less make-up on a daily basis.  

When it comes to any sort of treatment, full disclosure, I am EXTREMELY careful and quite anxious.  I really didn’t want to end up looking fake or worse still, I didn’t want to screw up and go somewhere that could end up damaging my skin or costing me an arm and a leg on things that I didn’t actually need, so I made a call to 8west Cosmetic Surgery Centre and Fiore Clinic and had a skin consultation in February 2016 with a woman named Suzanne Power.  She could tell that I was a little nervous and she was very “non-pressure”, which I really appreciated.  For me, surgery is too invasive, and that wasn’t what I was coming in for anyway (however, their facial plastic surgeon Dr. Buonassisi http://8west.ca/aboutus/dr-thomas-buonassisi/ really outstanding and after seeing some of the before and after shots on their website and checking out his credentials, I was more than impressed, but that wasn’t for me, and that wasn’t what Suzanne suggested for me anyway.  I wanted to do something that I was comfortable with, and Suzanne went over some options that she felt would get me the results I was looking for in a manner that I was comfortable with...so, what did I end up doing?  Well, here’s my diary of what we have done so far, and it’s quite candid, but I am SUPER happy with the results and since so many people have been commenting on my skin lately (mostly women---men ask if I had a haircut and say that “something is different about me” but they can’t tell what, which I find kind of funny!  Women are more observant!)  I will post some before-after photos later once it’s all done.  

Feb 18 2016: I tried Botox! http://8west.ca/non-surgical/neurotoxin/ I was SOOOOO nervous.  I don’t know why, but I just was.  I guess I had Googled too many things the night before and really, all the horror stories are from the wrong people using it incorrectly, or worse still, not even using Botox but other products and marketing it as Botox.  Scary stuff, that’s for sure, but I met with Dr. Buonassisi and I’m a little embarrassed that I was such a bag of nerves.  It was quick, easy and his “bedside manner” instantly put me at ease.  If you’re going to do this treatment, I most certainly recommend Dr. Buonassisi...I mean, he’s a facial plastic surgeon, who could be more qualified?!  When it comes to your face, you have to go with an expert.  You wouldn’t have a dog groomer cut your hair, would you?  No, you would have a hairdresser, and I am willing to be you would want the BEST hairdresser.  Same thing!  Anyway, I left and really noticed no change whatsoever, so I was kind of wondering if he had done enough. No one noticed anything, (not even my mother!) and I could still move my face. It wasn’t until about a month later that I noticed in some pictures taken while I was DJing a wedding that my frown lines were super faint.  The process was really subtle and I guess it takes a while to work and it turns out that it shouldn’t freeze your face if done correctly.  

April 4, 2016: I did a “Visia” consultation with Suzanne, which is basically a machine that takes a photo of your face from various angles and puts your face on a screen and gives you a “baseline” of what condition your skin is in. It showed quite a lot of sun damage, which isn’t surprising as I rarely used sunscreen in my 20s and I loved being out in the sun!  It even measured the length of my eyelashes and some other things too.  It basically put numerical values to my skin on a few factors, if that makes any sense.  That day I walked out with a line called ZO by Dr. Zein Obagi.  Since I am a DJ and not a medical esthetician or doctor, you will have to excuse my poor description of this, but essentially it consisted of a skin care regimen that included retinol and a skin “lightener” for sun spots, as well as a scrub, face wash, moisturizer, eye cream and a few other items.  Suzanne wrote out everything I needed to know on how and when to use each item. To be honest, I was a little skeptical.  Honestly, how much can a cream do…?  Oh, and they sent me home with Latisse too to increase the length of my eyelashes as I had told them how much I liked eyelash extensions but didn’t want to continue doing them and had not done them in some months as I could tell it was damaging my eyelashes, was expensive and took up too much time for fills!

Fast-forward 2 weeks and OMG.  A LOT was happening, and not all of it was pleasant.  I was experiencing a lot of flaking of skin and my skin was quite sore for a few days.  I even went skiing on one of these days and had to almost completely cover my skin.  Luckily, that only lasted about 4-5 days and it was THEN that I started to see the results.  To be honest I wanted to throw in the towel when the soreness started, but I called Suzanne and she advised that this means that I am making progress.  It’s a medical treatment regimen, so to get results, I needed to persevere through this period.  She promised that it would not last forever, and she was right (although on the day I called her it felt like it was taking forever, but in actual fact it was only 3-5 days of unpleasantness, and I still went about my daily routine, just with more SPF than I had ever worn!  

April 24, 2016: I came in to see Suzanne and we again did the “Visia” machine and the results were undeniable.  Since you see your face every day sometimes it’s hard to see a change (but I had noticed a far more clear complexion, smoother skin, and more evenness), the Visia machine put it in numerical format which I always find more useful as it’s more scientific.  We didn’t notice much of a change in my lashes but I was told that you need to do Latisse for a longer period of time to see any effect.  I had a BBL laser treatment http://8west.ca/non-surgical/forever-young-bbl/ day and again, I was PETRIFIED!  I honestly need to stop Googling these things because all the horror stories are from people who went to “dodgy” places and you can do some serious damage to your skin if you don’t know what you’re doing with a laser.  I mean, it’s a laser!!!  Yikes!  So after Suzanne talked me down (even saying that if I didn’t want to do it I most certainly didn’t have to!) I think I mellowed a bit and we went for it.  I was really nervous, but again, it actually wasn’t that bad!  I mean it wasn’t enjoyable, but to put things in perspective, it was certainly far easier than the experience of say, waxing your leg for example!

Over the next while I had to be really careful to keep out of the sun and to apply SPF.  I have not been good at that in the past at all, but I didn’t want to undo all of the progress we had made so far.  I went to Maui for a few weeks and wore my hat religiously and applied SPF 50 all the time.  This pushed back the schedule for the next BBL treatment a bit but no big deal, I just continued with the ZO regiment (without the Retinol component).

July 20, 2016: I did Botox again with Dr. Buonassisi and Suzanne did another BBL treatment on me and I wasn’t nervous at all for either.  I sweat I have almost no frown lines anymore and it makes me look younger, especially in photos.  After having done it once I knew what to expect and it was actually easy.  We also did a laser hair removal on my lower leg and it was ok too.  Again not super pleasant of course, but not a huge deal either.  I am really excited to never have to shave there again!  I hope it doesn’t take too many sessions!!!

August 16, 2016: I did a HALO http://8west.ca/non-surgical/halo-hybrid-fractional-laser/laser treatment on my face.  Again, I SHOULD NOT have been Googling things!  (Apparently I don’t learn, but things like this make me anxious!!!)  I actually contacted Suzanne the day before and told her how nervous I was and she was great.  I think her words were, “Don’t worry, I will take care of you!”.  I think that was what I needed to hear, and she did exactly that.  First I had numbing cream applied and I had to wait until that took effect.  Then after about 30 minutes, Suzanne got me prepped (eye goggles) and she got started.  She was great because she gave me feedback of how far along we were and how much longer there was to go (which I find helpful).  Overall it didn’t hurt too much, but near my hairline it felt the hottest.  Again, not unbearable, but certainly unpleasant. When it was done, my face felt HOT!  Like a sunburn, so on the way home the A/C was cranked and facing directly at my face.  For a few hours afterwards I applied damp facecloths that I cooled in the freezer as well as a few cooling packets that Suzanne gave me.  It lasted up until around 6pm (treatment was at noon) and then suddenly and immediately the heat was gone entirely. For the week after I had a new regimen from Suzanne using Avene products: an oily cleanser (I didn’t know such a thing existed) and two types of Avene creams which were a godsend as my face felt tight and dry.  On days 3-5 after the treatment I had a lot of flaking similar to the ZO Retinol period but having done that before, it wasn’t a big deal.  I still worked and it wasn’t too noticeable to others.  At the 1 week mark post-Halo, all I can say is WOW.  Seriously wow.  I am SO in love with my skin!!! It looks and feels flawless and I look like my face has been airbrushed with a superfine mist of the nicest foundation, but in fact I have no make up on.  At this point I am wearing only mascara to accentuate my now long eyelashes.  I realize that I have forgotten to mention the Latisse.  It’s been such a gradual thing with that stuff that you don’t really notice it very much until suddenly one day you realize that you have long eyelashes again, but this time, they’re yours!  I will be heading back in next week for another Visia and I am excited to see the progress on the screen. Now that I am seeing so many results, I am SO happy I started on this and I feel awesome.

September 21, 2016: Today I went in for a BBL treatment and I am proud to say that I was NOT nervous.  It was totally find and I was actually looking forward to it now that I know how awesome the results are from this.  It seemed t o go by quicker, but probably just because I have experience with this now and I no longer fear the unknown! 

September 26, 2016: Results baby!  I was looking at some old photos on Facebook, you know, the ones where Facebook shows you memories and all I can say is wow.  The frown lines on my face are almost gone now, my face is way more even and I have almost stopped wearing make up now except for mascara to accentuate my new longer lashes.  I am starting the ZO treatment next week the day after my best friend’s wedding.

October 3, 2016:   I am starting the ZO treatment again with retinol and I am EXCITED to get back to doing this as I saw such great results last time (as did friends who asked what was different about me, saying that I looked “refreshed”). 

October 5, 2016: Laser hair removal appointment day at 8west.  I don’t know if it’s just that I take well to the treatments but I am a little surprised to see how quickly the results are.  I have had laser on other parts elsewhere in the past and I had to have WAY more appointments to see progress.  We did the “pain-free” method.  I put that in quotations as there’s no such thing as 100% pain-free obviously but the method used was quick one that goes over the leg many times rapidly and it significantly reduces the discomfort.  I don’t know if this is a new technique or not, and apparently the other method gets quicker results, but I personally prefer this method and I am seeing better results than I have ever had in the past. :)

October 11, 2016: I am just starting to feel some of the hotness fro the ZO but for some reason, again, likely because it’s not my first time doing this, I am excited because it means it’s working and I can not only see the results, I can feel them.  My skin feels so awesome and soft.  I love it!  Yay!

To be continued...