Momma4

Here is my follow up..One week post Laser Peel. Yesterday was my birthday, 57. It was a tough week.Lots of swelling, redness, itching and peeling. Today I am smooth, still red, but I do feel refreshed, less tired and angry looking. I will take it!!

morrismm

I use to be the no makeup kind of person. I never wore make-up or did anything to my hair. I used to be, many moons ago and into my adulthood, a hippie.

Maybe it was having daughters that were dancers or just developing into a different, older person. But I now wear makeup (minimally) , dye my hair, exercise 5 days a week, regularly put stuff (moisturizers , sunscreen, retinol-A, etc.) on my face.

My D's took me for my first manicure. And I am really now enjoying the other approach. Maintaining my appearance makes feel good. And I enjoy getting shopping and trying to be up to date.

Now i've done both!

nj2011mom

I've been getting my hair highlighted for the past 16-17 years. I have mousy brown, thin, fine hair that just hangs limp unless I have chemicals applied. This followed nearly 20 years of perming (since HS) and is far more natural looking. (I have baby pictures that show I was a strawberry blond/red head until I was 2).

I love pedicures - they are very relaxing, however I don't want anyone touching my finger nails & I can't stand the feel of nail polish on them.

Since I work in NYC, I have to look professional. My wardrobe is definitely preppy classic - most pants from Gap (best fit), tops from Ann Taylor & Loft. In the past 2 years, I have gravitated to Munro shoes because of my creaky feet.

sewhappy

Please join us on the Dressing Young thread where we shop vicariously and compare notes on how to keep enjoying fashion.

jaylynn

Botox lasts 3-4 months for most people. Six months and you're lucky!!

dietz199

I find that botox lasts longer the more often it is done. The first round lasted about 4 months, the second a bit longer. Now, it seems the muscles have 'forgotten' how to frown and thus it - at least seems - like the botox effect lasts for 6 months or more.

At almost 53, I think I'm holding up okay. Some of this is due to good genetics but, really, most is due to healthy living. Mainly a good diet, regular workouts since I was 20 and being wary and respectful of the California sun. That said, the genetics on my mothers side of the family lend itself to very deep nasolabial folds as well as marionett lines and a very deep chin crease. Those types of lines make me look like I'm tired and upset - even when I'm not. Basically, the lower half of my face wants to look 15 years older than the rest of me. I interviewed several practitioners before finding one that uses filler in such a way that it really does look natural. I've seen way to many puffer fish lips - the kind that are so over filled and stiff that the poor owners can't seem to make natural contact with a cup or glass and wanted to avoid that 'look' at all costs.

So, filler/botox and a few highlights are it for now.

MomofWildChild

dietz- How did you figure out which practitioner to use? What questions did you ask? I have a friend in Dallas who looks AWESOME and completely natural. She said the same thing- she found a doc that knows how to do it really well. Hers is also a combination of botox and filler.

dietz199

MWC: I was very clear when interviewing practitioners that I wanted to start SLOW....one area, one procedure at a time. They had to be agreeable to having me come for 3 appointments - filler step one, filler step two and then botox - instead of pushing it all in one session. The person I use is an board certified plastic surgeon with anatomy background way beyond the standard 'botox rep' trained nurse practitioner. My very first filler experience was with someone else who basically put four 'lumps' of stuff into each of the laugh lines - total of 8 'pricks'. This current Dr., buy contrast, will 'prick' the same area - no exaggeration - 20 times on each side and uses a product layering technique. Also, MD's are able to use a filler product (Radiesse?) which non-MD's are not. This product seems to be the 'magical' base layer and lasts a longer time than Juvederm and/or Restalyne used by themselves.

I also noticed that Dr. looks at the whole face and how it works together rather than simply attack one area. So, for example, she knows that a saggy chin can be helped by filling checks (not there yet) and that you should not fill in certain lipstick lines because they do not look 'right' and it's better to botox those muscles.

Having said all of this...I no longer use the DR. for botox because she charged by the area instead of the unit. Since my anatomy responds to a very low dosage I was overpaying for this service. I have found a very good nurse practitioner who now does the botox for - no kidding - about 1/3 the original cost. Again, I interviewed her, asked if she was familiar with certain areas (like depressors and center chin, which many do not attempt, and if botched leaves you slurring and drooling!) and then started very slow, one area at a time.



Geez, it sounds like I spend most of my waking hours on this 'project', but really, once the system was put in place, it's about 3 visits a year. I guess the bottom line is start SLOW!

MomofWildChild

Thanks! It sounds like you really did it the right way.

MomLive

That is my plan. I've watched umpteen YouTube videos of fillers being injected. After a while you begin to see that there are a lot of variations on technique and that technique is everything. I've chosen three plastic surgeons to interview and will go from there. Right now I just want to do a peel or laser and a filler in my nasolabial folds. Next year I plan to have my upper eyelids done (very saggy - almost to the point of obstructing my vision). I've seen really good results with filler in the eye area but it requires a very skilled hand. I will, maybe, work my way up to that.

My co-worker had Radiesse put into her nasolabial folds on Thursday. It was done by an RN but from her description of the process it sounds like the RN knew what she was doing. She first drew on my co-worker's face and then as she injected she stepped away over and over again to see how it looked from a distance. Instead of just going along the line, she injected from the top. The results turned out really well. This really is an art. Looks great when done well.

munchkin

I just had Radiesse put in about 3 weeks ago. I have no baseline as this is the first time I did anything so I don't know if the results are good. Eta : one word of advice for those who want to go for this procedure, take some strong pain killers, they hurt.

I think we must age in spurts, the young have growth spurts, the old have "growth" spurts too. I must have aged 5 years in the last year or so. I don't have much if any wrinkles but the sagging and the marionette lines and the under eye hollows got very pronounced. (If I spent sometime upside everyday I wonder if it will help with the sagging ? )

I lost weight in the past year so I was able to wear more youthful clothes but my face reveal my age. I used to be able to pass as someone a decade or more younger (I worked with a young crowd).

I will be 56 soon and I have decided I don't like looking sad faced and tired whether I am or not, so I think I will be pursuing the plastic surgery route.

dietz199

You should not take anything that thins the blood. This includes aspirin, fish oil, vit E. These should all be stopped 2 weeks before treatment, if not, there is a greater chance of bruising.

My practitioner gives a dental block for anything in the lip, chin, cheek area. So, those shots hurt, the actual filler pricks then just feel like pressure and sometime there is a burning sensation.

MomofWildChild

I am afraid of dental shots! Also, aren't you supposed to not exercise for 24 hours after Botox/fillers?

dietz199

The recommendation on post botox I have received is to not recline for 4 hours because the product might migrate. So, keep head above heart. I also hate dental shots and basically suffer through them. The practitioner uses a Q-tip dipped in some sort of numbing agent which she applies to the injections site. After the surface is numbed the I barely feel the actual prick of the injection. I can however, feel the pressure and there is a burn and funny taste as the medication is injected. Given that the dental block amounts to maybe 4-5 injections, and the actual filler product requires several dozen individual pricks, I just have them give me one of those big rubber squishy balls to maul while the dental block is being administered.

Good gosh, when put into writing the whole process really does sound barbaric and a bit masochistic!

What is really ironic, is that I was the kid who hid under the bed when the pediatrician made a house call (yes, she did!). It took both my parents and the Dr. to pull me out by the legs so that the Dr. could give me the needed shot.

worknprogress2

^^^^

I used to faint when I got a shot - so all of this talk of injections scares the jeepers out of me.