Microdermabrasion ($525 for 6 treatments) & LED #3 ($395 for 6)

My skin has been feeling great lately. definitely more hydrated. i have been using my masque in the steam room at least twice a week, drinking more water (still not enough), and using the Eminence Guava & Bamboo Age-Defying Moisturizer. Today i had my 3rd LED treatment, but we started it off with my 1st Microdermabrasion.
the first step was the pre-cleanse with Dermalogica the second step was the Stone Crop Gel Wash and the Clairsonic brush. then she used the AHA Paprika (professional, not purchasable) exfoliant. it smells wonderful and has a bit of a sting. the fourth step was the Microdermabrasion with an 8.9 intensity. the highest intensity is 15. Megan went over my entire face slowly with the little crystals scrubbing away. it kinda stung in certain spots, like around my temples and eye area, but otherwise it just had a gritty scrubbing feeling. i had goggles on so that the flying crystals wouldn't get into my eyes. after wiping all the crystals off my face the fifth step was putting Eight Greens Youth Serum (for lifting and hormonally-imbalanced skin types) (WHAT?..hormonally-imbalanced??? ugh), Green Tea & Guava Serum (firming and lifting) and Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Serum with Licorice Lightening Booster & Acai Booster, all mixed into one. yummy. you really can't imagine how good it all smells. the sixth step was my 3rd LED treatment. it consisted of 30 minutes going over my entire face, and 10 minutes focusing around the eye area. once that was finished, the seventh step was the Calm Skin Arnica Masque layered with the Firm Skin Acai Masque. while the masque was absorbing into my skin, she gave me a mini massage of my chest, upper arms and shoulders. the last step, the eighth step was the Apricot Calendula Nourishing Cream. the Calendula has healing and soothing properties, and after all my face went through, it felt wonderful. How am i ever going to go on in my life without having a weekly facial? maybe i should go from salon to salon, rating them? ha.
here are some photos from the treatment. as i have said in former blogs, i am taking the photos myself, sometimes with my eyes closed, so i really have no idea if i am in focus or even aimed properly. i also included a before and after shot. i think the very first before shot i ever took and then the very last shot will be more dramatic than posting the "during" before and after, but i am going to post them anyhow.
my next blog will be about having my legs waxed. ouch? tune in to see!

LED Treatment (2nd one) $85ea or $395 for 6 sessions

This week was my 2nd LED treatment at Misbehaven Spa & Salon. I anticipated having messy hair this time, so i wore my hair in a pony tail. i took a photo of my face right before my treatment. you will notice that i am a bit puffy after each treatment, and because of the masque that has paprika in it, i am also a bit rosy red. rest assured, the puffiness and redness goes away after an hour or so.

Today's treatment was with Megan. She started with a cleanser, then massaged the Blueberry Soy Repair Masque into my skin. It is a puree of whole fruit blueberries blended with soy yoghurt. it plumps and soothes with calendula petal oil, shea butter and a combo of vitamins A, C, E, coenzyme Q10 and evening primrose oil. Megan also added a booster that had paprika in it. the masque did sting a little, but like i mentioned in my earlier post, i like the pain. it makes me feel like something is happening, and i am not just doing this all in vain.

Megan mentioned before the treatment, that my skin felt dehydrated. it's true, i had not had any water that day. and on top of all that, i had been gone for the weekend, and when i road trip, i drink a LOT of caffeine. i drink a lot of caffeine even when i am home, but when traveling, i double it. She said that for every cup of coffee i had, i should have 4 glasses of water. hmmm, let me do the math...i should have had anywhere from 16-26 glasses of water. no wonder i was dehydrated. i have been drinking a ton of water ever since. i went to the grocery store and bought a case of water, and have been drinking water often throughout my day. i'm sipping on one now! She also mentioned that there are a lot of toxins in coffee. Since i stopped drinking alcohol almost 18 months ago, my coffee consumption has greatly increased. i know i need to settle down and today i made an effort to drink tea every time i wanted a treat. i ended up with just 1 cup of coffee. i think the worst thing about my coffee consumption is the 3 packets of sugar and cream that i put in each cup.

now that i've just spilled all my unhealthy drink secrets, i think i will try and cut my coffee consumption down. i am not going to commit to how much, but i will let you know how it goes! i'm kind of an "all or nothing" and i am not sure i am ready to cut it out altogether quite yet.

back to my treatment. the LED treatment was 40 minutes and i had a nice time visiting with Megan. i prefer to visit rather than laying there in silence. the time goes by much quicker too! i told her that i was using the masque at least twice a week and keeping my face moist while it is on. i have been applying it and then going in the steam bath at "the spa". she gave me a booster to put in it for this week. i think i'll try it tomorrow.

i have not been happy with my appearance lately, skin, hair, body, face, etc., and have just resorted to spending the next couple of months pampering myself and getting back to normal. yoga pants and pony tails, here i come!! funny how quickly i can fall off the healthy bandwagon, and next thing i know, i feel like a gremlin. enough of that, and ENOUGH complaining about it. any one around me on a regular basis can attest to the fact that i am not happy with "me". i'll let you know how that goes too!

Next week i am having my legs and upper lip waxed. i don't need to wax my lip, but this will let me know what it feels like, and who knows, maybe i will like not even having the baby blonde peach fuzz on my upper lip. Ciara reassured me it would not come back course or black! i'm also having my 3rd LED treatment with a Mini Facial before the treatment.

thanks for reading my blab, i mean blog.

LED treatment $85 or $395 for 6 sessions

Yesterday was my first LED treatment with Kael at Misbehaven. I scheduled it in the evening, because i was anticipating my face might be red, swollen, splotchy, burned...who knows! i really had NO clue what i was going to have done, and didn't even know what LED (Light Emitting Diode) stood for before yesterday. I imagined that the light would slightly burn the superficial layer of my skin, and then it would heal, peal, and i would have knew skin. HA! i was soooo wrong! there is NO burning of the skin, just cell rejuvenation! What i learned, was that apparently the red light that she used was for aged skin and the light stimulates the cells growth, without the harmful rays that natural sunlight emits.

Kael took me back to the treatment room and told me to lay down on the treatment bed. i did not put on a terry cloth robe for this treatment, she just draped a towel over my chest and neck. she started with a Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse, and followed up with the Dermalogica Chroma White Tri Active Cleanse, an Eminence Yam & Pumpkin Enzyme Peel with Licorice Root Lightening Booster, which she described as little pac-men chomping away at the dead skin cells on my face. the peel had a stinging affect, that i rather liked because when it comes to dramatic changes, i like to FEEL them taking place. i imagined my new baby face skin would be revealed when the pac-men were finished!

the LED red light treatment was 40 minutes. while Kael was working around my eyes, i could see the bright light, even through the eye pads and goggles, but as she moved away from my eyes, it was perfectly black. Had i not been asking so many questions, and visiting with Kael, i might have fallen asleep, as it was a completely painless, rather therapeutic in fact, treatment. she moved the light inch by inch, slowly over my entire face, over and over, until the timer went off.

the last part of the treatment was Eminence Guave & Bamboo Moisturizer, Dermalogica Age Reveral Eye Complex, and Lastly Dermalogica multivitamin power firm, around my lips.

since an LED treatment does not include a scalp massage, i did not end up with crazy hair. well, i mean it was crazy when i went in and it looked the same crazy when i left. my skin felt wonderful, and i FELT as tho i had a glow. i have included a before and an after photo of my skin, as well as some photos of the procedures in between.

Listening to Kael explain all the products and the procedures gave me a new found interest. in my next career, i think i'd like to go into skin care! i found it all so interesting and exciting.

i am going to be doing the 6 treatments, and Kael said that i would start to notice the difference in my fine lines and wrinkles early in the treatments, and then the fading of the age spots near the last sessions. i have to be honest, every time i say "age spot" i feel old, so i am going to start calling them something else. from here on out they are going to be "fun in the sun" spots.

my skin feels wonderful lately. like i mentioned in my earlier blog, it doesn't feel as crepey and definitely looks more hydrated.

Next week i'm getting my 2nd LED treatment. tomorrow i am going to be meeting with Keeah, and having my hair colored! i chose her because her hair is such a gorgeous shade of red, i might just ask her to make mine the same shade as hers! we'll wait and see what she thinks about that.

Dermalogica ~Eminence Organic 1 hr Classic Facial starting at $60

Yesterday I went to the Salon/Spa and had my 1 hour facial. It started off with me checking in and being offered something to drink. I declined. I love the fact that they offer, but i have a personal hang up with accepting complimentary food or drinks when i am working. even though this facial was going to be a treat for me, i know if i were to accept the drink, the moment i started to take a sip, the Facial Therapist would come around the corner and greet me, and i would be "treating myself" rather than being "ready". i know, it's weird. i'm the same way at weddings. i have only shot one wedding that i wasn't offered to take a break and eat. one time i did accept, after having my arm twisted, (and i have to explain) i had been shooting all day, 8+ hours and forgot to bring a snack, so i took them up on it. no kidding the minute i put food in my mouth, a guest pipes up "wheres the photographer? She should get a shot of THAT!". ugh. dreadfully embarrassing. so i always decline and say "no thank you, i'm perfectly content", even though you and i both know the food looks so incredibly tasty! i will confess at the last wedding i shot, it was a Southern wedding, and after being asked over and over "pleaaase try some of the food, we insist", i did grab a plate and sampled the amazing goods catered by T. Maccarone's, but i did feel overly awkward.

At my facial yesterday, Megan came and led me to the facial room where a tube top style terry cloth robe and Eminence chocolate awaited me. I put the chocolate in my purse for later. I slipped into the robe and climbed up on the bed and got under the covers. shortly after, megan came in and we laughed about how awkward i felt laying there half dressed, vulnerable. she made me feel so very comfortable and assured me my feelings were common.

After pulling my hair back with a terry cloth band, she started off with a pre-cleanse, tri-active derm cleanser. it definitely left my skin feeling less taught then the Jergen's soap bar i had used that morning. when i told her i used the bar of soap, she gasped. i know better. she followed up the cleanse with a Mimosa Champagne Tonique. (i KNEW it...when she spritzed me, i thought "that smelled like wine"). next came the Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant Detox. I think it was then that she used a Sonic type handheld on my face. she said it would cleanse and stimulate my pores. then came the Pro Blueberry Firming Detox, the Wild Plum eye cream and Raspberry Eye Masque for hydrating my skin. Then another masque. the Stone Crop Masque with Licorice booster and Eight Greens Phyto Masque, all mixed together. while she put the masque on, she was doing these Hungarian hand movements on my face and neck, which she said would also stimulate my cells. (correct me if i am wrong, Megan). the masque felt so silky and wonderful.

At sometime during all that, she looked at my skin with a special head lamp. then she asked me if i use sun screen daily or wear hats in the sun. she explained that she could see lots of sun damage. i told her about my summers consisting of sun blisters all over my body, and my nose looking like a scab by the end of the summer. she also told me that spf in moisturizer lasts for only several hours, and that i should be using a face makeup that has spf that works as a blocker. i do not wear face makeup, but i am going to invest in that. i thought i was doing all i could by wearing spf in my moisturizer.

I also got a Firm Skin Acai Masque with a booster. during one of the masques, she gave me a full arm, hand, chest and back massage with Apricot Body Oil and Stone Crop Body Lotion. i almost fell asleep during that! she finished the facial with a hot cloth, a spritz, a Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Serum, a Grean Tea & Guava Fortifying Serum, Eight Green Youth Serum and finally a Guava Bamboo Age-Defying Moisturizer.

WoW. i felt like a princess. the facial was so relaxing and interesting. i'm sure most people just lay there and relax, but i was full of questions! i was also trying to take photos of several of the stages. since i had my eyes closed, i really had no idea if i was aiming at my face or not. hence, only a few photos turned out. this was definitely a time where i wished i had a full time assistant that could have come along and captured some photos of the facial.

Megan recommended i come every 3 weeks for a while, start LED facial treatments (6) for the sun spot damage and then taper off to 1 facial every month for the rest of my life. oooooh, wouldn't that be a treat.

When i stood up and looked in the mirror, i was caught off guard by the puffiness in my face. Megan said that was from all the blood stimulation, and products, and that it would go away. she also said that the next day is when i will notice the most. the redness will be gone and the puffiness subsided.

Something else i learned. Schedule your facial near the end of the day, and on a day that you don't have to have lovely hair. included in that incredible facial was a neck and head massage, which felt so wonderful, having bad hair all day was worth it. i had this facial on a day i was a guest at a women's luncheon at the country club and it wasn't until i got home that i realized i still had green masque on my jawbone, some sort of fruit extract in my ear and little clumps of masque on my neck. but the truth of the matter was, the facial felt so good, that i would do it all over again!

I just remembered. one of the products that Megan put on me had Blueberry and Paprika, which made my face, neck and chest warm and tingly. she also did this hot/cold facial where one of her hands was hot, the other was icy cold and she manipulated my skin interchanging the hot/cold. what a cool (no pun intended) experience!

I've included photos from my experience, including a shot of what my hair looked like afterwards.

Last night i did the routine that was recommended and my skin definitely looks more hydrated and less crepey today.

Next week i am starting the LED treatments. i think those are to help reduce the age spots due to sun damage.

More next week!