Happy New Year! All of us have probably made our share of New Year's resolutions, and I hope that taking good care of yourself is one of them. I am going to continue on my journey of health and beauty - and by the way, I firmly believe that good health promotes beauty, so be sure to take care of you! It's also hard to believe that we are now just months away from warm temperatures, poolside event, and bathing suits. My goal is to look really GREAT in my 2016 bathing suit, so great that my husband's jaw just drops when he sees me in it! :-) So, here's my plan. First, I promised to report back to you on the results of my CoolSculpting treatment. am two months out from having the procedure and I am really happy to report that I can see a significant difference in the tops of my legs. The tops of my outer thighs probably do need one more treatment as there are still a few areas outside of where the CoolSculpting paddles were working that still have the "golf ball" or dimpled skin appearance, but after treating this area, I think my legs will be completely ready for bathing suit weather, and it's been a long time since I have been comfortable saying that. I also admit that I was a bit skeptical of the CoolSculpting procedure, but it really wasn't painful, and it is non-invasive, so now I am ready to use it on another problem area that I have not been able to shape up with exercise. My beauty plan for my figure is it that after another treatment on my thighs, I am going to have a CoolSculpting treatment on my tummy. I have been dieting and doing sit-ups, and have lost almost 20 pounds and kept it off, which I'm really happy about, but I still have a "muffin-top" that hasn't gone away. So, my tummy is next on my CoolSculpting agenda after one more round on my thighs, and I will continue with my diet and exercise regimen. I am hopeful that one CoolSculpting treatment will take care of my tummy roll, but if not, I will certainly do two because the results are worth it. Remember that the treatment actually kills the fat cells, and then your body dissolves and disposes of them over a period of weeks after the treatment. That is why I can report to you after two months that I am really happy with the results. I really encourage you to get your health and beauty plan in SHAPE for 2016, and also recommend that you take advantage of the complimentary CoolSculpting consultation available at Vitality Skin & Body medical spa in Scottsdale. The girls will take their time to explain the science behind CoolSculpting, listen to your concerns/goals, and then work with you to create your sculpted body! It is really exciting that it is truly possible, so please take the next step, there's no reason to feel stuck when there are very real medical solutions available!
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As we enter 2016, here is a gentle reminder to make sure that you are taking care of yourself. Take time to rejuvenate - it's important. Set a goal of taking care of yourself, and it will help you be better at everything else you do. I know. As I began my beauty journey, I realized how little time I take to make sure that I look and feel my best. When I do take the time, it really changes my outlook. My beauty journey has not just been about externals, its about the philosophy of being my best. I encourage you to consider the overall impact of embarking on your personal beauty journey - and taking the time to take care of yourself. It truly has made a big difference for me. I am more confident. I now really enjoy taking the time to dress well and make sure my makeup looks great, whereas before I just kept scurrying. And I love the compliments from my husband, from family and friends. It also has made me feel younger and more vital. I actually am going in to the Vitality Skin and Body medical spa in Scottsdale on the 30th. I am planning on having Botox and Juvederm treatments to tackle wrinkles on my forehead and around my eyes. Not only will I look great ringing in the New Year, but I will feel great as I enter 2016 with energy and enthusiasm, confident that I am doing everything I can to be the best I can. Enough about my journey. I really encourage you to embark on your beauty journey in 2016. You really will be so glad that you did. I also want to remind you that thru December 31st, you can still purchase the Vitality Skin and Body gift cards at great discounted prices. They are good for any service, and you can even use them on a special offer. CLICK HERE to check out the gift cards. Be sure to call and buy them before the year ends, and then enjoy the savings in 2016 for your beauty journey! Happy New Year, and here's to a beauty filled 2016! Isn't that a woman's prerogative? Of course it is! But I did promise to keep you updated on my beauty journey, so here's the scoop. I went back in to Vitality Skin & Body medical spa in Scottsdale last Friday for my scheduled dermaplaning and facial. After I chatted with my aesthetician a bit, we realized that we would not hit my goal for improving the look of my cheeks with the dermaplaning as much as using a filler in my cheeks would diminish the wrinkling. What I discovered is that the wrinkling in our cheeks below the jawbone is caused by loss of volume in your cheeks that causes your skin to start to sag. And believe it or not, age related volume loss is also what causes the "apple" of your cheek to sag, even when you smile. And what I didn't like is that it caused my skin below my cheekbones to wrinkle and also get an "orange peel" kind of texture, which I assume is probably what it looks like before it really starts to wrinkle! Anyway, I was so excited to learn about this new kind of Juvederm that can provide contour and lift to cheeks for up to TWO years! WOW! So, we tackled the area below my cheekbones using Juvederm Voluma. Let me tell you, it was so easy. I didn't need my face numbed because there is lidocaine in the syringe, so it was also a pretty fast treatment. The only side effect I experienced was one tiny bruise at the injection site, and it was gone after three days and my cheeks look 100% better! The vertical wrinkles are gone, and the "orange peel" texture is gone as well. My skin is smoothed out underneath my cheekbones, and I can't tell you how happy I am with the results. I also found out that it can be used under your eyes to smooth out the wrinkles and crinkles there. I am planning to go back in after the holidays for another session of Juvederm Voluma to fill in some of the other areas that are wrinkling. What a wonderful discovery! And the fact that it lasts two years is really one of the best features of this treatment. I'm so grateful that the medical professionals at Vitality Skin & Body medical spa really do take the time to listen. If they hadn't, I would have had a different treatment which I am sure is wonderful but would not have delivered the results that I am so happy about today! I really do think this is what sets this medical spa apart from other ones in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area, because I have been to several before finding them. It really is the personal attention and the high quality care I receive - I know it is a medical professional working on my face, and I am now really confident that they are not just about "selling" me a treatment, they really do have my best interest and goals in mind, and give me honest input and feedback on what is best for me. So, we are just a couple of days before Christmas, and I know everyone is scrambling, but let me encourage you to take advantage of Vitality Skin & Body's holiday specials - and I think the best deal is the gift card. It is discounted and will cover any treatment or service. It is a great gift to yourself for after holidays, and also a great gift for those you love. Just pick up the phone and order your gift cards - you do have the time to treat yourself and someone else with the holiday gift cards. You can check out the gift cards, the savings options, and other holiday specials on the Specials page. Be sure to pick up the phone and order them while they are still available! 480-203-3918. And.... happy holidays to you and yours! I hope it is a wonderful time of celebration! I promised I would share the results of my how my skin's holiday glow is going. Well, I went in last Friday for my photofacial or IPL treatment. I also had the red blotches treated, and over the course of this past week I have watched little speckles that look like coffee grounds have appeared on my decollete and face where my dark spots are. I am told that this is the dark pigment coming to the surface that was causing the skin discoloration. It has been interesting to watch the process progress, as the pigment works its way out and appears on different days in different places.
I'm also told that the treatment will stimulate my own collagen production to gradually improve my skin texture and can eliminate fine wrinkles, and that the results are gradual over a period of weeks. So far, what I can see is that the discoloration is coming to the surface and the dark spots are lightening. I'm grateful for the education, the expertise of the very professional skin care treatment, the time the staff took at Vitality Skin & Body during my treatment, and I can't wait to see what my skin looks like when this process is completed! So, my next step is next week. I have a dermaplaning treatment scheduled. The skin treatment is non-invasive, and will exfoliate the surface layer of my skin to remove the skin and any remnants of the pigments that have come to the surface of my skin from the IPL or photofacial treatment. The procedure will also improve the tone and texture of my skin. After the dermaplaning procedure, I will enjoy the benefits of the orange clove facial, one of the special holiday facials designed to help give your skin the holiday glow we all want. The orange clove facial is packed with Vitamin C and the cloves scavenge for free radicals. This particular facial has the benefit of anti-aging properties, so I am looking forward to my skin looking rejuvenated and moisturized after next Friday. Don't forget that there are wonderful holiday specials going on now - I am certainly taking advantage of them! The holiday gift card is a particularly good value, can be used for any promotion, and is a wonderful gift to pamper someone you love. Be sure to check out the holiday specials here. And, I want to give a shout out to the medical staff at Vitality Skin and Body in Scottsdale to say thank you for how caring, professional, and yet personal they all are in the way they interact with their clients. The high quality medical care and really personable staff set Vitality Skin and Body medical skin care clinic apart from other clinics in the Valley, and I have certainly been to a few! Let's face it. We have a LOT going on at the holidays! Shopping, social events, family time - all on top of our normally busy schedules. We battle stress, fatigue, and what winter in the desert does to our skin. And we all want to look and feel our best, to have that healthy glow about us. The desert climate already dries our skin out but during the winter it can feel even worse. Plus, we often forget to stay as hydrated as we do in the hot summer months, and neglect our sunscreen. Our skin dehydrates, magnifying our lines and wrinkles. Be sure to stay hydrated and wear your sunscreen. Use a quality skin moisturizing cream, not lotion, to lock in the moisture. I have a REALLY busy schedule during the holidays, with work during the day that doesn't slow down, and a commitment almost every night. THIS year, I am getting a jumpstart on managing this busy season. I am going to take care of myself, and I'm starting with my skincare. I visited with the staff at Vitality Skin & Body in Scottsdale yesterday to talk about the skin care services that are offered to help me manage my schedule and still look great for all of my commitments, and here's my plan. 1) I'm going to start with a photofacial treatment. I have brown spots on my skin from so many years in the Arizona sun, and I don't want them to show up in all of those holiday photos. 2) Next, there is a wonderful treatment called dermaplaning that resurfaces the skin by the dead skin cells and the "peach fuzz" that traps makeup, dirt, and oil. It helps minimize the fine lines leaves the skin soft and refreshed. It also helps your skin absorb the hydration that is coming next. 3) I'm going to DRENCH my skin with hydration, and there are some really nice holiday facial specials right now. I'm going for the spiced cider facial, you can check out the different facials on the SPECIALS page. 4) And finally, the girls have two shots that I am going to get - a B-12 energy shot, and a Fat Burner shot to keep my metabolism revved so that I don't gain weight on all of those holiday foods. Don't forget that what sets Vitality Skin & Body apart is that they are a medical clinic offering skin care services, which means it is all very high quality and there are lots of skin care options that you might not ordinarily consider. After my spa day at Vitality Skin and Body, I'm going to have a bubble bath by candlelight, a wonderful glass of wine, and a few select dark chocolates while listening to soft music. Then, I'm going to get EIGHT hours of sleep, wake up, and take charge of my holiday! I wish you joy on your beauty journey, and encourage you to reach out to the staff at Vitality Skin and Body for your complimentary beauty consultation at 480.203.3918. Another Beauty Secret...
I am finding myself so surprised and very excited about how many options there are for wrinkle treatment! Truthfully, I am really encouraged by the results so far and can't wait to see how my face, neck, and décolleté look in another month! And, I also wished I had used some of these treatments much sooner to actually prevent wrinkling! The good news is that by taking advantage of these treatments now, I am helping to prevent them from worsening over time. That's really good news! So, I'll let you in on another beauty secret that the folks at Vitality Skin and Body in Scottsdale told me about. It's called micro-needling, and I had never heard of it! What is so cool about this treatment is that it is not a temporary fix- it actually wakes your own collagen back up and stimulates it to start producing again, repairing your wrinkling and helping to firm back up sagging skin! The staff at Vitality Skin and Body uses the Dermapen® - a micro-needling device similar to a tattoo pen that works to tighten, lift and rejuvenate the skin. It works to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, stretch marks, surgical and acne scars. And, micro-needling is also a non-surgical procedure. There is no more discomfort to it than getting a tattoo, it's actually similar but instead of ink, your skin receives the micro-needling cream and goes to work to stimulate collagen production. I wouldn't be able to blog about how micro-needling really works if the medical staff had not really taken their time to explain it to me! Now, I have had several rounds of this treatment (takes about an hour total), and I can see the changes in my skin already. It's firmer now, and the wrinkles are softening. The areas that were starting to have the criss-cross wrinkles in my cheeks also are looking younger. It is one of the most cost-effective treatments because it actually causes your own skin to rejuvenate itself, so results don't dissolve over time. I don't recommend micro-needling at anything other than a medical skin care clinic, as you really want someone who knows what they are doing so you can achieve optimum results. It's why I keep returning to Vitality Skin and Body in Scottsdale - even though I live in Glendale I won't go anywhere else. Trust is really important when you are talking about your face, and professional skin care is really important - so different than using a coupon to get an oil change for your car. You want to be in the very best hands, and you will also appreciate the personal attention and the very reasonable prices. I recommend getting ready for the holidays by calling now! There are great fall specials going on, so be sure to take advantage of them as well! Just ask when you call 480.203.3918 or click to e-mail. In my last blog I shared that I was tired of not winning the battle of the bulge on my outer thighs. I told you that I work out and I really watch what I eat, but I just wasn't making any progress on the fat dimpling in this trouble area. So, I went in for the CoolSculpting treatment on my outer thighs. You can also get this treatment at Vitality Skin & Body medical spa on your tummy or your love handles! And, as I shared in my last blog post, it is not painful. So, now for the post treatment update two weeks later. First, after the CoolSculpting treatment, I noticed that the skin where the treatment was felt colder and somewhat numb. Again, no pain, just a little cold and numb. This is because the treatment actually FREEZES the fat cells - they actually die, are absorbed and disposed of by the body! Now, at about two weeks out from the CoolSculpting procedure, the skin does not feel cold at all, and most of the numbness is gone. Regarding what it LOOKS like, the skin IS smoothing out and the dimpling is reducing. There is still some dimpling there that will continue to disappear over the next couple of weeks. The great news is that once the fat is gone, it's permanently gone. It will NOT come back. Now, that doesn't mean I can go splurge on ice cream sundaes, or stop exercising and eating right. It DOES mean that if I put on weight, it will be distributed evenly across my body, not targeted right back at my thighs. That is GREAT news, as I can continue to take care of other trouble spots through exercise! I do hope that if you need some help with your tummy, love handles, or thighs, you will take advantage of the complimentary CoolSculpting consultation at Vitality Skin & Body, conveniently located right off of the 101 and Shea Blvd. in Scottsdale, Arizona. I can assure you that I am really glad that I got all the information I wanted on the procedure in advance from the helpful medical staff, made an informed decision, and then went through with the procedure. It really has met my expectations, as do the wonderful staff at the Vitality Skin & Body medical spa. CLICK HERE to schedule your no obligation, no pressure, and totally complimentary CoolSculpting consultation - I did! I resisted CoolSculpting for about a year, thinking that my diet (which has been working, by the way) combined with weights and cardio, would get rid of the unwanted fat on my thighs. I have managed to eliminate most of my tummy fat through exercise, although I admit there is a stubborn little roll remaining, but the outer thighs have really not responded, no matter how hard I have worked. So, I talked to Michele Simms, RN, BSN and the Vitality Skin & Body Clinical Director about the procedure. She encouraged me to give it a try because it is non-invasive, not painful, and actually KILLS the fat cells so that they are really gone! I don't know about you but my outer thighs somewhat resembled a golf ball, with the dimples and dents all over the surface. Michele was very thorough in explaining the process and the science behind it, which is really fascinating. I did a little more research on my own and then, just last weekend, came in for the CoolSculpting treatment on my outer thighs. I have to also tell you that I live about 30 minutes away from the Vitality Skin & Body medical spa in Scottsdale, AZ, and I am willing to make the drive because I have tried other places for skin care treatments, and I really prefer the personal attention and the medical expertise when it comes to my skin. I'm really happy to report that everything Michele told me proved to be true. I came into the Vitality Skin & Body medical clinic and spent the next couple of hours in a comfortable reclining chair underneath a cozy blanket, working away on my iPad, while the CoolSculpting treatment actually froze my fat cells! My skin felt cold, but I really was not in pain, and after a couple of hours, I was done and went about the rest of my Saturday. It takes some time after the procedure for your body to eliminate the dead fat cells, but I can already see some difference in the contour of my thighs and the reduction of dimpling. I'm excited to see how this progresses, and was so encouraged that after over a year of trying to work on these trouble spots through exercise, that there was a treatment that would help me reach my goal of being happy about my figure, and particularly what my legs look like in shorts and a bathing suit. After all, this IS Arizona! I took advantage of the current special at Vitality Skin & Body medical skin care spa in Scottsdale, where they are offering a complimentary consultation to talk over the areas you are concerned about. The treatment works on a number of different trouble spots, so be sure to address anything you need help with. There is also a video on the special offer page that explains how CoolSculpting works. You can CLICK HERE to sign up for the complimentary consultation and also watch the video, it really helped me! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think about me sharing my beauty journey with you - let me know if it is encouraging to you. I hope so, and I can tell you that after my CoolSculpting treatment last weekend, I wore SKINNY JEANS this weekend! Maybe I'll even post a picture in a couple of weeks!
I hear this term a lot. And in the meantime, I look in the mirror and think... wow... I'm not enjoying watching my skin wrinkle, and I don't like the brown age spots that are showing up on my forehead like I'm a ripening banana in too much heat. Truthfully, I don't mind getting older and wiser, but I don't think I have to hang it up in caring about what I look like. So... I'm not going down without a fight. There are too many great new medical skin care treatments available at an affordable price to just resign myself to watching my skin shrivel like a lizard.
So, when I had my initial consultation with Michele Sims, RN, BSN and Director of Nursing the at Vitality Skin and Body medical skin care clinic, Michele told me about Photo Genesis, a laser treatment that goes right to the source of the brown spots and lifts the pigment out of the skin. No harsh chemicals that burn the skin, and no pain or downtime. That works for me!
I was raised in Phoenix, before sunscreen! So, together, Michele and I are tackling the sun damaged areas of my skin using the laser treatment and medical grade skin care products for after care to help my skin recover from the sun damage down in my early years. Several treatments are needed with the Photo Genesis laser, but I really trust Michele's expertise - she takes time to explain the medical reasons behind what has happened to my skin, and then why and how the treatment she is recommending really works. The personalized care and medical expertise is really the reason I have committed myself to this beauty journey with Vitality Skin and Body in Scottsdale. Otherwise, I could have easily fallen prey to the Groupon cycle where I decide what I need and then hop around between clinics getting a little of this and a little of that, with no long term lasting improvement to my skin or overall looks. And after experiencing the laser treatment, I would not want to go to just any skin care place, I really want a professional treating me! Because of the complimentary consultation, we are systematically tackling one area of concern at a time, and I will be sure to tell you about it as we go! I really recommend the complimentary consultation, it is very personalized and educational. Plus, there are always great offers on a variety of services, and getting connected will give you those special insider deals. To schedule your appointment, just call 480-203-3918. And to get on Vitality Skin and Body's mailing list for the Insider Offers and beauty secrets, just fill out the convenient form below. Come on the beauty journey with me!
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AuthorA woman on a beauty journey with the help of the Vitality Skin & Body staff! Archives
October 2016
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