Hi friends! So I am FINALLY sharing my skincare routine AND the Q-n-A I did with my mom (Deb) regarding skincare tips, services, and procedures. If you didn’t know, my mom owns a Medical Laser Spa in Iowa called Avé Medical Laser spa and is a professional skin care expert. I am lucky to have her give me the best advice for my skin, and I am happy to be sharing all her tips and suggestions for you all today.
*when we refer to Medical Grade means products and services are purchased from a Medical Facility with a medical director
Q: What’s your favorite skincare line?
Becky – What I am currently using:
AM ROUTINE: (use the products in this order) Obagi Nu Derm Wash / Obagi Nu-Derm Toner / Vitamin C Serum (Obagi or Ave brand) / Obagi Nu Derm Step 3 & 4 / Revision Intellishade Original Moisturizer/ Teamine Eye Cream
PM ROUTINE: (use the products in this order) Obagi Nu Derm Wash or Elemis Cleansing Balm / Obagi Nu-Derm Toner / Elemis Skin Oil / Obagi Nu Derm Step 3 & 5 / Elemis Marine Cream / Teamine Eye Cream
What my mom recommends:
Deb:
What type of skincare products you should be using all depends on the type of skin you have. I recommend consulting with skincare professional whom can give you expert advice on just what your skin needs.
FOR SUN DAMAGE:
If your skin has more sun damage (i.e. brown spots and wrinkles) I like the Obagi NU-Derm system. It is a 5-step skincare system that is good for fine lines, and brown spots.
I HIGHLY recommend that any medical grade products are bought at a medical facility, like a med spa… 1- because a professional should access your skin to be able to give you the best recommendation and 2- some online sites that sell Obagi (like Amazon) could be selling counterfeits or knock off Obagi and other med grade skin care lines. You know you are getting authentic products from a medical facility.
FOR ANTI-AGING:
If your skin is a good condition and you are looking for more of an anti-aging benefit I recommend Skin Medica. I like Skin Medica Dermal Repair, Skin Medica Lytera, and Skin Medica Retinol Complex .5
EYE CREAMS: Neocutis or Teamine, which is great for dark circles.
FOR ACNE:
Skin Medica and Obagi both have acne lines that help treat acne.
BEST PRODUCT OVERALL:
**One of the most important things to incorporate into your skin care routine is a retinol or retina. Obagi has one that is great called Obagi 360 Retinol.
The Retinas are stronger and people with sensitive skin may not do well with.
All products can be purchased via phone 712.224.3500 at Ave Medical Laser Spa
Becky: Both Obagi and Skin Medica- I purchase through Ave Med Spa – I call and place my order. Mention promo: CELLA JANE and get 20% off your first order!
Q: What do you think of Perricone MD, Tula and Biologique Recherche?
Me: I used Tula products when I was trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy -since you cannot use Obagi during pregnancy. I love Tula! Their eye cream is really good!
Deb: Since these are not medical grade skin care products I am not familiar with them. The lines I recommend are Skin Medica, Revision, Obagi,
Q: What can I do about my facial hair?
Deb: If it is dark hair you can go to a laser facility and they can do an assessment if you are a candidate and do laser hair removal.
Q: I have issues with redness and rosacea, what can I do?
Deb: Rosacea is never cured and only can be controlled. Rosacea can be controlled two ways: Laser treatment and or with a topical product.
Laser treatment// BroadBand Light laser does a really good job helping control symptoms.
Topical Product Treatment // I recommend these products for redness from rosacea: Redness Relief by SkinMedica and Vitamin K Serum by Revision. Both help significantly with rosacea symptoms. Both available at Ave Med Spa
severe cases with breakout you need to see a physician
Q: I would like to know what to use for dark under eye circles?
Deb: Dark under-eye circles are genetic and they are hard to get rid of. I recommend Teamine eye cream by Revision for dark circles. If you also have hollow under eyes you can get a filler. You must get an assessment from a medical expert to see if you are a good candidate.
Q: What are your thoughts on micro needling?
Deb: It can be therapeutic, combined with the right products but NOT nearly effective as a laser would be.
Q: What lasers did you get done on your face, Becky? What do they do?
Me: I get two different types of lasers. The Sciton HALO laser and the Forever Young Sciton BBL.
Why I do the Halo Laser: Shrinks pores, brightens skin, and take care of fine lines and wrinkles and gives skin beautiful.
And because over time, sun damage and the body’s natural aging process can cause your skin to have sun spots, fine lines, and lose its natural, healthy glow. The HALO is the world’s first hybrid fractional laser, combining two lasers in one to take years of damage off of the face, and restores your skin’s youthful glow! It is the most scientifically advanced treatment for sun damage, pigment, fine lines, texture, and pores, without the downtime of traditional ablative and fractional lasers.
What the Forever Young Sciton BBL Treats:
Forever Young BBL treats a wide variety of conditions. For skin rejuvenation, Forever Young BBL removes age spots, freckles, redness, small vessels and more. Is also can be used to reduce unwanted hair and control active acne. And over time has been shown to slow the aging process down.
Becky: I use it for age spots, redness, and overall appearance. I just got this done on my chest!
Q: Does it hurt?
me: Halo- you are given topical numbing on your face before the laser treatment. It feels like a rubber band snapping on your skin. Right after the procedure is done and the numbing wears off, your face gets pretty warm/hot and it’s intense, not gonna lie. But that wears off after about 45 mins.
Sciton BBL doesn’t really hurt, your face just feels really hot when the procedure is being performed.
Q: How was your face post laser treatment and downtime?
Becky: For the Halo treatment
Like I mentioned, my skin felt very warm post procedure, which wore off after 45 mins. The next day my face looked like I had a sunburn. I applied Aquaphor to my entire face to keep a safe barrier on it and alleviate some of the sting. Day 2, I developed what looked like little “coffee grounds” on my face. This is normal and means it’s working. I noticed a few brown spots become more apparent and after a few days fell off- amazing! Day 3/4 the redness went away and my skin sort of felt like sandpaper. Day 5/6 the coffee grinds/sandpaper texture starts to flake off. Day 7/8 – Back to normal.
For the BBL – no downtime. Your skin looks slightly red after the procedure but that goes away. Brown spots can become more promonet and skrink and within 5 days they flake off.
Deb: Everyone will respond differently to this laser treatment because it’s geared specifically for each individual’s skin needs. Some patients may have more swelling than others. Some patients say they wore makeup the next day and had minimal redness.
Q: How often do you do the lasers?
Becky:
Halo – once a year — this all depends on your skin type.
BBL (face, neck) – every 6 months.
Q: Are lasers really worth it?
It’s similar to the question… Is going to the dentist really worth getting your teeth cleaned? It is 100% worth it.
Q: Do I have to do lasers for the rest of my life?
Deb: As long as you want your skin to be healthy and looking it’s the best, yes you do! Just like you can’t workout for a couple months then stop and expect to see results. Skin is an investment, and good looking skin is a gift to yourself and your choice as to how you want to age. Just like you invest time and money into working out for your body, oral care, etc, you should do the same for your face and skin!
Becky: This is how I see it. Halo for the face is around $1500-once a year equates to $125/month. You easily spend that on clothes each month, why not invest it in your skin and your face- something that you will have forever!
Deb: It goes without saying — if you’re considering the Halo treatment or any cosmetic enhancement procedure — you’ve got to do some heavy research. Bargains may be great, but this is your face and life. Your consultation and provider should make you feel confident, safe, and NEVER pressured. With that being said, this treatment isn’t exactly inexpensive. It runs in line with most other laser treatments, around $1500 a session, depending on location/provider. I encourage you to check out some reviews on Real Self, and heavily research a medical provider before having Halo, or any cosmetic procedure performed.
Q: Thoughts on the glopro?
Deb: Non-medical grade so I am not familiar with.
Q: What kind of results will I see from a laser?
Treating Acne
Acne scarring is the most difficult to treat and it takes numerous laser treatments to make better or correct. Best laser for acne scars if pro-fractional or HALo and you don’t want to laser your skin until ance is under control.
HALO Laser
Shrinks pores, brightens skin, and take care of fine lines and wrinkle. Check out before and afters here.
Read more about patient reviews here.
SCITON BBL
Sciton BBL-gets rid of brown spots and helps with red vessels and rosacea and over time has been shown to slow the aging process down.
Q: How can I avoid wrinkles?
A: Wrinkles are a natural result of aging, but you can delay their onset or minimize their appearance. To do so you must be using a great skin care with a retinol, sunblock every single day. Botox prevents wrinkles as well as laser treatments.
Q: Do I really need to wear sunscreen every day?
DEB: In short, yes! If you care about your skin, wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15 is the one thing you can do to protect it most. Sunscreen helps decrease the risk of skin cancer and other negative effects including wrinkles, fine lines, freckles, and sallowness.
We love Revision Intellishade that is a tinted moisturizer with SPF- available at avemedspa.com
Q: How can I fix an uneven skin tone?
DEB: An uneven skin tone is caused by an uneven distribution of pigment. Sun exposure and hormonal changes can also contribute to this issue. Certain serums, creams or moisturizers, especially those that contain vitamin C, can all help to even out your skin tone. It is also possible that your skin can develop an uneven tone due to a buildup of dead skin cells. If that is the issue, a simple way to even out your skin tone is to exfoliate once a day or every couple of days.
Lasers also helo with uneven skin tone. Halo and BBL are great for that.
I hope you guys find this helpful! Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.
Rember skincare doesn’t have to be complicated. For most people, spending just a few minutes a day on a routine that uses a small variety of high-quality, effective products can make a big difference!
Remember Ave Med Spa carries all of the products mentioned in this post. Mention Cella Jane for 20% off your order! Call in orders only! (exludes- Latisse, Retinols, and Biote Supplements)
Did I miss a question? Leave below and we will be happy to answer.
Becky
xx
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I use PCA skin care products. I have good skin and I like the brand but feel like I should be seeing better results in my pores getting smaller, not as much red in my cheeks, and at least helping a little with my wrinkles. Have you ever used PCA products? If so why did you end up liking Obagi more? I have been thinking about switching to Obagi but if Obagi and PCA are comparable products I’ll probably just start doing laser treatments.
I am not familiar with PCA products!
[…] where I go for all skin treatments. We have done a few Q&As together, which you can find here. She is coming to town this weekend, so we’ll try to do another […]
As with any procedure, it is the operator of the laser machine or the hand injecting the needle that makes the difference. So do not focus on the actual procedure, focus on the person operating the equipment.
I am 57 years old have had had almost every procedure done !
Absolutely! Like we mentioned it is necessary to do your research on procedures and med spas you plan on using. xx
Fabulous blog! I have a 16 year old daughter and was wondering what you recommend to get her started on the right skincare path/program? Thank you!
Hi there! Does your mom have any recommendations of a favorite Med spa like hers in the Chicago area!?
She does not, but she does recommend realself.com for reviews on local med spas and physicians.
Such good information! Is there any specific creams or laser treatments your mom would recommend for oily skin?
Great post! I am curious how I can get my hands on some retinol. Does Ave sell it or write prescriptions for it?
The Fraxel laser sounds very similar to the Halo Laser you use. Do you know what the difference is? What are your thoughts on the Fraxel?
The fraxel is a great laser with great results however you do have more downtime with that laser. Compared to the Halo, which is little downtime and you can resume normal activities the next day.
I have been looking forward to this post for so long! Thank you SO much!!