Photo Facial

I got a Photo facial. Sounds fancy; huh? That’s what I thought. The more I read about it, though, the more I was horrified. Probably not the best way to intro into this blog. Honestly, though…that’s the truth! I would imagine that that’s how most women would feel reading about it. That is if you are anything like me, which is usually a complete freak out for the tiniest appearance on my face, feeling in my body, or in my mind, for that matter. Why am I like this? Okay, ladies; I’m not here to scare you, so let’s get to this. I’m continuing to share my journey BACK to clear skin with you!

I recently discovered that I had been having allergic reactions to some hair products and I haven’t been experiencing “acne” breakouts after all. That’s for another blog or possibly vlog to come. However, I have been left with tiny red bumps that just aren’t going away on their own. As most of you saw on an Instagram post, I visited ENLIGHTEN MD  for a “Tiffany Facial” to try and clean my face up. Not only did it visibly freshen and leave me with glowing skin, it was probably the best 90 minutes of my life…shhh; don’t tell Greg that. LOL. My skin was softer and glowing, but I still had these tiny red bumps and from all of the stress and occasionally trying to extract those annoying bumps on my own, I did have some tiny broken blood vessels. That was when the girls at ENLIGHTEN suggested a photo facial. Now, again, I have never done anything to my face, ever. This was only my third facial in my 30 years here! Which also brings me to another reason for doing the photo facial. I am not getting any younger and I have spent a few hours or more in tanning beds and outside in the sun. I know, I know; but I grew up in the 90s…tanning was like a thing; so some minor sun spots have appeared. Burnt bacon one day to Casper with freckles the next. Awesome. Now, before I continue, I am not saying my face was a mess. In fact, the girls at Enlighten said I had GREAT skin, but that this was a good preventative so none of the spots get worse and it would even out this leftover redness. Which the main goal was to get rid of these damn red dots; so if I can get rid of the other stuff too, sign me up!

So, what the heck is it? What does a photo facial do? Well, I’ll leave it up to the experts to tell you that. Click HERE for more details. Summed up, it is a skin-specific light that helps you grow new collagen to improve spots and sun damage and even out your skin tone. Basically, it’s an eraser that cleans up all of the damage you have done to your face over the years. Brilliant. Though it sounds amazing and I was ready to do whatever to get my face back to normal, I was so nervous and so scared. I thought about this for a long time, had consultations with the girls at Enlighten, and after months of my face not clearing up, I decided there was no better time to do this than now. Here’s what also sold me. They offer almost everything in the book at Enlighten. From lips, Botox, micro-needling, derma planning, permanent makeup…the list goes on. They did not suggest or try to push one more thing on me other than exactly what I NEEDED. That right there spoke a lot to me.

I went in about 30 minutes before my appointment. They put a numbing cream on your face to help with the sensitivity. Boy, does that stuff work. I literally could not feel my face. Then it was time and I went into a room where I met Abby who was my Photo facial tech. I like Abby…she’s like me. Keeps it real and honest, but was kind and funny, which helped the nerves. I laid on a super comfy bed, with an extra soft blanket and some sexy eye gear. That’s to help protect your eyes from the light. Then she put an ice-cold roller on a section of my face and away she zapped. Zapped is just a cute way to say this; again, it’s not a laser. It did feel like it does when you do get laser hair removal. Almost like a tiny rubber band popping you. Unbearable? No. Annoying and hurts? Yes. Level four on a scale from one to ten. The pain is for like a second and then immediately goes away. It’s a quick zap and then done. It’s not one continued zap like getting a tattoo would be. They let you take a break if you need, but I just thought knock it out and be done. About 15 minutes later, we were finished. After that, she told me about the healing process, how to take care of my skin, and when to come back. Here is the best part. As she was telling me all of this, she started to put on basically a B.B. Cream foundation with SPF. Yeah, that means you can put makeup on immediately after and continue your day. Which I did! I didn’t walk out of there with glowing skin. It was obvious that I had something done to my face. Nothing major and there was no pain. They told me about the healing process and that in about ten days, I would come back for my final check up! There would be redness, there might be itching, there would be tightness, and there would be swelling. There were definitely phases to this “healing process” and I documented the entire thing for you guys!

Getting a photo facial was the best thing I could have done. I not only have my normal skin back, but I have better skin! I don’t really know what else to say or how to describe it. I think the before and afters take care of that. I just want to thank everyone at Enlighten MD for taking care of me and for helping me get my skin back and my confidence back. For making me feel like ME again. I am beyond happy with my results and have my clear skin back!