You awoke this morning to a “new wrinkle” and maybe a couple of new brown spots on your skin. Unwelcome arrivals, to say the least? And maybe you started wondering—again—about what you can do to rid yourself of these new “features.”
Wonder no more, for many of the answers you require are in a new book, Be You-T-Full, an expert guide through the maze of medical cosmetic treatments. It’s written in a lively and casual, yet informative tone, and closes the gaps that result when we’re uninformed and afraid of doing something new. We have questions: This book has answers.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing its author, Beth Haney, DNP, FNC-P, for a California Healthline story on the growth of retail health clinics. Beth is also president of the California Association for Nurse Practitioners and is the CEO of Luxe Aesthetic Center in Yorba Linda,Calif.
Needles, when used safely and correctly by a trained professional, can be a boomer gal’s best friend. Prices per treatment vary, but let’s say they start around $350…on up.
Filler up?
The book’s chapters comprehensively discuss skin care, treatments with light and heat, botulinum toxins like Botox, lasers, cellulite and fat treatments, working with plastic surgeons, acne, and mature (that’s us) skin. I want to focus on fillers, since it’s a popular subject among us boomer gals. Maybe you thought everything listed below is a filler. It’s not.
1. collagen: It’s pretty much passé now, although hot in the 80s, and has made room for…
2. hyaluronic acid (HA): Perlane, Restylane, Juvederm, are popular brands. HA occurs naturally in our skin and bodies. Enhance your looks as subtly or dramatically as you want: lips, cheeks, temples, droopy mouth, sunken hollows under eyes. They’re water soluble and slowly reabsorb into skin.
3. Sculptra: Not considered a filler, it’s made from polymerized lactic acid—like surgical sutures. Expect weeks or months before you see improvement.
4. Artefill/Artecoll: It’s permanent dermal filler made from polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) beads in a collagen vehicle. Your skin forms fibrous tissue around the beads. Remember that as you age, fillers—like facial implants—may not age with you, so talk to your practitioner.
Read Beth’s book for more easy-to-understand information that will keep you looking great in your own, beautiful boomer-gal skin.