The Consultation
A quick glimpse into my life: I’m a mom of two very busy and demanding boys, aged 2 and 4. I am a full-time working mom, a wife, and a freelance designer, writer, and artist. I sleep little, drink tons of coffee, and sometimes I have a little cry in the bathroom (when the boys allow this). At 33, my skin is dry, yet oily. I look tired. Wrinkles burrowed in overnight. And I just look dull.
I decided to treat myself to some aesthetic treatment, expecting to get a bit of filler or botulinum here and there. Now, you must note that I wear minimal make-up; some eye shadow, and mascara, and maybe some anamorphic cream. And I have never considered aesthetic treatment before. But I was desperate!
So, I Facebook searched The Renewal Clinic and contacted them over Whatsapp for an appointment – how cool is that! And with a quick response, my appointment was booked and my journey to a more youthful-looking me began.
On the day of my appointment, I made sure I wasn’t wearing any makeup and tried to dodge the passerby’s “hello’s” – I mean, I looked terrible.
I was met by Dr. Cartsens and was whisked away into her comfy, neat, and beautifully designed office lined with only the best medical skincare treatments. I felt right at home.
And so our 20-minute consultation began. Dr. Carstens asked me about my medical history, specifically related to my skin, and jotted that all down. She also asked me about my daily skincare regime, to which I shamefully answered, “soap and water and maybe some moisturizer when I felt dry.” And then Dr. Carstens asked me what I considered to be problematic about my skin. I pointed out the saggy-ness I felt here and there, the wrinkles, oh the wrinkles, and some blackhead problems.
In a swift movement, the blinds were drawn and the lights turned off. And out comes a weird sci-fi-looking gadget. I later found out this gadget is called a Woods Lamp. Still strange, but hey.
Dr. Carstens spent a few minutes analyzing my skin using the Woods Lamp. I must admit, I did not expect that this is how the treatment is determined. She showed me the results and it was really cool. The contrast blue image showed little white dots, beneath the skin breakouts, and also determined how deep my pigmentation was. The coolest thing about the image was my lips. They were angelic white! But that meant they were dry!
So, if you have read Read My Lips – 8 Facts about lips I didn’t know. you can imagine how we’ll I’m moisturizing my lips now.
Anyway, Dr. Carstens determined my skincare treatment and home care regime. My skin is not problematic, but I have combination skin, I have some pigmentation and some fine line wrinkles.
And so I thought I would still be receiving filler and a moisturizer. But to my surprise, Dr. Carstens recommended a soft and no-downtime Neostrata chemical peel to address all of my concerns. Read more about this chemical peel here. I was amazed that I didn’t need filler to refine my skin, reduce my wrinkles and give me my glow back.
Dr. Carstens explained that she first treats the skin to improve overall skin health, and then with aesthetic intervention if needed because healthy skin will naturally improve your aesthetic appearance.
I was also advised to always, always, always wear sunblock because of the danger of UVA and UVB rays, which all contribute to skin aging, even if you work indoors. (Read Blog here). She gave me a Lamelle face wash and told me to continue using my moisturizer daily. So basically, I only needed to follow three steps (wash, moisturize and apply sunblock) daily and return for one chemical peel. That was it!
As I left, she joked and said, “Next time, you can come with your makeup on”. ️