So you’ve been thinking about injectables, and are a bit concerned. You’d love the crow’s feet or forehead worry lines “erased” if possible (and what about those fine lines peering out over your upper lip — they never USED to be there)! But the thought of putting chemicals and needles into your skin concerns you.

Here’s what you need to know (from my FIRST TIME injectables experience in May 2016).

Several months before my treatment:

I had been thinking about getting injections for very deepened “concentration lines” (I refused to call them worry lines) between my brows.  

What prompted it:

Not long ago, I started noticing I looked older than everyone else around me.  Part of that was that I AM a bit older than most of my colleagues — but part of it was that they’d had work done and I hadn’t. It wasn’t obvious work — they just looked fresh well into their late 40s.

The day before my appointment

I was excited to think I could turn the clock back. AND I decided not just to get my forehead wrinkles reduced, but bigger lips too. Because I was nervous, I spoke briefly to my injector; she assured me she had over 20 years of injecting experience. She told me I need not worry — that we would have a FULL discussion before the treatment so she could assess what I needed and tell me what to expect.

I sent her a PRE-treatment photo of myself when I scheduled my appointment. I wanted an estimate of how much filler I might need and what she thought might look best for them. Before I decided to get anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers, I did a lot of research and found informative and useful information at http://londoncosmeticclinic.com.au/

I also asked her what else she would recommend for a ‘face makeover.’  She delicately let me know that there WERE other areas we could enhance with injectables to give a more thorough rejuvenation effect, but that we’d discuss this in detail during an assessment where she could take a better look.

I knew that my jowls were sagging — but I had no idea that injectables could help with that.  And I had one eyelid that was really drooping far below the other one.

The Pre-Treatment Facial Assessment!

We sit at a comfortable desk, and it feels great to be able to chat with a seasoned professional about what can — and can’t — be done with my ageing facial skin and wrinkles.

As I hold the mirror up, she asks me to tell her everything about my face that I would like to change, if I could, to reduce the signs of ageing.  I tell her the main two, but as I look in the mirror, I spot a lot more changes related to ageing over the past few years than I had recognised. The droopy eyelid on the right side — which always shows up looking uneven in photographs — can she fix that?

It seems that she MIGHT be able to, but she doesn’t promise anything on that. That’s apparently because it’s been there a bit too long, and brows and eyelids respond best to surgery when they’re that far gone, she mentions that too much filler in the brow can also lead to undesirable results.

She tells me she can definitely reduce the forehead wrinkles, and get me a more youthful smile again.  Plus, the mid-cheek and jaw area skin which is sagging a bit could be improved with dermal fillers along the cheeks.

We decide on a treatment plan, and she says to check in with her in a few months if I want a top up or to further enhance my features. I am READY! And super-excited to see what can be done to ‘freshen up’ my facial skin.

Facelift or Injectables?

Putting off a facelift for a while longer — partially just to see what CAN be done with injectables — seems a very worthwhile investment.  Therapy to deal with adapting to ageing changes might have cost just as much over that period of time — and I still wouldn’t like the way I looked in the mirror.  

I’ll be ready for a facelift when the time comes, but for the moment, it’s challenging to get time away from the office to have surgery. So a zero-down-time ‘liquid facelift‘ sounds perfect for me.

We begin:

She starts on the forehead wrinkles and eyelid area and works her way down.  I’m shocked that, despite a little pinch, I barely feel a thing.  “The injection needle is about as thin as an eyelash” she mentions. It’s noticeable but very quick — and only barely uncomfortable. She then does my cheeks.

She does a half face first so I can see the difference in the mirror.

“The trouble with injecting treatments,” she says, “is that they are so natural looking — when done properly — you forget how much change they actually made. If you do half a face at one time, you can actually see what’s been done — clearly — and the difference between the two sides.”

It’s very obvious that my cheeks look fuller, my eyes look better and my lips — my favourite — finally have shape! The lips hurt — a lot! But it was brief.

We ended up using little ice block packs before and after the lip filler injections and that made it much more tolerable.

The entire process took less than about 45 minutes, and I had several areas done:  forehead wrinkles reduced, jawline restored, chin slightly augmented for balance, cheek enhancements and my lips.

Reclining comfortably and feeling I was in a great Injector’s hands, and it was actually an enjoyable experience.

Not too much pain (only the lips hurt) — and a pleasant anticipation about looking better shortly afterwards.

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