This blog is designed to help everyone, whether you are new to the world of taking care of your skin or a seasoned skincare vet đ we all need a game plan in place to help us achieve our skin goals. One of the most important things to understand is that achieving your skincare goals takes commitment and consistency with a multi-faceted approach. When it comes to treatments in the office the perfect combination is a mixture of skincare, injectables, lasers, and rejuvenative treatments like microneedling, facials, and chemical peels. By sprinkling these different treatments throughout the year we are able to work on everything from texture, complexion, skin conditions, and overall anti-aging. I know that may sound overwhelming but I am here to explain it does not have to be. There is no perfect order of treatments, it is going to be a little different for everyone based on your needs and goals. The important thing is to simply get started and start taking care of your skin today. Even if your goal this year is 2-3 treatments in addition to your skincareâŚthat’s a win and a step in the right direction!
I know how life can getâŚ. BUSY and oftentimes we forget to take care of ourselves. Having a recommended schedule for your treatments will allow you to plan in advance with your schedule, your finances, and keep you accountable for the pampering you deserve! You guys know I am a little type A and OCD but I am here to tell you, if you plan ahead with your treatments you will take the work out of it and make it happen. In fact, let us do the work for you and help you create your very own âyear at a glanceâ guideline for treatments.
GLOSSARY OF MY TOP MAINTENANCE TREATMENTS MEDICAL GRADE SKINCARE (FIRST STEP, ALWAYS!)
First, letâs talk about medical grade skincare. Medical grade skincare is the least invasive or manipulative. In medical grade skincare, the formulation of the products are scientifically designed to penetrate into the skin and to be able to yield real results. Medical grade is often very different from the drug store brands. There are no random filler ingredients â just high quality, active products that WORK. These products contain the perfectly crafted and tested mix of active products in a formulation that can be delivered with minimal to no irritation. That is what you are paying for. Using daily medical grade skincare daily will prepare your skin for your in office treatments and allow our amazing providers at Racquel Aesthetics to deliver the most effective treatments. Not sure where to start depending on your skincare goals? Simply CLICK HERE for a personalized complimentary skincare consultation.
In Office Treatments
Moving on to the in office treatments, all of the following treatments can be done at Racquel Aesthetics by our talented providers. We pride ourselves on providing the best possible care and outcomes to each and every one of our patients. From injectables, laser treatments to chemical peels and facials, I can guarantee you will be feeling confident, beautiful and enjoy the best skin of your life. Worried about not looking like yourself or looking overdone, donât worry. Myself and all my talented practitioners at RA take your goals and wishes to heart, we want to make sure you confidently leave the practice feeling refreshed, restored and revitalizedâŚNEVER overdone, ALWAYS looking just like you.
Customized Facials
Letâs start with our least invasive treatment with no âdowntimeâ and is full of pampering, our Custom + Corrective Facial. What really makes our facials at RA special is that they are 100% customized to each patient. We do not believe in the âcookie cutterâ approach. This is a facial good for all skin types. This is the ultimate tailored service for those who are seeking results. This appointment will start out with a deep thorough cleanse, skin analysis, and extractions. You and your provider will choose blended treatment options such as Biobrasion, dermaplaning, enzymes, superficial chemical peels, skin tightening RF, microcurrent eye treatment, and/or Celluma Light Therapy. Your knowledgeable aesthetician will deliver the highest quality and recommend frequency of treatments to you, generally between every 4-8 weeks is a good rule of thumb for a facial. The way your skin will feel after your treatment and the personal one-on-one time with your favorite RA provider will have you feeling so relaxed.
In your facial, depending on what your skin needs, a chemical peel may be recommended. Chemical peels are performed to exfoliate the outer layers of dead skin and promote new skin cell turnover and brightening. In addition to these benefits, our peels will allow maximum penetration of your skincare products used at home. Sun damage, acne, fine lines, wrinkles, and discoloration can be addressed with our custom chemical peels. The strength of our peels can be tailored for each client and their desired results and downtime. Well, how often should I get a chemical peel? Anywhere from 1 to 3 times annually is best for your skin.
Customized Peels
At Racquel Aesthetics, we are the Peel Mixologists. An array of skin care concerns such as sun damage, acne, fine lines, wrinkles, and discoloration can be addressed with our custom chemical peels.
The strength of our peels can be tailored for each client and their desired results and downtime. Level choices will be discussed at the time of service. The speciality topical acids used in our peels will exfoliate the skin by lifting away dead skin cells and revealing a bright and radiant complexion, in addition to allowing for maximum penetration and absorption of skincare.
The Lumify Peel is a powerhouse fighter for all things corrective. Whether you are struggling with sun damage, melasma, acne scars, fine lines, mature skin, or all of the above, this peel will tackle it all. We love this peel because of the skincare kit that comes with it to carry on these results and make it our most effective peel.
The Lux Peel is an amazing TCA peel to improve acne, texture, pores, fine lines, and premature aging without the discomfort and adverse reactions of other TCA peels. It improves skin tone and texture, leaving your skin with a radiant glow. This is our favorite peel for every skin type.
The Renew Peel is a great introductory peel for those who have never had a medical grade chemical peel. Blended with Salicylic, Azelaic, and Mandelic, this peel treats acne, fine lines, pores, and overall skin tone. A great option for those who have sensitive skin but want to be anti-aging and preventative.
Laser Treatments
Lasers are in a class of their own and are wonderful to help with a variety of skin concerns. From rosacea and telangiectasias, to pigmentation, tone, texture and collagen rejuvenation, our lasers offer everything you need. What sets us apart at Racquel Aesthetics is our fantastic laser technicians that are the hands and eyes that deliver the results youâre looking for. We pride ourselves on their immense amount of experience, knowledge, safety and expertise. At RA we often recommend layering our lasers, so patients receive the most out of their treatment, while obtaining the best possible outcomes. Depending on your skin concerns and goals, we have Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), VBEAM and MOXI lasers. From evening skin tone, reducing sun damage and/or promoting new collagen stimulation, youâll definitely see results. Often times, it can take more than 1 treatment to obtain optimal results, thus anywhere from 1 to 3 times annually is best recommended for laser treatments. Depending on the time of the year, certain laser treatments may or may not be recommended. Recovery time with each of these treatments varies but remains very minimal. Emily or Denise, or laser technicians and aestheticians can best recommend which treatment is best for you and can even recommend add on therapies that help reduce âdowntimeâ
Microneedling with PRP or Exosomes
Whether youâre looking to treat large pores, scarring, or just wanting to have even and glowing skin texture, microneedling can drastically help. Microneedling involves making teeny tiny punctures to the skin to stimulate the growth of new cells and collagen production. The treatment requires taking a sample of your blood and applying it back into your skin. I know it sounds crazy but it works wonders.
The reason we take the blood sample is to extract Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) which is a miracle substance that your body is already creating. PRP is incredible for wound healing so by pairing the small micro-injuries with a healing plasma you are getting quite literally a new face of skin. Before this procedure the skin is numbed with a cream and most patients feel very little irritation during the microneedling.
Using exosomes for anti-aging might be the future of rejuvenation. It certainly seems to be the best stage in the evolution of rejuvenation therapy. Microneedling creates hundreds to thousands of âmicroâ channels to stimulate the skinâs natural wound healing process to prompt tissue remodeling without causing scar tissue formation. The rapid release of growth factors in exosomes promotes the bodyâs natural healing process.
The rapid release of growth factors in exosomes promotes the bodyâs natural healing process. The leads to an improvement in both the appearance and texture of your skin by stimulating collagen and elastin production. This is a great way to boost microneedling and a wonderful option for those who do not want their blood drawn for PRP.
Skin will be red and a bit swollen after a microneedling treatment but healing time is minimal.
Injectables
Now on to injectables, a BIG passion of mine. I specialize in injectables and have over 15 years experience as an injector. I can confidently say all of our nurses at Racquel Aesthetics are beyond talented and pride themselves on delivering the highest quality treatment, while keeping patientâs goals and safety number one priority! Injectables are all about restoring depleted facial volume and erasing fine lines and wrinkles. Honestly, they are a huge âbang for your buckâ treatment with very instant and transformative results.
Neurotoxin: Botox & Dysport
Botox is a great place to start to help soften and prevent further expression lines and wrinkles. Botox is a muscle relaxer, but it isnât permanent. Botox can be used to both prevent and reverse wrinkles in your forehead, between the brows, the â11âsâ and in your crows feet to name a few. Botox starts to take full effect with relaxing your muscles between 7-10 days and generally lasts about 3-4 months. With Botox, there is no downtime, besides tiny little red bumps from the injection sites that last about 5 minutes. A quick lunch time treatment! Your highly skilled nurse injector at Racquel Aesthetics will conduct a consultation prior to your injections with recommendations of treatment areas, number of units and which product they recommend. We offer both Botox and Dysport at RA.
Dermal Fillers: Hyaluronic Acid
Dermal fillers are another injectable that is hyaluronic acid injected into the face to help restore volume loss and fill in facial wrinkles. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring carbohydrate in the body not only is it very safe but itâs also completely reversible! Dermal fillers can be placed in the lips, cheeks, under eyes, temples, jaw line, smile lines and even in the ear lobes. There are a few brands of filler that we offer at Racquel Aesthetics and depending on your needs, your practitioner will chose the right one for you and the area being treated. Fillers are recommended about once a year. It is not uncommon to have mild bruising and swelling with dermal fillers, but donât worry. We will provide pre-care and post treatment recommendations to you, so your downtime is down to a minimum.
Biostimulatory Filler: Sculptra
The last injectable treatment that I am obsessed with is Sculptra! Sculptra is an injectable collagen bio-stimulator, designed to restore facial volume loss and laxity caused by aging and/or weight loss. I love to use sculptra in my super lean patients and patients who need overall volume in the face. I LOVE it to correct the peanut shape that happens in the temples with age as well as the lower face hollowness. Sculptra can be used to treat deep lines, temples and folds and gives you a more youthful, natural appearance. It takes several weeks to gradually look younger and oftentimes a series of treatments may be needed. The results are just beautiful and look extremely natural!
WHERE DO I BEGIN?!
With all of this information, youâre thinking gosh I need it all and where do I start. It can be overwhelming, I know. You donât have to jump in all at once, itâs okay to start with a couple treatments and slowly incorporate more into our years schedule. Your skin will not change overnight, but in the long haul you will thank yourself you started taking care of YOU!
I went ahead and wrote out my personal year at a glance for the next year of treatments so you can see what that looks like. My plan is a great general rule of thumb for anyone looking for a solid anti-aging plan, but please know any of our talented practitioners at Racquel Aesthetics are willing to help you tailor your plan to your schedule and needs! We are excited to get to work with you!Feb
February: Botox + Laser Treatment (BBL + Moxi or Vbeam)
March: Custom + Corrective Facial
April: Filler and/or Sculptra
May: Maintenance Treatment (Ex: Custom + Corrective Facial, Microneedling, or Chemical Peel
June: Botox
July: Maintenance Treatment (Ex: Custom + Corrective Facial, Microneedling, or Chemical Peel
August: Maintenance Treatment (Ex: Custom + Corrective Facial, Microneedling, or Chemical Peel)
September: Botox
October: Laser Treatment (Ex: BBL + Moxi, or Vbeam)
November: Maintenance Treatment (Ex: Custom + Corrective Facial, Microneedling, or Chemical Peel)
December: Botox
HOW I CAN HELP?
IN-OFFICE TREATMENTS
At Racquel Aesthetics both myself and my injectors are fully versed on full facial balancing and we would love to help you. The first step is to email my amazing patient coordinator Lea Voda. Lea will get you information and ask for photos. Once I review your photos, Lea will give you my full recommendations for full facial balancing as well as any other rejuvenation treatments like lasers or skincare that I think will benefit you. This does not mean you have to commit to everything on your first visit, but I like you to have a fundamental understanding of what can be done to help you achieve your goals. It is nice to have a reference list to work towards. I do this complimentary for patients who want to come see me in the office. My injectors and I take local patients and we also have patients fly in from all over the country to see us. If you do not plan to see my team or I for treatment, I cannot give you treatment recommendations because I am unsure of your injectors skill level or product selection. If you would like a facial assessment please email Lea at Lea@RacquelAesthetics.com
VIRTUAL SKINCARE PLANS
Whether you are looking for anti-aging, acne treatment, or even pregnancy-safe regimens â we can help! We help patients nationwide achieve their best skin by using medical grade skincare. We love being able to reach and help people all over the country with the very same products we use daily in our practice.
Skincare is not one size fits all. We create complementary, custom skincare regimens for our clients. We are able to do this via email and in the convenience of your own home. If you would like to start achieving your best skin today, complete the form below. Based on your answers, we will send back a plan that fits your needs!
https://racquelaesthetics.com/pages/request-a-skin-consultation
XO,
Racquel
