I’m often asked to recommend cosmetic procedures that are good to do during the summer. You may have time off during the summer and want to accomplish something to improve the appearance of your skin, but many of the popular cosmetic rejuvenation treatments require that you stay out of the sun both before and after your treatment, so it’s important to pick treatments that fit with your summer plans and activities.
For example, laser treatments, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL, BBL, or PhotoFacial) treatments, and chemical peels can make your skin more sun sensitive. Plus, after these treatments, your skin heals in such a way that you are at increased risk of developing irregular pigmentation if you accidentally get a tan while your skin is healing. In addition, with these treatments your post-procedure skin care often makes going outside during the sunny hours even more difficult because you may need to:
- wear an ointment on your treated skin and ointments can actually increase the ability of the sun’s rays to tan your skin (just like the old baby oil/tanning “trick”)
- avoid applying sunscreen to your treated skin for a week or so while it heals.
So, what cosmetic treatments can you easily have done during the summer?
Injectable treatments with Botox and fillers are perfect rejuvenation treatments for the summer. They’re also fun because the results are noticeable almost instantly and they can create a more relaxed and happy facial appearance that perfectly fits your summer mood. In my Sonoma County Dermatology office, injectable treatments are among our most popular summer cosmetic procedures.
Botox relaxes “dynamic” wrinkles due to muscular movement such as crow’s feet and the “11′s,” which are the furrows between the brows that are caused by squinting. It also works beautifully to minimize the lines on the forehead and to soften the appearance of pores on the forehead too.
Juvederm XC is a soft hyaluronic acid filler that’s perfect for softening the wrinkles around the mouth. Hyaluronic acid also draws water into the skin to help give your treated skin a more moist, dewy, and youthful appearance.
People love these two injectable treatments but, as with any injection, they can both cause some temporary bruising. You can use a long summer weekend or that little extra time off that you might have during the summer to let any bruising resolve before you’re “out and about” again. Temporary bruising is especially common with fillers, which is why I planned my Juvederm treatments right before I had a week off. It was a perfect strategy – by the time I was back in the office, the bruising had totally resolved. During my week off, I was able to garden every day wearing my hat and sunscreen, so, for me, it was the perfect summer treatment.
In my Santa Rosa-area dermatology practice, the injectable cosmetic treatments I use are the Allergan products Botox and Juvederm because they give such great results. We work with Allergan to help make Botox and Juvederm XC treatments more affordable by participating in Allergan’s Brilliant Distinctions Program and by offering our own “Refer a Friend” program.
Allergan’s Brilliant Distinctions Program gives you a chance to earn points that add up to real savings on your treatments. You earn points for each Botox treatment you have (at 3 month intervals) and for each Juvederm XC syringe we use for your treatment. You also get points for each box of Latisse that you purchase. (Latisse is the popular Allergan medicine for growing long, glamorous eyelashes – you have to love Allergan’s product focus!) The points really add up fast as you can see below. With your points, Allergan sends you a coupon and we take the amount off of the price off your next treatment.
Through August 31, 2012, Allergan also has their Duet Program, which gives you an immediate $50 off when you have both Botox and Juvederm injection treatments on the same day.
Our Refer a Friend Program gives both you and your friend $25 off of your next treatment price too. You and your friend save, making it a fun “win-win.” Our Refer a Friend program works for Botox and Juvederm treatments and our anti-aging laser treatments too.
I love that we live at a time when there are safe treatments to help us age gracefully, and that give us natural looking results. In the summer, when you plan to spend a lot of time outdoors, injectable treatments are the perfect rejuvenation procedure to have – they make a big difference to your look and they are perfect for working into your summer schedule. When you add up all the savings programs, now is a great time to have Juvederm and Botox!
Call our office if you’d like to book one of these cosmetic treatments!
(707)829-5778.
Photo: Thanks and Gratitude to Tommerton2010
Great blog post and perfect timing. I just had a friend that got an IPL a few weeks ago and now is complaining that she has a line of demarcation on both sides of her face. When the Dr says stay out of the sun-they say it for a reason stay out of the sun and especially when driving in your car. Saving certain treatments for the fall and winter is good advice. I guess my friend should have worn sunscreen and her ETSIS Hat but she went to Italy and walked around for 10 days without any protection so not sure what her expectations were, but is she ever going to be able to get rid of that Line now Dr Bailey it looks pretty bad? Plus Asian skin can be tricky when it comes to photo damage. Have a great weekend Ladies
-Much Aloha Devra
Oi vey, that’s a tough one. Prognosis is on a case by case basis and needs to be evaluated personally by her derm. You are so right, staying out of the sun before and after a procedure is even more important for people w/ efficient pigment production potential in their skin. Asian skin is functional type 4 even is it looks like fair type 2 skin and it makes pigment with very little provocation from the sun. It’s one of the reasons that ETSIS hats are so brilliant! Cheers