by Robecca Leyden
Before you read any further, I want to point out two very important things: 1. ALWAYS get any procedure done by a medical professional i.e a Nurse. Saving $100 is not worth a lopsided face or catching something from a dodgy needle. 2. I am NOT a medical professional. DO NOT use anything I have written as personal consultation by any means, everything written here is my (and my Mother's) personal experience and should be taken as an opinion piece. What you CAN do is go have a free consultation with Clear Skincare Clinic.
Cool? Cool.
For this latest Things We're Lovin' article, we are taking at look at the excellent Clear Skincare Clinic Mission Bay.
Clear Skincare Clinic offer a range of skin care services, from injectables to microdermabrasion, teeth whitening and so much more. There are also assorted skincare products available for sale.
Clear Skincare Clinic is a doctor-developed, and highly experienced clinic, with more than 90 branches across Australia and New Zealand. Established in 1999, they pride themselves on providing a high quality experience at affordable prices.
If you're a long time reader of Sans Pareil, you will know that we LOVE a good beauty treatment. This includes injectables. I'm not a medical professional, and please never your medical advice from someone that isn't. I do think that injectables can be a wonderful way to enhance your features without investing the time, money or long term of surgery. I'm not someone who wears a lot of makeup, most days I don't wear any. Nothing against people that do, I'm just usually either running late or too lazy (said laziness has also evolved to rarely wearing a bra). So with that said, I love taking care of my skin, and I first tried injectables in 2017 when I wrote on the experience.
Injectables is still something that has some taboo around it. From celebrities like the Kardashians, Jenner's and Hadid's straight lying about what they've had done, to people I know, feeling uncomfortable to publicly admit anything. I understand the scrutiny we can all experience at the hands of others, which is why I chose to be very public that I enjoy injectables, and am pro plastic surgery. Although I personally haven't had any, is something I would absolutely be open to getting in the future. I don't see any of this as much different to getting braces to enhance a smile - though for some reason that's socially acceptable to the point most kids now get braces if their parents can afford it. My point is that when you live in a world that has been scientifically proven to favor the attractive, you're not a bad or even super vein person to want to look your best, or look away that makes you feel your best.
On that note, I thought it would be interesting to use my Mum as a clean slate to work with. She's in her 70s, never had anything more than a facial and has stuck to the same beauty routine for the last 20 years. You guessed it: dove soap (Nothing against Dove soap, but why is literally every old lady obsessed with it? Mum would probably fight me if I tried to take it away from her) and Oil of Olay with an SPF in the morning. That's right, no retinol, no collagen and certainly no hyaluronic acid. From what she has told me, all her friends use a similar routine.
There seems to be an even stronger stigma (as opposed to the general public that are still quite hush hush) with her age group and injectables and 'fancy' skincare regimes. One friend even tried to steer her away from getting 'all that stuff done to your face' fretting she might look ridiculous. The thing people don't seem to understand about injectables is that it takes a LOT of work to get yourself looking like Chloe Cherry (not that I don't advocate she can do what she wants with her body, but that's for another time). Mostly, what you get is very subtle. I partnered with Clear Skincare Clinic, because they use nurses which is a must if you're getting injectables and I had heard great things about their cosmetologists.
Let's start with a before photo of my dear mother, whom hopefully won't be too upset I flashed this over the internet.
Au naturale Mumsy.
Before I go any further, I need to note that we paid for her injectables ourselves. What was gifted for this article was a skin journey plan, which I will get into a little later.
After consulting the nurse, we decided to go with lip cheek filler. Why? Because she wanted a natural look. Never having had Botox before, and is well into her 70s, it would have been too difficult for Mum to get rid of the lines in her forehead with one session. Contrary to popular belief, Botox a at its best, being used as a presentative measure. Let me explain.
According to Medsafe.govt.nz, Botox or Botulinum Toxin, often shortened to Botox, is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium clostridium botulinum. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction, thus causing flaccid paralysis, in other words it contains a muscle relaxant. As with all muscles it's better they are prevented from being used rather than trying to reverse their effects. Think of it as a reverse gym workout. Also it's good to note that Botox is actually a specific brand of Botulinum Toxin (notably the most well known). Botulinum Toxin is incredibly interesting to read up about and has been used in life-enhancing procedures such as preventing neck spasms, excessive sweating and lazy eye!
So, medical jargon aside and back to the consultation regarding WHAT to do with my poor mother. We decided to leave the forehead for now because wrinkles there are fine and she's 70+. She was however, an avid smoker for something like 30 years (I know) so even though she hasn't smoked in about 15 years, Mum still has smoker's mouth and some sagging around her neck she isn't fond of. We settled on dermal filler: 1ml of medium filler in the lips and 1ml of medium or thick filler in the cheeks.
Outlining where the injections will go.
INSTANT RESULTS:
Later that night.
When you get injectables, especially the lips, it's very normal to swell and bruise. There might even be a little blood around the injection points. This should only last a few days, if it lasts longer, see your doctor.
Because she wanted to go very minimalist the results are great (in my opinion) but mum was expecting a BIG difference. This is what I mentioned above and I think important to note, these procedures are meant to ENHANCE. If you come away with very obvious results then you're doing it wrong. It's also normal to stare at something enough (like your reflection in the mirror) and start to see all the faults and mentally absorb any enhancements as your new normal and forget how much of a change really took place. This didn't necessarily happen with Mum, however I think it's important to critically think about as it has led to filler and plastic surgery addictions for many people.
THE NEXT WEEK:
I LOVE the results. she looks refreshed in a totally natural-looking way. All the dark around her lips are gone and they look refreshed. There is also volume in her cheek bones, which has lifted her entire face. AND this is makeup free.
Pictured: Final outcome.
What are your thoughts? Would you consider getting filler? Let us know what you think over on the Instagram.
Check out Clear Skincare Clinic online:
Clear Skincare Clinic website
Clear Skincare Clinic Facebook
Clear Skincare Clinic Instagram
Disclaimer: While these products were gifted to the Sans Pareil Online team to review, our opinions are our own and we have not been paid or coaxed to say something either way. If you would like to have your product reviewed please contact us here.
