One of the lovely things about blogging, is the opportunity to do things I would never have thought of beforehand. Yes, I’m getting to the age where old leather and hide boots has been more apt to describe the surface of my face, but I’ve done not too badly in the grand old scheme of things at my age.
Most of the people I know who are a decade or more, younger than me, haven’t been so lucky, which is surprising, especially since I was a smoker for many a year in my youth. But time marches on for all of us. If you’re still a spring chicken, don’t worry though, it doesn’t hurt to get older. We just look wiser to everyone else….apart from our kids – for whom we look like old crocodiles…
Saying that, I do have some sticky points that mean I avoid looking in a mirror… I think we all do at some point in our lives. Go on, laugh if you recognise this… Especially if you need glasses or contacts like me. Pull on clothes, squint in mirror, slap on some foundation and squint some more, before applying squint eyeliner and lippy. Raise eyebrows and pucker lips – we look awesome in the mirror… The first picture on this post is me, three days after my first treatment, and no make-up on. I’m happy with that. I don’t look so red already. It seems a good skin clinic is something I’ve been looking for all my life.
Rolling back the years is something I am conscious of these days. I’m doubtful that any of us want to look old, but neither do most of us want to look like some of the A listers who’ve made some of the biggest mistakes of their lives by going for extreme cosmetic surgery. I’ve thought about having some gentle work sometimes, but as a sandwich carer for 3 adopted kids and 2 dementia parents, one of whom lives with me, as well as finding time to work, I tend to spend my life doing things for other people, and only recently started spending time on me. I should have done it years ago, but none of us are perfect.
When you start looking at the different treatments and salons, it can get quite daunting. So many different options, and no way to know if it’s safe or not, until you get it done….which was why I decided to accept a lovely offer from a company in Aberdeen, to have a consultation and see if there was anything they could do for me.
The Temple Medical Clinic is based in Aberdeen, and owned by Dr Sam Robson, a GP since 1997, who’s been practicing medical aesthetics since 2004. With a recognition of how difficult skin, premature ageing and obesity affect morale, she set about finding a new way to tackle this very real issue that affects both men and women.
I fully understand that. For the years when I was well overweight, I did nothing, avoided gatherings and nights out, even crossing the road to avoid people I knew before the pre busted thyroid weight gain, and absolutely hated looking in the mirror at myself. I’ve written about how my low points affected me before, and now that I’m back to a more normal weight, life seems much brighter again, but ageing catches up with us all. I’m not one of those people who pretend they’d have nothing done, so I’m happy to try out some of the procedures at Temple Medical and shout from the rooftops about it.
Feeling good is what it’s all about. Without feeling good, life is a pretty rough road indeed, and if some pampering can de-stress us and raise the good hormones in our bodies, then I’m all for it. BUT, and this is a big but.. I have to feel comfortable that I’m not entering some back street alley with someone who did a 3 hour course to do my treatments. Having a medical doctor in control is a hugely reassuring thing indeed. I’ll write more about Temple Medical itself and the service in another post, as I’m steamrollering my way down the page at a rate of knots, and I haven’t told you anything about my treatments.
My first consultation was with Karen Urquhart, registered nurse, who is an independent prescriber. She explained the effects of skin and ageing. I was surprised to find out that as we age, the volume loss in our faces is due to reduction in bone size, which leaves the skin more loose, and ageing of collagen which deflates our supportive soft tissue. So, instead of tight and plump skin, that’s attractive, and makes us feel good when we’re young, we start to squint in the mirror to avoid seeing the fine lines, or just throw on some slap and go. I don’t know what I thought, but I realised my slightly saggy skin wasn’t due to something I’d done, but due to my advancing years, and possibly effects of the early menopause I went through in my thirties.
On arrival, I was whisked off for my consultation with the lovely Karen, who took images of my skin to show the sun damage, and where skin could be improved. I have very little sun damage. That means my strategy of using factor 50 on my face, in all weathers for the last few decades, has paid off. I had a low score for that, a fairly low score for wrinkles in my age group, but a higher one for redness in my face.
I’ve always had rosy cheeks, even as a young child. I suspect it’s a form of Rosacea that us Celts suffer from, but thankfully, mine has never progressed to pimples and acne. I just have the dreaded red cheeks that get so red in some situations, I look as if someone has burst a bottle of red ink on my face. I have never, ever, had the need for blusher… As a red face sufferer, I know I’ve had it fairly easy, but still, it embarrasses me a lot, and when I run, my face is scarlet all the time. It’s not quite as bad as when I was younger, but it’s still there, taunting me every time I look in the mirror. I know it’s a first world problem, but if something makes us feel uneasy, it’s worth looking at.
I had no idea something could be done about it. None at all. Although I wanted to do something, I’d read years ago that nothing helped, so as time moved on, I just hadn’t done any more research. When Karen mentioned a course of light treatment would help, as well as help rejuvenate skin, and reduce fine lines and wrinkles, there was no way I would even consider saying no. That would be like shooting myself in the foot. The picture above, was taken lying down on a couch at Temple Medical. Now if only my skin could look so line and blemish free when gravity was working on it, I’d be a happy lady indeed 🙂
I first tried Omnilux, which promotes our own natural healing processes. It’s a rejuvenant to leave us glowing and looking younger and more radiant, with not a needle in sight. It also helps acne and eczema. I had my first session, which has us lie under a bank of lights, which are actually very bright and take a little adjusting to. As someone who rushes around non-stop, I appreciated the relaxing time, and when Karen suggested I go for a course of 8 treatments, with the maximum results showing over time, I was happy to go with that.
As luck would have it, Temple Medical had an open night for a new treatment, which includes a full facial. I couldn’t go as it clashed with parents night, and being a responsible parent, I couldn’t miss that, but Karen suggested I might prefer that to the light treatment alone. So, although I was going to talk about Omnilux first, I’m going to go more in-depth about the new treatment.
SkinFusion Signature Facial
My therapist is Kim, who’s lovely and chatty, but not intrusive. She’s calming and very relaxing to have a treatment with. Kim explained the process very well, and talked me through it the whole way. There are a lot of lovely little bits that go into this facial, and including a hand and shoulder massage was the icing on the cake. The recommendation is a course of 3 treatments, 1 per month, but to keep the effect, a top up as a core monthly treatment is recommended.
Kim said.
When your skin just isn’t looking its best and you are looking for a rejuvenating treatment that will leave it glowing, looking more youthful and radiant, light therapy promotes your own natural healing processes and works at brightening your skin as well as tackling problems such as acne, rosacea and eczema. Even the most sensitive skin can cope with light therapy. It is quick and has no side effects such as pain, redness or irritation.
Cells within the body contain receptors that naturally absorb light. When the body is exposed to light, these receptors absorb the light waves. This process stimulates normal cellular activity that occurs naturally within the cell; light therapy accelerates these processes making the cell more efficient and able to deliver visible improvements in the skin. It stimulates the production of collagen and hyaluronic acid. This plumps up your skin, resulting in a fresher and more youthful appearance.
We went for a snapshot before the therapy, as Kim assured me results can be instant, with a noticeable difference right away. This was a nice touch, as I could really see the glow and increased plumpness in my cheeks afterwards, as the faint smile lines beginning to form in my cheeks are noticeable when I laugh. I have to say though, that it was a full three days afterwards before I noticed a big effect. My cheeks looked more like they did when I was younger, slightly rounder, and the smile lines were much reduced. The plumpness smoothed them out.
Honestly, I felt like a Princess during this treatment. I’ve never had a facial done before. Ever. I’d never made time for me. I can’t believe I’ve got to this age before doing it, but I’m here now. I think I made a very wise choice indeed.
The treatment is gentle and relaxing and is suitable for most skin types but it also incorporates advanced cosmeceutical ingredients that give instant results to brighten, firm, purify soothe and lift skin.
Kim cleansed my face with Vitage Cleanser, the exfoliated my skin with Vitage C02 Micro Peel. My skin tingled slightly, but not uncomfortably, more invigorating, with a pleasant aroma.
A very high tech Hydro Mask was next, placed directly onto my face in two parts, before the Light Fusion equipment. It’s a red light and plus light incorporated into one device, for more powerful results, and is on for 10 minutes.
Kim kindly told me to relax while the light does its magic, as she massaged each of my hands in turn. I very nearly fell asleep…
After just 10 minutes, the lifting mask was applied, which made my skin feel slightly tight – while Kim carried out a neck and shoulder massage.
At the end, Kim applied a Vitamin C Serum, and massaged it into my skin, before also applying Vitage Eye Cream and Vitage Age Defense Power Repair Moisturiser, and finishing off with Vitage SPF 30.
At the end, we went back to take another picture. Wow. My cheeks had popped out a bit. My skin was brighter and glowed, and not just from the products. There really was an instant effect.
What Did I Think of SkinFusion Signature Facial?
- I love the idea of once a month treatments instead of every week for light treatments.
- I’ve already said how much I loved the effect three days afterwards, when I realised cheek laugh lines weren’t so obvious.
- I really loved how my cheeks seemed more plump and I felt I looked younger in the mirror.
- Having all the other little bits as part of the facial made it very special indeed. Massage, exfoliation, light treatment and face mask, all in one go. It’s genius. While I enjoyed the Omnilux, I think SkinFusion is a far more pampering experience. It’s like a whole course of luxury in one session.
- I can’t wait to see the final results after three full treatments. I would never have believed my skin could feel so much better than it does already. As a skin treatment newbie, I had the best of both experience, and products, in the SkinFusion Signature Facial at Temple Medical, for my first toe dipping into growing older gracefully.
Here are the images of my before and after using the very unforgiving camera in the practice, for close up comparison. It’s a scary thing for sure. When I first saw Karen, she said this was the point where you realise how much like your mother you look like. She was right. No holds barred here, and frightening to see, but in the interests of blogging honestly, you can see for yourself. I’m going to be very interested to see how my skin is after the three full treatments. There’s no way I’m going into Xmas without one of these treatments now. I can see a new hobby coming on…
Shininess from products aside, especially in images 1 and 2, you can see the difference in volume in my cheeks already. The redness didn’t show in the images, due to the lights, and my face was a bit pink from the lovely facial, but the first picture at the top of this post helps to make it obvious that some redness has gone.
Temple Medical Ltd
6 West Craibstone Street
Aberdeen
AB11 6DL
- Call: 01224 869997
- Website: templemedical.co.uk
- Twitter: @TempleMedicalUK
- Email: info@templemedical.co.uk
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TempleMedical
Thanks to Temple Medical for my consultation and treatments. All opinions are my own, based on my experience of red light therapy. It’s quite interesting that there’s also blue light therapy for acne, as well as wrinkle relaxing treatments, skin rejuvenation, blemish removal, body contouring, ipl laser hair removal, and many more non surgical cosmetic procedures. I am very much enjoying this.
