Photo by Scott Troyer
Six months ago, I made a choice to look the very best at my daughter's wedding.
Frankly, I was a little down when Marissa announced that she was getting married on August 22nd.
Looking at my blotchy face and my flabby middle, I felt all of my 57 years. I had trouble applying my makeup to a face I barely recognized, with its filets of fat in inappropriate places, the frown lines and jowls.
And what on Earth was I going to wear to that wedding?
It just made me want to dive into a vat of Haagen Das ice cream.
Get a grip, Rose, my inner diva told me. It's not that bad, is it?
Well it was, at least to me, and that was all that counted.
So I picked myself up off the couch and got back to the gym. I trolled the aisles of Farm Boy in search of kale. I fell into the loving arms of Dr. Oz and an extreme diet which landed me in the hospital with gallstones.
I was out of control trying to undo three decades of wine, sun and butter tarts.
There was one solution I hadn't tried yet, and that was to return to Dr. Greg Antoniak's office for a little facial therapy. I'd had Botox and dermal filler a few years back and I remembered how much better the experience made me feel about myself.
But this time, I was going full Monty. I knew there were therapies that I could try that could turn back the clock, to make my skin a little more virgin and a little less crone.
So I met up with Dr. A and his team and they put together a regime that would make me look a little more like Rose on the inside. I brought along my lovely daughter as an engagement present. Marissa had also been working hard to lose the baby fat, but her skin was a mess. In fact, according to a Visia analysis, her skin, for her age, was worse than mine.
So we began a journey that led us to here. Dr. Antoniak's able chief esthetician Bonnie Craig immediately put us on a skin program to clean up the bad and bring back the good. Marissa's acne was a problem, so too were her clogged pores. My issue was dryness, dead skin and roseacea.
Bonnie gave me skin care products from Viviere which included a cleanser, toner, redness reduction formula, eye and skin moisturizers and sunscreens. For six weeks, we did what we hadn't done for decades -- adopt a daily and nightly skin care regime. It didn't take long before we both began to notice a difference, all thanks to good skin management.
Then it was off to the laser room for photorejuvenation, which involved getting rid of the layers of skin that had been damaged from sun exposure and age. In Marissa's case, the lasers removed unsightly acne scars that had ravaged her skin in her youth.
After only a few treatments, I couldn't believe the results. My roseacea, that had plagued me since my youth, was gone; so were all the brown age spots. Marissa's skin, as you see in the photo above, became absolutely flawless, creamy white.
Finally, I needed another round of Botox and dermal filler to even out my sagging brows, reduce the fat pads around my cheeks and give me back the essence of cheekbones. The treatment wasn't extreme -- think of it as Boost for the skin -- but within minutes, I found myself looking a little bit like the old Rose again, less tired, less saggy.
And my skin was the best it had been in 30 years.
On the day of her wedding, Marissa look more beautiful than I'd ever seen her, like a little porcelain doll. And I didn't look half bad, if I am to brag. I'd been working at the gym for months and it was finally paying off. I got off the sugar. And, thanks to Joseph Ribcoff, I found a dress that made me look less like the Mother of the Bride and more like Friend of the Bride.
It was absolutely magical.
We deserved it.
We worked hard for it.
I guess the biggest takeaway was the education process.
That, and a renewed effort to respect the skin we're living in.
I'd been a sun worshipper, a tennis player, and I played Russian roulette with UV rays.
Every summer, I baked, and frankly, it hadn't looked too bad. But by the time Christmas rolled around, I was a horrible shade of almost grey, and no amount of makeup could fix that.
After a while, you get to thinking, there's nothing in the Wizard's bag to undo the damage.
But there is. There is hope.
This is the first summer I have ever seriously used sunscreen and I can't believe how much a difference it's made, in combination with my skin treatments.
I hardly have to put makeup on; just a dusting of powder, no more coats of foundation and coverup, no more clogged pores and acne breakouts worthy of a teenager.
Hereto forward, I will value my good choices and stop making bad ones.
It's never too late, you know.
You can turn the clock back, at least a few years.
So thank you to Bonnie and Dr. A, to Dr. Bonaparte and to Sheila, my able and creative Botox nurse.
You truly are the weavers of wedding dreams.
www.face.ca
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