Wedding Skin: Turning back the clock

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

 

Rejuvenation turns back the clock on skin conditions

I'd like to say that I sailed through my skin photo rejuvenation session at Dr. Antoniak's office.
I'd like to say that, but that would be a lie.
It hurt.
What do you expect when your skin is zapped by a medical-grade light pulse a hundred times? It's an assault on the senses, especially around the nose area. Kind of like a knock out punch at Caesar's Palace.
But then, I've spent years assaulting the skin I'm in: playing tennis and golf in 30 plus heat for hours; drinking red wine with politicians and doctors at all hours during conventions; exposing myself to hormonal changes through three pregnancies; and generally not taking care of my skin in any way.
Photo rejuvenation requires the use of an intense pulse light to correct a variety of skin conditions including imperfections, aging, birthmarks, unwanted hair, unsightly small veins, rosacea and so on. Over the course of several treatments over time, those marks disappear or lessen dramatically, depending on the condition of your skin.
This kind of treatment used to lay up the patients for weeks with bruising and puffiness, but now you can go back to the office looking like you might have gotten a bit too much sun. There are telltale signs you've been zapped over the next few days. In my case, a little swelling in the lower cheek area and around the eyes.

After care is pretty strict. No exercise or hot showers for a week, anything that raises the body temperature. Oh well, a few days of playing Candy Crush instead of crunches. I can take it.
Oh yes, and strict adherence to the "no sun" rule. Hats. Sunscreen.
Let's say, this regime might just save the life of this former sun worshipper.
The treatment is a little tough, not like getting a tattoo, more like getting zapped by a wet towel all over your face. But it's quick -- only twenty minutes.
I'm looking forward to the result.
Aesthetics chief Bonnie Craig is promising my skin will look and feel softer, healthier instead of leathery and spotified. She recommends mothers of brides plan six months of photo rejuvenation before the big day.
I'm on course.

Rosacea: Stay calm and carry on

Anyone who suffers from rosacea knows it's a tough taskmaster.
I've always had a bright red nose and chin, made worse every year by the sun. But in recent years, the rosacea has spread to my cheeks making me look flushed, a little like an over-refreshed Santa Claus.
Most of us simply live with rosacea. We slather cream on it, then mask it with a thick coating of cover up, making us look that much older.
But did you know that there are aesthetic treatments for rosacea that calm the redness?
The first step in my rejuvenation was a daily regime of Vivier treatments which include a cleanser, a toner to smooth and even out the blotchiness, an eye cream, and redness relief. The entire regime takes less than five minutes twice a day. (Cost: $271)
After just two weeks, I noticed a big difference in my rosacea, even on the chin and nose areas. For the first time in many years, as a result, I was able to apply just a light smattering of mineral makeup.
This is terrific in my world.
I hate wearing makeup, and prefer the natural look.
But rosacea had made it impossible to pull off a nice, natural look. Now I can just apply a light powder and I'm good to go.
Here's picture of me two weeks after the treatment.
You can learn more about Vivier products and other medical grade skin care products at www.face.ca

 

Visia Skin Analysis provides a "wakeup" call to tanning bed devotees

For years, I've been trying to caution my daughter Marissa about tanning beds.
I know they aren't safe. I've read the stories, seen the literature.
It always seems senseless to me to expose your skin to UV rays at least without the other benefits of sunbathing -- the swim-up bar, the lapping ocean or a championship golf course.
My generation didn't listen, either. We slathered baby oil on our backs, we exposed fish belly white skin to the elements -- all towards chasing that perfect tan. I played club tennis for years without sunscreen and even got sun poisoning in Cuba when I was 18.
Who was I to tell my daughter, the girl with skin so porcelain, she could have been a cast regular on Downton Abbey, that sun worshipping was a bad idea?
Well, thanks to Dr. Antoniak's Visia skin analysis machine, Marissa got her wake-up call.
Visia is a tool that doctors use to identify the good, the bad and the ugly of a patient's face by analyzing all elements of the skin: the size of pores, sun damage, texture, bacteria, rosacea and wrinkles. It compares your skin to 99 other women, of your age, to give you a baseline from which the doctor develops a personalized skin strategy using products and interventions that give you the best result.
As part of our treatment plans, Marissa and I both took the Visia test and the results were revealing.
I'd been given the Visia analysis three years ago and I tested badly in many areas. Since then I've taken measures to improve my skin, such as avoiding the sun and adjusting my lifestyle so my results were less shocking. Compared to other women my age, I have better skin than more than 80 percent of them, fewer wrinkles, better texture. Still my sun damage was up there for the world to see. I had a 66% score meaning that my skin was better than slightly more than half the women analyzed.
That is not a good result, in my mind.
Marissa didn't fair nearly as well as I did. Thanks to tanning beds and early sun exposure without sunscreen (the downside of co-parenting) she scored better than only 33% compared to other women her age (24). She also had clogged pores and a high level of bacteria on her skin from not utilizing a correct cleansing technique.
Based on our Visia results, Drs. Antoniak and Bonaparte have crafted treatment plans for both of us involving the use of medical grade skin care products from Vivierskin to arrest the bacteria (Marissa) and the rosacea (Rose) and put us on a path for skin care recovery.
Using the Visia is a great first step towards getting the skin you've always dreamed about. Even if you don't have the budget for Botox and dermal fillers or chemical peels, an investment of $60 in a Visia session will show you what you need to work on. And the Vivierskin treatment (a full skin care product package for under $275) will help arrest the damage and improve your skin in just a few weeks. My rosacea, caused strangely by my new addiction to physical fitness, was gone in two weeks. My skin is now getting the cleansing and moisturizing regime it needs based on the evidence provided by the Visia. Not bad for an investment of just $400.
The real take-away for Marissa is that tanning beds are death to good skin and that using sunscreen is a must in ensuring she keeps her beautiful porcelain skin much longer than I did.
And that, as they say, is priceless!

Visia and Vivierskin: A great gift for Mom on Mother's Day!

 

The skin we're in: Facing the music

 

You know what they say: the camera never lies.

I've been working in the video business as an online presenter and coach for more than 10 years, so I have a pretty good idea what my 57-year-old face looks like. And I always made sure that my husband Scott, who is our videographer, shoots me head and shoulders and never on an angle. Did I mention I always make sure that I wear makeup, and lots of it and have my hair done, right?

But not today. Today, my daughter Marissa and I are attending our skin care consultation with Drs. Greg Antoniak and James Bonaparte from the Facial Surgery and Cosmetic Centre of Ottawa. We're doing this to make sure we get our best look for Marissa's upcoming wedding season.

A consultation with the docs means one thing: you have to be bare-faced. In your case, if you are considering any sort of cosmetic treatment or enhancement, you do this in the safety of the doctor's office where all your warts and freckles and sunspots and wrinkles can be evaluated. In our case, Marissa and I are doing this in a

public forum in hopes of providing education for consumers as to what is possible for faces old and young.

Let's be clear, we don't want to look like Joan and Melissa Rivers. Or Lisa Minnelli and Kim Hunter at the Oscars. We want to look like Rose and Marissa, superwomen, fresh-faced and looking good for our ages. So that's why we're meeting with the doctors -- to come up with strategies to make us look our very best.

Boy, was I shocked when I saw this video. Straight on camera, I don't have a double chin, but Scott shot me from the side with my waddle wiggling for everybody to see. I looked tired, beat-up really, especially sitting beside my 24-year-old lovely daughter who looks as good without makeup as anyone her age.

For me, sitting with Marissa, it was Dickensian. She is the ghost of my Christmas past; I am the ghost of her Christmas future.

Hopefully, she will learn techniques and use products that will make her look a little less like Ebenezer Scrooge. Hopefully, I will find means to make me look, well, just like a better Scrooge.

Here's the deal.

After meeting with the docs, Marissa and I will be given a plan that we will be following for the coming months, including a skin analysis, a new skin care regime and we will be undertaking a variety of procedures -- some invasive, some not-so -- to ensure that come the Big Day, we'll both be rock stars.

Marissa might even get a solution to get her bikini-ready, and undo the effects of too many Energy Drinks and President's Choice chocolate chip cookies.

I'm very excited for the future.

Hope you enjoy the video.



 

 

Next: Visia skin analysis

The middle age skin I'm in

For years, I never thought about my face, not really, except to wash it, primp it and apply the least amount of makeup.
I've always had a resilient face, nice laugh lines around the eyes, a little knit in the brow that made me feel, well, thoughtful, and the slightest downturn around the mouth.
It's always been a nice face, a kind looking face, a face that blushed at the appropriate moment and one that showed just the right amount of emotion. My eyes sparkled, one of my close friends often said.
But like most women, my face wears every experience, from the joy of chasing around three little kids to the tragedy of losing my mom, from the hope of new love to love lost. That experience is etched in every corner for the world to see.
The good times have been as hard on my face as the bad times. Late nights, too many bars and conventions, not enough sleep, too much sleep, not enough water or moisturizer.
My face has become the topography of my life.

The beautiful actress Cybil Shepherd said that around 50, she stopped looking at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't want to see what time had done to the world's most famous Covergirl so she did her makeup in soft lighting and she hid her body in the shadows.
That's what a lot of us do. We give up, stop wearing makeup, live in our yoga pants, waiting to die.
That's what I've done for the past 10 years. Working at home, I've chosen to live the life of a hermit, to withdraw from the world like Greta Garbo in cheap perfume, maybe more like a bat that has retreated into her cave to hang upside down and ponder life.
But nobody can live in a cave forever.
Sometimes life happens while you're making other plans.
And so it was, my daughter Marissa announced her engagement to the wonderful Jeff.

They will be married next year in the Dominican Republic.
I am expected to attend in a dress and heels.
No pants, mum, was the way Marissa put it.
The whole wedding thing got me thinking.
Maybe it was time to come out of my shell, to start taking care of myself again. I'm already at the gym trying to lose the spare tire, and I've put the cap back on the red wine and started eating better.
But what about my face?
I knew I could save my body, but was my face a lost case?
I remembered back a few years when I was lucky enough to be a model subject for a series of videos on non-surgical solutions to improve the middle aged face. I had Botox and dermal filler and I must say, I thought I looked fabulous.
Then I thought, why not try explore the latest advances in technology and products to make me look my best in those wedding pictures, the ones that will be around long after I'm past my expiry date.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not getting a face lift or any thing that makes me look like plastic.
I'm looking for solutions that make me look better, more rested, like I've been taking care of myself.
Think Sally Field, not Joan Rivers.
I've booked a consultation with Dr. Greg Antoniak a leading Ottawa board-certified specialist (www.face.ca) whose office offers a complete array of products and procedures to freshen up the sagging skin, get rid of the bags, the rosacea and the ruddiness brought on living life in a dirty and weary world.
My aim is to put together a one-year plan, so that I'll be able to put my best face forward at Marissa's wedding.
And the big surprise is I'm taking Marissa along for the ride. I'd like to stop her from making the same mistakes I've made over the years so that when she's my age, she won't have to undertake skin rehabilitation.
Together, we'll record our progress in this blog and on video so you can see, firsthand, the state-of-the art products, treatments and procedures that are being offered today. Hopefully, we'll also help others steer clear of bogus treatments that are not only ruining women's faces but also endangering their lives.
Good skin care is, after all, an education process.
So come along, won't you? We've got a lot of work to do, so let's get started.

Next: The Consultation