Gold Dust & Sugar Lust

{Blogged while skimming Labor Day sales and HOW IS It ALREADY LABOR DAY?!} I am so excited to share this post, because I believe it will resonate with everyone, especially mamas. Today, I am going to talk to you about skin, and more specifically, YOUR skin. Beautiful, clear, blemish-free skin is something we all aspire to have. We know that to achieve this requires at least some work on our part- as much hydration as possible, the least amount of sunscreen-less exposure as possible, healthy eating, and plenty of sleep. It also needs the right skin care products and the right skin treatments. For me (and I have written about this before), the past two years since I started this law firm have passed in a blur. To say my 24 hour days are stretched to capacity is an understatement. I simply don’t have the time for skin care treatments- or so I thought. Last Friday, I finally did something for myself- I put the to-do list away, the out-of-office on, I carved out 90 minutes or so in the late afternoon and I went to Dr. Anzaldo’s office. When I walked in the door, I was immediately welcomed into an inviting Gray-Malin-photo covered oasis. The decor is fabulous, but the people are even better. This is not a place where you are hustled in and out as fast as possible. This is a place where you are listened to and heard. Like all of us, I have been to a ton of spas and doctor’s offices and I can honestly say that this place feels different. Dr. Anzaldo’s office is different. On my first visit, I felt like the people there were family, and wanted to help me achieve my skin care goals.

For me, I have always shied away from make-up (except for lipgloss and mascara) and instead, focused on good skin care. I try to use quality serums and treatments pretty much religiously. Even so, my face has those little patches of sun damage that even good skin care and sunscreen can’t reverse. Fortunately, Dr. Anzaldo’s office has the cure— an IPL laser (or Intense Pulsed Light). This is a light therapy procedure designed to reduce the look of sun damage and restore your skin’s lost radiance. IPL has been proven to provide a dramatic improvement in the appearance by lightening freckles, fading age spots, reducing areas of sun damage, and redness. Plus, it retextures your skin...WOW! I have never had one of these before (truthfully, I’ve only ever had facials) and I was a little (ok, a little more than a little) apprehensive but guess what? Its a breeze. The laser is performed in a 3 part process with each process utilizing a different laser attachment and getting progressively warmer. None of it actually hurts (and in full disclosure, I only left the numbing cream on for maybe 15 minutes because I cant stand to just sit still, but I bet if I left it on for the full 30 minutes I wouldn’t have felt a thing!)

I am seven days out and you cant even tell I’ve had it. The whole process from start to finish was around an hour and 45 minutes but that included a little numbing cream to start and a little shot of Dysport to end. I will do two more treatments spaced 30 days apart and voila- that’s it! I will come back and repeat it every 6 months or as needed.

I also left with new products from Skin Better, which I will review in my next post. All in all, my take away from my initial treatment was this:

I don’t make the time that I should for myself and this was the perfect way to jump start my self-care;
Investing in our skin is such a wise thing to do and this IPL Laser is amazing;
Finding a place like Dr. Anzaldo’s office— a place that focuses on women’s well being, from the outside in— has been the biggest blessing.

I cant wait to take this journey with you! Thank you for following along! Sweetly, Michelle

PS- These photos are courtesy of @bleudogfotography

PSS- Give @dranzaldo a peek on Instagram. I promise you won’t regret it.