Like many of you, I’m obsessed with beauty blogs and always looking for the latest and greatest trend in skincare. I’m a 30 something, busy marketing executive, with 3 kids. I don’t have an endless beauty budget or time in my schedule for constant upkeep, so I’m always searching for treatments that have a long-lasting result.
I’m sure many of you have seen the episode of Keeping up with the Kardashian’s where Kim gets the Vampire Facial. I remember thinking to myself “wow what a cool but seemingly scary procedure”. However, I was super intrigued by the science behind it. It’s natural and long-lasting, and it helps stimulate collagen growth. Who doesn’t want that?
But, let’s be real this isn’t a treatment that you would allow just anyone to do. This should be done by an experienced professional. It involves drawing your blood, and spinning it down to separate your blood and the platelet-rich plasma, and creating tiny acupuncture-like microscopic channels into the skin.
I’ve been going to La Belle Vie for over a year for your basic maintenance things, and my face has never looked better, but there’s always room for improvement, right? When I found out they offered this service, I was so excited. Kelly Lance has done extensive training with Charles Runnels the creator of this procedure, so I knew I was in good hands.
The day of the procedure, I was a little nervous. I HATE needles, and I’m squeamish around blood. So, I nervously sat in the chair and awaited the blood draw. Kelly, made me feel very comfortable and reminded me about all her experience Certified Nurse Practitioner, and gave me the reassurance I needed while applying numbing cream on my face. She pricked my arm & honestly, I barely felt anything. She took the vial of my blood and put in the machine that would spin it down and separate the blood from the PRP. The PRP rose to the top and looked like this liquid gold serum.
After my face was fully numb, she leaned me back in the chair and started the micro needling. She rolled the microneedling pen across my face in sections. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I was imagining, or as dramatic as Kim K made it seem in the episode.
It was slightly uncomfortable in some areas, but nothing intolerable. For me, I’m aging the most around my eyes, so she spent some extra time rolling deeper around the fine lines that have been plaguing my self-esteem since my late 20’s.
The micro needling process is only about 15 minutes, and then they take that vial of liquid gold (PRP) and they apply it to your face. This allows the skin to absorb the magical liquid. Your Platelet Rich Plasma contains hundreds of growth factors which work to repair any damage on your skin or body which is why it has become so popular with athletes and injury recovery.
After the procedure, my face was red, but it wasn’t painful. After the procedure, she told me to try to keep the PRP on my face for 24 hours and gave me a Vitamin C Serum to keep it bright and tight. One hour after the treatment the redness had completely calmed down, and I had this very golden glow.
It takes four to six weeks to see the treatment’s full results (collagen takes a bit of time to grow), but I can assure you that I saw benefits almost immediately. If you look at the photo that I snapped before the procedure began, you can see the dark circles and deep wrinkles around my eyes. That was the area that I saw the most improvement.
For me, this procedure was absolutely worth it, and it honestly isn’t scary at all.
