The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth: My Skin.

My whole life, skin was my “thing.” While I had a host of imperfections from the neck down (many of which have been helped thanks to laser hair removal and SoulCycle, haha), my skin was never one of them.  I never thought about it that much- I was just sort of happy-go-lucky about it, testing every new product that crossed my desk, slacking on makeup removal more than I should have, and applying SPF less than I should have.

Recently, I started to notice a fast depreciation in the quality and appearance of said "great" skin.  At first it freaked me out. That panic soon turned into a weird joy over having an excuse to nerd out and get into the skincare trenches to solve a popular problem that suddenly became personal.

“What do you do for your skin?” is probably the #1 question readers ask me (well, possibly tied with “how do you not kiss Goldie’s pudgy cheeks ALL DAMN DAY?") So here is what I do- the truth, the whole truth and NOTHING but the truth:

1-    BOTOX: Every 4 months. I go to my derm (who also happens to be my next door neighbor, which is mighty convenient), Dr. Elizabeth Smith at Fairfield Dermatology (or, in a pinch, my kitchen.) She injects Botox in my forehead and around the outer edges of my eyes to smooth out (current and future) eleven lines, horizontal forehead creasing, and laugh lines.

2-    JUVEDERM VOLUMA/JUVEDERM: 1x a year. I always wanted to fill the marionette lines that run from my nose down to the corners of my mouth, but learned that simply filling the lines isn’t the answer. The real issue is the loss of volume in my cheeks, and- clearly not using the right medical terms here, but bear with me- the structure around the cheekbones, as we age, sort of crumbles. Combined, this loss of fat, collagen and overall facial muscle tone literally makes the cheeks sink. The result? Deep lines. So Dr. Smith numbs me up, injects Voluma in my cheeks, then Juvederm to fill in the lines.

3-    SPRAY TAN: A lot. It is my instant mood lifter- I can go from depressed to downright joyous in like 4 minutes flat. Simoni Mitchell, an incredible in-home spray tan expert, who has seen me naked probably more times than my husband in the past 5 years (KIDDING. But you get the point) uses an organic formula on me from head to toe. I consider this part of my skin maintenance plan because having the faux glow on my face gives me ZERO temptation to skimp on sunscreen.

4-    NEW! MICROCURRENT THERAPY: Currently ongoing. This is the thing that re-invigorated my passion for skincare innovation. Yesterday, I went to Skincare By Hannah after my friend Genny (The Daily Darlings) told me about her. OMG you guys…If you don’t live in the Fairfield County area, you may want to move here JUST so you can visit Hannah. She is one of a handful of people in the US trained at the CACI academy in London, and as she explained what microcurrent therapy is (basically,  microcurrent impulses lifts and tone the facial muscles and neck area- and at the same time, it improves skin elasticity and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles) I was like- I AM IN! So currently I am doing a series of 12 30-minute sessions with the CACI machine on the "jowl" area (there HAS to be a better word to describe the lower part of the face, but for now, this is the term of choice in the industry I guess) over the course of 4-5 weeks. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress- and if you are interested in hearing more about the experience/technology/results, please let me know- would be happy to post more about it in the future if people are curious.

Oh- something I should mention- since I do Botox on my forehead area, the microcurrent won't be able to tone those muscles- so that is why we are focusing on the lower part of my face. So, for anyone considering these kinds of treatments, that is something to keep in mind- it won't work anywhere that you have Botox injected.

So there you have it- the honest truth about the "extra" aspects of my anti-aging skincare strategy.  The things that, if I wanted to pretend I didn't do, I could tell you I never did.

But, well, that's just not me.

I'll do a skincare product post soon- I am in the process of starting a new regimen so once I have been at it for enough time to really be able to share my thoughts on it, I will. Stay tuned...

Would you try or have you tried Botox/Juvederm/Voluma/Spray Tan/Microcurrent Therapy? I am so curious- and open to answer any questions too, so please comment below!