RESTYLANE AND BOTOX

I know you guys were so interested when I shared that I planned to do Restylane and Botox on Instagram, and I wanted to give you a full recap of my experience here on the blog! Here is my before getting Restylane injections under my eyes:

And here is the after photo, taken 4 days after:

I am still a little swollen and bruised, so this is not what it will look like once the Restylane sets in, but I thought I would share the full process with you.

As some of you know, I actually got Restalyne injections under my eyes for the first time last May. I went in to get Botox (for the second time in my forehead), but the doctor recommended that I use that money to get m

y eyes done instead. I have actually always had a complex about the dark circles under my eyes, which are hereditary in my case, and now since the baby was born they were made worse and I was also experiencing puffiness and bags. So when he mentioned that there was something to do about it, I was totally game! I didn’t share at the time because I wanted to make sure I liked it before I shouted it from the rooftops, but after a week of being pretty bruised and swollen I started to like it and in the next month I really noticed a difference and knew I would continue doing it. It lasted me almost a year which is amazing! So a few months ago I noticed that it was starting to disappear, and I decided it was time for round two! I reached out to Blue Medi Spa, which is near my house, and they were totally on board. Their nurses and practitioners do injections all day long and are so experienced. The spa is welcoming, beautiful and you feel like you are in very safe hands. I highly recommend them if you are in LA.

I have “hollowness” under my eyes which is what causes my dark circles and my nurse Melody said that sun damage can play a role too, and Restylane Refine injections really help with that. Initially I was really afraid of the pain, since I had only had Botox once before and never anything else done, plus I am a totally baby (even after having a baby lol), but they numb the whole area before injecting, so it’s not that bad. Totally worth it! I would rate the pain a 4 or 5 on a scale of 10. It is also a pretty quick procedure – I was in and out in under an hour.

A few things you should know before going…

• I wouldn’t say there is downtime after getting Restylane under your eyes, but I also wouldn’t schedule a big meeting or photoshoot right afterwards either. Most people will not know you have had anything done, and in fact my girlfriends told me how great my skin looked just two days after, but I can tell I am a little bruised and swollen – nothing a little makeup can’t fix!
• Before you go, they say it’s best to avoid alcohol, fish oil, advil, vitamin E and gingko biloba – or anything that is known to thin out your blood because that increases the chances of bleeding and bruising. Also, to prevent bruising they say to eat pineapple before and after going and to take Arnica tablets, which you can get at any grocery store.
• Bruising depends on the person and the technique used. My technician, Melody, who I loved, used the canula technique with a blunt tip needle for the injections instead of a fine point (that pokes you multiple times in multiple places), which she says decrease the chances of bruising.
• I only needed one unit of Retylane Refine, but it could take up to two depending on the case, and each unit of Restylane Refine, is $600 and lasts up to a year.
• Not everyone is a candidate, but Melody says she has luck with a lot of different types of under eyes. It makes a lot of people look well rested and the skin around the eyes also look smoother. Though if you have extreme fat deposits under your eye, she said you might be a better candidate for surgery to have the fat removed.

While I was there, I also got Botox!

I had been wanting to get Botox again after not doing it for over a year, and asked the girls at Blue Medi Spa if they thought it would be ok for me to do it all in the same day. They said totally and their pricing on Botox at Blue Medi Spa was so competitive. They asked me where I thought I needed it, and I said crow’s feet, and forehead. Melody agreed and said I would need 30 units to do it all. She also said she doesn’t do lower forehead often because it can make your brows heavy or sag and we definitely want to avoid that. So she did my “elevens” between my brows, upper forehead and “crow’s feet” next to my eyes. It take 7-10 days to go into effect so I am still not seeing anything yet, but I know I am going to love it. It’s not really painful at all (just feels like a little pinch) and you can also just get it as a preventative measure from getting deep inset wrinkles. I also did not bruise from it and it was only $330 for all of it. They say Botox can last 4-6 months depending on how expression-ate you are.

While I certainly don’t want to push injectables on anyone, I love sharing the process and my thoughts because I have so many friends who have been thinking about doing it and have a lot of questions. Plus, I know when I feel like I look good on the outside, I feel much more confident on the inside. You know yourself and if you know making a subtle change like this is going to make you happy, then what is the hard in doing it! And it’s not permanent, so if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again! My advice is to find someone you trust with a lot of experience and training with injectables and make sure they are only doing things that don’t change how you look, but just enhance your natural beauty! My nurse Melody said she always thinks less is more and she never goes overboard with this stuff because you still want to look natural and look like yourself!

Let me know if you guys have any questions. Leave me a comment below or email me ashley@thestyleeditrix.com. I am thinking about doing Kybella in my chin next, but it’s a little pricey so I need to save up! Basically it will help me get rid of my “double chin” that I hate! It is another hereditary thing that I know isn’t a big deal to a lot of people who look at me, but I hate it when I see my side profile.

Thanks so much for reading! Follow along on Insta Stories for more updates on how it all looks! Come back here to the blog tomorrow for another new post! xo

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