Beauty Blog

"Downtime." What is downtime? For the most part, downtime is subjective. If anyone saw me last month following my laser resurfacing, you will know what I mean🙃 Some people have jobs where a red or swollen face isn't a big deal (lucky me I'm in the aesthetic world?). Some people work remote, some are makeup magicians and some just don't care (me, again). Other people are in the public eye, or are more concerned they would scare little children with a swollen face🤣 Downtime is person-to-person and body-to-body dependent (with the exception of deep resurfacing that requires you to stay entirely out of the sun for 10 full days).

Virtually all of our procedures have some level of invasiveness. As such, a general rule of thumb is you give yourself at least two weeks following any procedure (even Botox®!) before a big event (or event for which you want to look perfect). We will give you the averages and typical recovery times/processes, but everyone is different and it is impossible to predict exactly how everyone will recover. Good news is that swelling and redness means inflammation. And inflammation means collagen! Does this mean that the more red and swollen we get the better results we'll have? Honestly not sure. Maybe. Here's to hoping...

Resurfacing is always going to have the most downtime. Any time were SURFACE it is on the surface, where we can see it. This goes for chemical peels, dermaplaning, microdermabrasion, laser resurfacing, etc. Resurfacing usually leaves the skin a bit red or pink, flaky and sensitive to the sun. (In the one photo above, we did deep resurfacing only a few days prior, which is why she is still very pink.) But never forget: red =inflammation = collagen.

Last month another client and I did the same treatment (medium laser resurfacing + ProFrac®) on the same day, only a couple hours apart. She looked pink the next day. I looked like a low-budget horror movie character. Why? Who knows. Probably because she is a health nut and my dinners are not infrequently a cupcake and a glass of wine😬

We can give you guidance on what procedures generally have more or less downtime and what we normally see in most clients, but please always give yourself at least two weeks just in case you happen to be one of those outliers...

(And if you're wondering, my skin now looks and feels INCREDIBLE!)