Jan 14, 2022
Dear Diary,
A belated Happy New Year!! It’s been exactly one month since I had my eyebrows powder tattooed by Genevieve at Revive and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve never been much of an eyebrow plucker, and kinda just let them do their own thing. However, now they look so much neater, and I have a great template to keep them that way. Genevieve took great care to make sure I was happy with the shaping, and the actual procedure was relatively painless. Aftercare was a little challenging because I had to keep my brows away from water for a week, but the little face shield Genevieve provided for use during showers did the trick. Other than that, common sense, and the use of an after-tattoo cream directly on my brows for about 10 days was all that was required. Thank you Genevieve!
Then on Jan 5th, Dr. Jubin performed MIXTO laser treatment on my face, especially around my eyes. This was somewhat similar to the micro-laser peel I had back in November, except it was a bit more intense (I would rate it as a REALLY BIG gun). After I Uber-ed to the clinic, Rowena gave me my comfort meds and got me prepped for the treatment. After about half an hour, the comfort meds kicked in and Dr. Jubin joined Rowena to perform the treatment, which took about an hour.
Apparently the MIXTO laser combines the micro-laser with fractional skin resurfacing, a technique that delivers thousands of tiny beams to just a fraction of the skin at a time, providing better results than just the micro-laser alone. Dr. Jubin concentrated the treatment on the sun-damaged, wrinkly skin around my eyes (yes, I am 63 and have wrinkles!), then used a less aggressive treatment to blend it with the rest of my face. Rowena assisted by shielding certain areas, like my lips and newly-minted eyebrows, from the laser. The actual treatment wasn’t terribly uncomfortable (again, thank-you comfort meds!), but, I can’t lie, the after-effects were pretty painful. I guess that’s to be expected when the top layer of your skin (especially the sensitive areas around the eyes) is vapourized!
As before, I was instructed to perform the vinegar soaks several times a day followed by the healing balm, and to take pain meds and antihistamines as necessary. I found the MIXTO treatment to be somewhat more painful and itchy than the micro-laser, and unfortunately I developed an infection around my eyes after about 4 days. Apparently, despite following all after-care instructions, this can happen, but Dr. Jubin quickly prescribed a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication which soon put things right.
Total down-time for me was about 8-9 days, probably a bit longer than usual due to the infection, which also likely intensified the pain and itching. However, nine days out, I’m mostly healed, with some residual redness and a little flakiness around my eyes. Thanks to Dr. Jubin and the great team at Belle Sante, I can already see a difference, especially around my eyes – fewer wrinkles!! And don’t those brows look great!
