IPL PhotoFacial Review Part 2

I rushed out of the house as soon as The Hus got home. No makeup on, except for some lip gloss and a little mascara so I could at least have some sense of self repsect, and not totally feel like a slob. I pulled up to this lovely little Dr.s office. Inside it was nice and airconditioned. It was super hot yesterday, so the A/C was a nice break. I was immediately greeted with a little paper work.  A mini questionaire about my health history and another about my skin condition ie, how easily I burned, etc. I snuck as many pictures as I could.

As I sat there and filled out the forms I noticed how nervous I was. My heart was racing as fast as someone trying out for the olympics. I was borderline shaking. I was SOOO nervous anticipating the pain. I had heard it was painful from some people and heard there was nothing to be afraid of from others. One friend even recommended a Vicodin. Holy moly I was nervous. I tried to pretend I wasn't, as I sat there in the lobby.

 But I definitely was.

After sitting there waiting for about 20 minutes or so, it was my turn to come on back. I was welcomed by a sweet lady, Carolyn. And told her I was suuuper duuper nervous. She was very kind and assured me I had nothing to worry about. I asked if I could take pictures with my iPad for my blog. Which may or may not have been my way to assure she did her very best.
Still nervous I took pictures of Carolyn, seeing that she would be doing the procedure and the machine we would be using.

 Not sure whether or not she knew how nervous I REALLY was, I decided to prove it to her. I went to put my iPad in my purse and then as soon as I set it down it fell out of my purse onto the floor.
Oh, you dropped your iPad.
Whoops! Oh, thats ok. Its fine.
Really? Its fine?
Yeah, the case is made for stuff like this. Totally fine. (*big sigh, fake smile)
(best purchase I ever made, btw.) I saw it at Target for $100 and almost bought one. Good thing I checked online. Amazon. $30 bones. Hello! No brainer. My kids drop my iPad ALL the time, but this totally protects it. From baby slime too.



And then as if that wasnt emabarassing enough I went to sit down on the chair (table?) and sent it spinning as I hung on for dear life and the roll of paper covering the chair, (you know, toilet seat cover paper) went flying off.
"Whoa! Hold on to yourself there!"
"Yikes!" I stammered as I had to regather myself and sit slowly on the chair.
We hadnt even started yet and I was already sweating. How embarrassing. First we talked a little bit about what I wanted to get out of the procedure and then we moved on to the part I was fearing most. The laser. I was so so so so so so scared. She covered my eyes with some cotton roll stuff and then put goggles over that. I imagine the cotton swab stuff was to cover any cracks so the light couldnt blind me too badly. But I did have to keep my eyes closed the whole time, which totally upped the anticipation level and super freaked me out. She started out by doing 4 test zaps. The anticipation was KILLING me!! I was so scared. I heard the whirring of the machine heating up and then ZAP!! Whew! Not to bad. Not bad at all actually. Small, minor, bit of pain, but not really. It felt like a little tiny prick. Each zap was a different setting of strenght on the machine. Starting out on the least powerful setting. Even level 4 didnt hurt that bad.  I mean it hurt a little, but I was totally fine. Then after about 15 minutes she came to examine the 4 spots to see how my skin reacted to each setting so we could determine the apropriate strength for my skin. Level 4 it was, ladies and gentleman. Part of me was kind of proud of myself for having the tolerance for the highest setting. I mean I have given birth before! How hard could this be? We worked the face in rows. Before we zapped each row, I would ice it. After the first row, I had had enough! HOLY GUACAMOLE CANOLE SHIZ BALLS THIS HURT!!!!! Zap after zap after zap after zap. Oh my gosh this hurt! It felt like searing hot tiny needle pricks and a burst of flames. As I lay there just waiting for each zap and hoping it hurt less, but then getting zapped and realzing it only hurt more I started tearing up. It was just intense. Super intense. Intensely, intense. When we got to the halfway point of my face I wanted to cry. I just kept thinking, "wow, beauty really is pain", and "I am such an idiot," and of course.. "this better freaking work!!!"
Finally! 2 melted ice packs and 30 minutes later. We were done. Hallefreakinlujah! Wow! That was WAY more painful than those first 4 zaps led me to believe. As I left the office my face was slightly red and a very sensitive.

You can see the redness in the photo of me leaving the office. Dont worry, Im not driving and snapping. Im still in the parking lot.
Here is what my face looks like today. Still a little red and the sun spots I had before are getting darker. They are supposed to get darker first and then "flake" off. Gross I know.  But Im hoping they just come off in the shower. This whole process should last about a week to 10 days I think.

And then 3 more weeks from then until my next appointment in October. Heres to hoping I can wear makeup soon, beacause really I see myself and think, MAN! How I do I expect to get any respect from the people at the grocery store looking like this! And I can really only post so many photos of my none ready self, before my self esteem starting slipping down the drain. YOWZA. But really, I looke like this about 85% of the time.

Oh and I made this shirt myself. Well, added lace to the sleeves myself, but whatever. It was super easy. If you're curious, post it below and I will do a tutorial.

And to make myself feel better I made some guacamole. Probably the best guac I have ever tasted.

 Looking for the PERFECT guacamole recipe? Here's what you will need.

Avocado
Cilantro
Tomato
Yellow onion
Green onion
Lime juice
Salt
Thats it! No more Pace Picante and an avocado or heaven forbid a guacamole mix. Nope. This will be all you need. And it will be delicious and fresh! Sorry, I dont have a pic. I ate it all.

xoxo, Janean