BEAUTY & GLAM
There is Still Hope , Beauty Virgins
… INCLUDING FOR ‘ GAZELLE STL ’ PUBLISHER CILLAH HALL
By Rhonda Shrum
I have a confession to make . Before I went to work for St . Louis Cosmetic Surgery and Medical Spa as the marketing director in 2011 , I occasionally went to bed without washing my face . And by “ occasionally ,” I mean “ pretty much always .”
You ’ re squirming right now , I know . And so were our lovely estheticians when I first broke this news to them . To their credit , they refrained from screaming , but did give me quite the lecture while vowing to “ fix me up right .”
But the truth is , I wasn ’ t alone . Many women just do not take proper care of their skin . Personally , I got lucky . Thanks to good genes , my skin wasn ’ t too bad . But the inevitable signs of aging had started to show up ; fine lines around my mouth , formed by years and years of huge , cheesy grins ; crinkly lines between my brows from years and years of scowling when I wasn ’ t offering a cheesy grin ; a dull texture that reminded me , ever so subtly , that I was no longer 22 .
It was time to start taking care of myself . Now , almost six years later , I can honestly say I am a skincare junkie . If I don ’ t have a skin treatment once a month , I feel almost as bad as if I forgot to brush my teeth . And I can definitely tell the difference between my skin and that of acquaintances my same age who don ’ t subscribe to a skincare plan . Nothing ages you faster than bad skin .
Because I am such a fanatic now , I try to turn everyone I know onto my secrets . When “ Gazelle ” publisher , Cillah Hall , told me she had never had a skincare treatment before , I had two reactions : “ Oh my god , but you look so great !” and “ Regardless , get your butt into the spa !”
Cillah came in and saw two of our medical estheticians , Mary Ann and Wendy . Mary Ann gave her a consultation , went over what her skin issues were , and did a “ sampler ” of procedures . First , she went over her face with a microderm wand . Second , she put on a level-one chemical peel for three minutes . This gave Cillah some chemical exfoliation , but was gentle enough for her skin . Finally , she followed up with one of our hottest procedures - dermaplaning . With dermaplaning , a small scalpel is used to gently scrape off dead skin and hair fuzz . The result is an amazingly smooth , healthy face .
After her facial treatments , Wendy treated Cillah to an entire course in eyebrow maintenance . Eyebrows , as you may now , are hot right now , and the right shaping can make or break a look . Wendy went over in detail how to get the best results from an eyebrow wax , when to pluck , and brow shadow techniques .
After being pampered and taught how to best care for her skin , Cillah glowed - just like most patients do . There is no better feeling than feeling healthy and beautiful . Don ’ t forget your skin ; schedule maintenance just as you do for hair color and pedicures . You won ’ t regret it .
Rhonda Shrum is the marketing director at St . Louis Cosmetic Surgery . Read her blog posts at stlcosmeticsurgery . com .
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