Had the Halo and BBL at 1030 today! It’s still way to early to say if it’s “worth it” but I’ll keep you posted.
The BBL was unpleasant, but I have red and blotchy skin - so i really hope it works.
The Halo - holy heck. It hurt significantly more than and if the reviews led me to believe. But, I have a crappy pain tolerance. So for now, I want to review my doctor and his staff! I was such a baby that half way through I had to take a pain med and anti anxiety pill, and then restart the whole process. This meant that I had to reapply the numbing cream and wait another hour for it to really work. What should have taken 2 hours took 6, in total. It was not ideal. So, if you’re historically a wimp when it comes to pain, you should talk to your doctor ahead and take the meds before your appointment. The description is correct, it’s hot and like a million tiny bee stings all at once. They have to make several passes and each one hurt worse and worse. It takes 30-40 minutes but it’s bad. So bad. I just hope the results are so great it’s worth it. The important thing is how great the office staff was. They each get these done themselves regularly and so know how it feels, but still didn’t make me feel like a complete loser for being such a baby about the pain. They are awesome.
Updated on 25 Jan 2019:
No pain - the pain went away pretty fast. But was swollen and very very very dry. I had a big zit on my chin, and it’s still there like nothing happened. I’m surprised by that. I’m red but it’s 4 degrees out today, so running to the groomer and store, no one looked twice at me. Could just be from cold.
Updated on 26 Jan 2019:
Woke up today less swollen, less red (but less!), but some of the spots are much darker than they have been in the past. I understand that’s part of the healing.
My major concern is that, after all the appointment drama, it won’t be as effective because I couldn’t stand the pain of it. They wanted to do 30-35% and I think MAYBE we got 20%. She would do one pass and say it was only 2%, and then each additional pass hurt more than the first. Getting up to 30, holy cannoli. Strange thing was that on my nose I didn’t feel it hardly at all. But cheeks, chin. I asked her to stop the lip and just don’t do it, cause it hurt so bad after one pass, I cried.
After extensive research, I think I would do it again, but at a practice with laughing gas or some other way to address the pain that lidocaine. I didnt feel like the numbing cream did anything. It is hot, yes. But it’s like a million tiny electrocutions. Almost like the laser for hair removal, but 100x more “in your face” - pardon the pun. I do not know why people rsay it’s a 3-4. Maybe I’m a wimp or lidocaine is not as effective on me? My skin was super dry going in from Retin-A, maybe that impacted something. I don’t know but ouch. I’m still traumatized from the pain of the procedure.
The after though - so far so good, no big deal. A tiny bit itchy. It’s really like a sunburn. Ironic that too many sunburns in my youth could be fixed by a laser that causes a “sunburn” like recovery.
Updated on 28 Jan 2019:
This is the worst day, by far. I woke up with acne all over my face. I didn’t mind the bronze look or the dry skin but this is so embarrassing! I’ve never had acne in my life and now i look like a 13 year old. My husband said “well you wanted to look younger, and now you look like the babysitter” - holy heck. I can’t avoid work today, and so I have to sit in meetings with all these zits all over my face. So embarrassing. I’m heavy on the “not worth it” side - acne isn’t mentioned anywhere on my docs “after care” sheet!
Updated on 28 Jan 2019:
It didn’t let me upload earlier. So here they are. Day 4 is the worst by far in terms of redness and now the zits everywhere.
My doc called in an antibiotic to help with the zits. I’ve never had actual acne, and now I feel for those that have.
Updated on 31 Jan 2019:
It’s one week and my skin is still a mess, compared to how it normally is. I have a spot of acne like bumps on one side, and it’s still peeling randomly. It has been so dry, I don’t think that has helped.
I don’t think I would do the Halo again. I’m hoping my mind is changed. But as of now that’s my verdict. I am going to try more bbl treatments, as the spotches and redness are my largest complaint.
Updated on 21 Feb 2019:
Just had my one month checkup. My face is still kind of a mess. Lots of areas are peeling and flakey, while other areas (chin and forehead) have zits all over. I have never had as much acne as I have the last month. I think all of the lotion, to fight the flakes, may be part of the problem.
The doc at the apt today gave me a few shots into the zitty areas, hoping that calms them down. Overall, I just can’t get my skin to “calm down” since the procedure. It’s always angry and sorta gross.
The practice offered an oxygen facial, complimentary, to try to get it back on track. That was very nice of them. I may follow up with that. I’ve been so disappointed with it, I have tried to just ignore it and hope I wake up and it’s back to normal (not peeling and zitty). Doing anything more is a bit scary at the this moment.
Overall, especially seeing the before and after photos, I’d say it’s not worth it for me. I still see my pores the same as before. Some of the freckles on my cheeks looked a shade lighter, but still there - so nothing anyone would probably notice. I would like to see more of the overall redness in my complexion reduce, as that is more of my concern. They said maybe over the next 3 months. Hopefully that happens and makes this whole ordeal worth it in the end
Updated on 15 Oct 2020:
The recovery was bad. The downtime is not really 2-3 days, if you consider how nasty your complexion can be, after it’s done. I DID NOT understand that going into it, and I was freaked out that I’d ruined my skin (given myself acne!) permanently.
Turns out. I did not! After my skin went back to normal, and it did eventually, I found that my spots were much faded and my fine lines were held at bay (not reversed so much as Botox). But, overall I could see improvement.
This sounds crazy, but I’m thinking of doing it again! I do think it helped and I wouldn’t have been so critical if I’d had more realistic expectations for how little downtime it would be. Sure, you can go about your life. But plan on some craziness as your skin straightens itself out. If I’d know about that going in, I probably would have been less negative about it.
In the end, worth it! Do it. But be prepared to be patient with your skin as it recovers! Also, I probably would have backed off the retinA around the time of the procedure, because that seemed to make the recovery/peeling/redness worse.
Pro tip - Find a place that offers nitrous! Lol