SkinSpirit Skincare Clinic and Spa - Walnut Creek

Early this year I had my lips done using Restylane and was not super thrilled. Sure, it was an improvement but it was far too subtle and short lived for me to want to try again. After finding a new provider (Marie at SkinSpirit Walnut Creek in California) we decided to try Juvederm Ultra Plus. My lips are extremely small and thin so the goal was to build them up gradually. We used one syringe at the first appointment and she had a hard time because the structure of my lips are so small. Despite a good amount of swelling and bruising the overall result was fantastic and more full than Restylane. I came back in about 2 1/2 months later for one more syringe of Juvederm. This time Marie used a micro-canula to inject which was MUCH better and easier on my lips. I hardly had any swelling and zero bruising. My lips look beautiful, I am THRILLED! I can't imagine not filling my lips at this point.

So I have gone to this Skin Spa off and on for about a year. I'm always trying to improve my skin tone and face as much as I can with whatever doesn't involve cutting or invasive procedures. I've done facials, peels, I did a series of laser treatments and have a drawer full of creams, potions and lotions in an effort to find something that deals with my oily, acne prone aging skin. I've done fillers (which I love) but a friend suggested I try dermapenning. So... I did. Went to a esthetician that I've worked with for years that I trust, and who has a MA license etc. She explained everything she was doing, from cleansing my face to applying the numbing cream (which was awesomely funny when I couldn't feel my lips) The Pen is like a big fat pen and you insert this thing that has a ton of needles in it. I asked if she was aerating my face - and she said basically YES she was. So think of it as someone with spikes on their shoes walking all over your face, or a tattoo all over your face without any ink.That's what it is.
She did a check on a spot after the numbing cream - nothing. So she started! The pen allows the user to adjust it so that when they are going over tender tissue like under the eyes or next to the nose its not crazy.
No discomfort, no pain. Face was a little red afterwards but that's it. I do realize I have a high pain tolerance (clearly after all these things and a 13 1/2 hour tattoo) so I'm grateful that I didn't experience anything that an advil the next day didn't take care of.
It's a week later and I had 2 or 3 days of peely itchy face and I'm not sure if this is related to the DP or if its just me but MAN my face has broken out. Like a lot. That's a super bummer - I'm using topicals but they are stubborn and big..like when I was a teen . The esthy thinks it may be because we cleared out stuff so its all exploding. I'm starting a facial routine from my derm tomorrow though (just Green Tea wash, Vitamin C pads, topical and anti biotics).
Decided that I am going to try the full 6 MP treatments offset with every other month facial with light peels. Six months is what I was asked to give it so I will! I posted the day after and 3 days later. Will post an update later after a couple more treatments.

Updated on 20 Aug 2015:
So its been a couple of weeks and other than the skin peelys and the sunburnt effect, I didn't have any issues. Now, did it help my skin? I don't know. I can tell you I broke out BADLY within a couple of days. I had a lot of acne on my chin, sides of my nose, my eyebrows and along my jawline. My esthetician thought it might be because we were bringing everything up - I had an apt with a doc who was also a dermatologist coincidentally a few days later. He looked at my face and gave me a regimen to follow. Green tea face wash, Vitamin C pads, one acne cream in the morning, different one in the evening. One antiobiotic in the morning, one in the evening. Said it should be good in 6 weeks. I've had improvement overall but a persistent cyst on the side of my nose - Great. Still no idea if it was the dermapen or just some weird coincidence.

Hi Everyone!

Well after months of research, including reading all of these reviews, I committed to having Ultherapy done this afternoon. I will detail my experience and then (drumroll please) I WILL be posting pictures at the 3 month mark. I think reviews are not too useful without the photographic evidence. So here we go:

I am 38, and am having Ultherapy to see if it can raise my browns up a bit, raise the cheeks, and perhaps shrink the small wattle I have under my chin (which may be fat and therefore not budge-able with this procedure). It's too early for me to consider (or need) surgery, and a non-invasive procedure that could renew my collagen sounded like a good fit for me. Also, my age group appears to be one that responds most strongly to Ulthera. I expect anywhere from modest gains to undetectable difference (which would suck, of course). It seems as though the changes tend to be subtle, but it's been hard to get pictures showing this other than the ones on Ulthera's website. So I will be a guinea pig for you'all and we'll do some photo comparison once i've got my 3 month mark After shots.

I took 1 ativan, 1 vicodin, and 3 tylenol before the procedure. Halfway through we added another 1/2 of an ativan, which was perfect. I think the drugs were extremely helpful for dealing with the procedure. The transducer, which is a small handpiece with a series of holes along it's length, emits a series of short bursts of ultrasound energy. You can clearly feel the energy travel from each of the holes in the transducer and enter your skin. It ranges from pleasantly warm to breath-hissingly painful, depending on the location and intensity of the pulse. Each pulse is very short, which makes the experience feel much more manageable. Other reviews have described the procedure in detail, but here are some specific recommendations for pain management that I hope you'll find helpful:

*Take the meds
*Practice deep, slow breathing the entire session. Quick, shallow breathing is one cue to our body that we are worried or that something hurts, whereas with deep slow breathing we cant help but relax. Try breathing out for each pass of the transducer, or breathing in. You can also try counting - break out for at least 6 seconds, then in for 6.
*Have something to do with your hands. I tried squeezing a ball, but found that the tension in my hands just made everything in my body tighten up and the procedure hurt more. Later, stroking my hands against each other worked well, as it gave me some sensation other than the ones on my face to concentrate on.
*Have something to do with your mind. Once I started reciting poetry, my pain level dropped significantly. Recite something by memory, recall in as mich detail some happy event, or maybe even have earphones with a book on tape going. I'm thinking just music might not be distracting enough, but I didn't try it.
*Take short breaks and breath deeply to get your heart rate down. Rapid heart rate is another sign to your body that it should freak out and feel pain. The pain from the procedure is short lived - a quick break will let it die down.

Overall I found it manageable. Once you know what to expect it's a matter of breathing through the lines until they are ready to move onto the next session. The aesthetician offered to turn down the intensity as well when it got painful.

My aesthetician was great in that she continually let me know what she was doing, and counted down the lines so I had an idea of how much more was left to do. It's the uncertainly and poor communication that can turn run-of-the-mill discomfort into suffering, I've found.

Directly after the procedure, I look normal. I had a few small welts which went away within a few hours. I can see that my face is a tiny bit swollen - hence the reports from some folks who 'can see a change right away'. That's not new collagen forming yet, that's my dermis going "hey, what's all this ruckus?" I was cautioned against taking any bromelain / anti-inflamatories afterwards, as that could interfere with the desired healing process.

OK I'll update in a few :-)



Updated on 23 Nov 2012:
So it's day 3. Outwardly I look normal except for a small bruise on one cheek and the kind of puffiness a late-night sushi dinner would cause. Inwardly I feel as though my face has been slapped repeatedly with a raw steak. The meat of my face is tight and sore, and I'm lacking some small amount of sensitivity in my chin area. It's not painful so much as noticeable. If this procedure doesn't work, it ain't for lack of trying - I definitely feel as through something large and weird has happened to my face.

I've decided to try lip injections for the first time. I'm very excited and yet nervous about my upcoming appointment next month. After doing some research I've decided to go with SkinSpirit in Walnut, CA. Overall, they have great reviews and it's super close to where I live. I've also been researching online the different fillers and I think that juvederm would be the best for me. However, I'll keep looking into it until my appointment. I don't know anyone whose had lip injections and there is not much info out there that's helpful. I really want to add volume to my upper and lower lips so I'm going give this a try. :)

Updated on 18 May 2015:
I want fullness in my upper and lower lips. Similar to my wish pic would be perfect.

Updated on 6 Jun 2015:
Yay! So I had my lips done today. I went t SkinSpirit in downtown Walnut Creek, CA. A P.A, Thomas Bond, did my injections. He was very nice and honest with me about the procedure and what I could expect.
I had 1ml of Juvederm Ulta in my upper lip and almost 1ml of Restylane Silk in my bottom lip. First, he put on numbering cream for 15 minutes, then I held a frozen balloon to my lips for about a minute. He injected my upper lip first. Sometimes I could feel the needle, which hurt (ouch) and sometimes I didn't. I could feel the filler going in, it didn't hurt, but felt really strange. He ended up using a whole syringe of Juvederm in my upper lip. He said my upper lip just sucked it up! So instead of charging me for another syringe of Juvederm($550) he offered me the choice of trying Restylane Silk (the newest filler by Restylane) free of charge! He said it was a new product they were testing. So, of course I said yes. :)

Updated on 7 Jun 2015:
So it's been 24 hours now and I have a lot of swelling! Mostly in my upper lip which feels really stiff. The good news is I don't have any bruising. I'm hoping the swelling does down by tomorrow because I have work. I'm trying to stay positive that it will and then I'll be happy with them. Fingers crossed!!

Updated on 9 Jun 2015:
So I went in for a follow up this afternoon. I was seen by a different specialist this time, Andrea Frederick, R.N., M.S.N., N.P. I told her I was unhappy with the lump in the middle of my upper lip and that I could feel that the majority of the product was only on the right side of my upper lip.
She first massaged out the lumps and tried to role out the lump in the center. She said there was hardly any product on the right side and could not role out the lump in the center. She agreed with me that it was unflattering and sought a second opinion to come up with a solution. After looking at my profile (my upper lip sticking out past my lower and the uneven sides) they both agreed that the filler should be removed. They agreed that it would be much more flattering with less filler. I could tell they felt bad for me and really wanted to help. They offered to fix it for free and if I felt comfortable they would add filler in later for free to fix the problem. So to get a more flattering look they suggest I remove it and try again in 1-2 weeks.
I'm really happy that they saw what I was talking about. I'm also really sad that it didn't turn out right the first time, but I feel reassured that it can be fixed.
Now that being said having the filler removed was very painful!! It stung and burned like crazy even though they numbed it first. The enzyme should remove all the filler in my upper lip within 24 hours. It's very swollen again. Ugh. I'm supposed to ice it and massage it for the next two days to make sure all the filler is dissolved. My follow up is on Saturday, but I'm hoping its all gone and I don't have to have more of the enzyme injected. That sh*t hurts!

Updated on 20 Jun 2015:
It's been almost 2 weeks since I had Vitrase to remove the excessive amount of Juvederm put in my upper lip. The Vitrase removed most of the filler, but not all of it. I can still fill some with my tongue and it gives me just enough lift in my upper lip. My lips look so much better! Also, I found an injector I trust - Eileen Nath, NP. She did my correction and I loved her honesty & her advice. This was definitely a learning experience!

Updated on 26 Jul 2015:
I happy with the outcome and think they still look great. :)

Updated on 18 Aug 2015:
I still love my new look. Even though I had some problems in the beginning. I got the end results I was looking for. I couldn't be happier. :)