Very happy with my experience at SkinTight MedSpa. I was hesitant to trust anyone with my face; in all my 32 years, I’ve never had any treatment done, not even a facial. I researched the best locations nearby and finally contacted nurse Jane. I got an immediate response. Since she was away from the office, we did a virtual consultation, literally hours from the time I’d emailed her inquiring about Botox.
I told her I wasn’t sure what I needed, but overall just hated all of the new wrinkles, discoloration and unevenness that seemed to really be noticeable beginning in my thirties. She said likely a combo of Botox and fillers. I was really adamant about wanting to maintain a super super natural look - I’d literally rather have some wrinkles than look like I’ve had work done or look unlike myself.
I came in about a week later. I really had no idea how long the procedure would take and I was there for about 3.5 hrs which is a lot longer than I anticipated. My appointment was at 11 but I didn’t get started till about an hour later when nurse Jane came in. Luckily, her staff is really awesome and informative - Kelly (very down to earth) spent the time to calm me down, and actually anticipated the exact recommendations that nurse Jane wound up giving me - most importantly, the Clear and Brilliant procedure, which I’d call a mild procedure (less invasive than IPL). It was a little chaotic in the small office with all of us in there, but they were super friendly and attentive.
I have to mention Phaye, a PA, who was also part of the team and helped with the procedure (did most of the Clear and brilliant). I had a small panic attack at the cost of this procedure, as I’d anticipated to spend about this amount total. However, they all convinced me it would solve most my issues and the most naturally - tighten everything up and give a good glow. I wound up also opting for botox and fillers - again, told Jane I really wanted the absolute most natural results. She assured me we’d keep it tame and no wildly noticeable change; I was hoping to just enhance my face and get back some tightness and glow (look like I eat, sleep, and exercise well).
Nurse Jane even said we could wait and do these procedures on a separate date but I figured why the hell not. I didn’t really have any idea what the total cost would be and since I wound up doing 40 units of Botox + filler, along with the clear and brilliant, I wound up tripling what I’d dumbly budgeted this trip to be. That being said, I came here wanting the best results and would rather pay the price than be disappointed or worse, have a disastrous result. (I’ll say I paid about 1.5k for each of those procedures. They used juvaderm for the filler and there are some slightly cheaper options).
Clear and Brilliant: they numb you up, and the number areas you just feel a pressure when they press a laser gun? against you. However, it burnt in areas not numbed well like close to my hairline and I’d jump like a baby every time and was squirming like crazy. I am jumpy in general and having my eyes closed, I had no way to anticipate when and where they’d be zapping me. In any case, Phaye and nurse Jane said they could numb me up and wait another 30 min so I said no, and toughed it out. Apparently some people do it with no numbing gel and I bow down to you because it burnt like hell. On a pain scale, I’d give a Brazilian bikini wax like a 6/10 and this closer to a 9/10. It was only brief moments since it was only painful in the non numbed areas. I told them next time, just gel the crap out of me even if it’s all over my hair and I bet the experience will be 10x more comfortable.
Results: SO HAPPY. So the first 5-6 days your skin will get more and more sandpaper-y and rough. It looks a little scaly but not noticeable. I walked out of the office and went straight to work. For the entire week nobody mentioned anything - I just looked less smooth and it is difficult to wear makeup over. Probably best to not wear any, as it will just dry up immediately and you will look extremely caked. You really don’t have to do much in terms of aftercare, just diligently put gel and lotion on. I bought a bunch of Nurse Jane’s products - CE +GTP serum (vitamin c serum about $200) ultra lite moisture dew cream ($79 and too light for my dry skin), gentle cleanser ($89 and very light and good for your skin post procedure), and blanking on the last gel you “have” to get post procedure to just cool your face. I was pretty red but that dissipates within an hour.
She also asked if I had any scars she wanted to work on, next time I’ll be prepared and I will wear shorts and have her zap a few or my leg scars. She briefly went over one of my knee scars from about two decades ago - a little of the black color disappeared but the scar is still prominent.
Jane had told me she can get rid of my nose ring hole (that has lingered on my face for a decade after removing the piercing!!) after this treatment, it’s still noticeably there, she said after another it would be gone. Will update.
Botox - this was painless. Jane is a pro. You don’t notice results for 3-5 days. But boy did it make a difference especially on my forehead which had about 500 folds. I smile really big and in my photos you could literally just see my face being swallowed into a sad sea of wrinkles and folds. I really had no idea where to get Botox and was mainly aware of my eye folds and my forehead. I still have some eye folds and other wrinkles and Jane said we could do more but I’m leaving it for now - I have full motion in my face still and don’t want to look frozen.
Filler - also painless. I had no clue where and just told Jane to put the smallest amounts where she thought necessary so she put a tiny bit in a few areas. This I bruised from in my forehead and cheek, which lasted about a week but it wasn’t terribly noticeable. I bruise really easily in general, so I told them despite them worrying about my reaction, that this is totally normal. You could squeeze my face and I’d bruise.
The next day, Jane had me come in to just grab a sample serum from Kelly. Kelly took more post op photos and just checked in with me. My face was definitely sore and just felt sensitive like a bruise. I was moisturizing very frequently otherwise you feel uncomfortably dry. Orherwise, no significant discomfort.
A week later I came in, and they were happy, I was happy, we were all happy. After the swelling went down, I was more convinced that the filler was symmetrical, as I initially was over analyzing and thought I was uneven from bruising. Nurse Jane recommended doing clear and brilliant again and if I want to get the rest of the wrinkles out - a little more Botox. I will surely be broke, but in a month I’m scheduled for a second clear and brilliant. She did tell me initially its best results are seen after three treatments.
Overall, great experience, great results. I waited a long time and saved up to go to a place that that was worth it, and I can say this is definitely it (at least for the procedures I did). My mom, extremely frugal, with her beautiful Asian skin but of course it is aged, noticed my skin immediately (despite me thinking I could hide it). To my absolute astonishment, when I told her the procedures and cost (mainly highlighting clear and brilliant because she is focused on the difference in my skin texture and glow + noticeably smaller pores), she wants to do it too!! My mom, 61, like me until now, has never done a single cosmetic procedure or even a facial (never even gotten her nails done - she refuses). So for her to want the procedure AND agree it’s worth the cost — trust me, the results are major.