Your Three Month Esthetic Strategy For Events

If you want to look better than you ever thought possible for an upcoming important event, start an esthetic treatment

plan at least three months in advance. Achieving the most dramatic improvement in your appearance usually requires

treatments that require at least a month to produce maximum results and some treatments may need a series of sessions.

The most effective approach is to plan backward from the day of your event, to create a personalized treatment timeline that guarantees optimal results by the big day.

Always start with a comprehensive evaluation by an esthetic physician and a medical esthetician who will assess your skin, facial structure, goals, budget, and available downtime preferences to determine a scheduled strategy of in-office treatment recommendations and an at-home plan that will have your optimal results apparent by the time of your event.

3 Months Before

If you aren't already using a retinol or prescription retinoid, now is the time to begin. In my experience, retinoids are the single most effective topical product for improving skin texture and fine lines. Prescription formulations often cause temporary peeling so starting early is important.

Start any treatments where a series is recommended, such as Microneedling, Photofacials, hair thickening, laser hair, vein, or tattoo removal.

Collagen-stimulating treatments that improve skin quality and smooth crinkled skin, such as biostimulants, Laser Genesis, and Profractional resurfacing, should ideally be started now since they require at least 6 weeks to achieve maximal results.

If weight loss is a goal, starting a medically supervised GLP weight-management program now can help you lose an average of 12 pounds in three months. Three monthly lipolysis treatments can shrink up to 60% of unwanted fat bulges to have you looking svelte by your event.

If you’re experiencing symptoms suggestive of sub-optimal hormone levels, starting hormone optimization now can have you feeling better sometimes in less than a month, and balance optimal hormones improve your skin, energy, mood, muscle mass, bone health, and much more.

This month is an excellent time for laser skin resurfacing if you have fine lines, wrinkles, rough texture, or certain types of scars. Aggressive laser skin resurfacing treatments can cause over a month of post-procedure redness, so if you’re looking for the most dramatic results of this treatment, you’ll want to schedule it at least two months before an important social event. Laser resurfacing can also be done at lower levels timed to the amount of social down time you prefer.

2 Months Before

Month two is the time to build on the foundation already established the prior month, or to catch up with the missing treatments in time to get great results.

Treatments that improve irregular pigmentation—including IPL, deeper chemical peels, and laser ablation of barnacles—can temporarily make pigmentation and redness appear more noticeable before they improve, so these are not last-minute treatments. If more than one of these treatment session is recommended, beginning two months before your event provides time for your skin tone to become even again.

Month two is also an excellent time for facial contouring and injectable treatments, especially if you’ve never had them before. The results from injectable wrinkle softeners like Botox last an average of three months. First-time Botox treatments sometimes need a little touchup to determine the optimal doses for you, so having your first treatment this month allows time for any tweaks, if needed.

Injectable fillers such as Versa and Juvederm can youthful facial contours, enhance facial features, and erase lines and wrinkles, with results that can last from approximately six months to two years depending on the product used and

the area treated.

Slightly sagging jawlines, mouth corners, brows, and necks can be lifted with absorbable barbed threads, that produce immediate results with just one or two days of slight puffiness.

Collagen-building treatments including biostimulants like Sculptra, Microneedling, Laser Genesis, and Profractional, still have time to produce visible results when started this month.

The Final Month - Refine the Design

With at least two weeks before your event:

Absorbable threads can lift sagging skin and brows with usually only 1 day of mild post-treatment puffiness, and it almost never causes bruising, with results that last from 6 months to 2 1/2 years.

Injectable fillers provide immediate results but often need about a week for any swelling or bruising to subside if it occurs.

Any injections can cause bruising, which in rare cases, may last up to two weeks, so have any injectable treatments at least 3 weeks before your event.

You can still freshen dull skin without downtime, having a light chemical peel or a Triple Peel Microdermabrasion treatment that won’t cause visible shedding or redness or a Dermaplaning treatment that both exfoliates and removes facial peachfuzz for up to a month.

In the week before your event:

Don’t be tempted to have any treatments that can possibly cause redness, swelling, peeling, or bruising. Stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep. Don’t try any new skin products if you have sensitive skin.

For a red carpet treatment that provides immediate skin firming, hydration,and exfoliation, HydraFacial treatments can be done up until and including the day of your event.

Laser Genesis provides immediate firming without any redness.

On the day of your event:

Moisturize before you apply your makeup and then relax and enjoy the compliments, knowing you look fabulous. When friends or family ask you how you look so radiant, you can tell them it must be from the meditation (or fill in the blank with any impressive non-cosmetic habit).