Why is Your Face Like That? Lip Edition!

In-office procedures and my newest fave lip treatment!

the crooked smile is au naturale

Full transparency, this is a pre-scheduled post because this week is full of many things, including out-of-town college visits and medical appointments, a colonoscopy (wheeeeee), our 20th anniversary, and a bunch of other shit that, for some reason, got crammed into the same week! So we are talking more about why my face is like this.

Make sure to go back and read Part 1!

Why Is Your Face Like That?

Here are the more invasive things I’ve done for my skin!

Let me start by saying that you should do whatever you want for yourself. I know there’s a ton of pressure to stay looking young, and I could go into the whole patriarchal bullshit pressure placed on women, but I will avoid that rabbit hole. I’m a mix of pro-natural aging and a little help. If you want to throw your hands in the air and say FUCK IT and do nothing, or open your wallet and tell the plastic surgeon to go to town, YOU DO YOU!

With that, here are the rest of my more invasive go-to’s.

DEVICES

There are a plethora of at-home LED masks, radio frequency gadgets, and other facial improvement devices out there. I’ve tried some, returned some, relegated others to the back of the bathroom cabinet, and while I can’t speak for all of them, there’s one that is worth mentioning.

I impulse-bought this thing for myself last Christmas because I was heavily influenced by an Instagram ad, and then it sat in my closet for 6 months (I know, I know):

Turns out I love it! It’s the first FDA-cleared-at-home laser, which made my science geek heart skip a beat. It stimulates collagen and is totally painless. I use it on my face, neck, and chest. It takes about 10 minutes, and I use it 2-3 times weekly while I’m listening to a podcast or watching a show. It even has an app that tracks your sessions and photos, which is cool because you can see results in real-time.

Anecdotally, after a few months of use, my skin tone and texture improved (soft!), my neck seemed less saggy, and my undereye circles weren’t as dark. Here is the photo side by side from their app:

wish you could reach out and touch the photo b/c my skin is so much softer!

I feel like my eyelids are more lifted, too, but it could be how I posed for the photo. These aren’t scientific or professional, and the lighting is a bit different, but this, combined with the science, has impressed me enough to keep using it! Their website has tons of before-and-after photos and clinical studies if you want to check them out. Again, this is an affiliate link for 15% off (enter code EMILYP10), but it matters not to me whether you use my link or go straight to the website; I wouldn’t recommend something unless I really liked it.

Now for the in-office procedures I have done¹