Question for all the knowledgeable ladies on this forum: What's the best approach for getting rid of fine lines that are all over the face (caused by a light complexion spending too much time under-protected in the sun)? Is there anything that can undo that damage? My g/f had a great visit with Dawn (I tried to post about that, but apparently the post slipped into the Twilight Zone somewhere 
). While she was injecting, Dawn noted that my g/f has a lot of fine lines and skin damage for a 31-year-old. She rattled off a string of things that the g/f should do to correct the damage, but neither the g/f nor I remember them.
So, what would you do if you were a 31-year-old woman with a fair complexion, a lot of fine lines you wanted to get rid of, and no way of hiding out for longer than, say, 5 days at a time?
Thanks!
The easiest way is to use Retin A, since it turns over new skin cells it does help to reduce fine lines. And use at least a 55 sunblock daily, indoors or out.
Moxie
retin a and some peels works for me. now i'm curious what Dawn reccommended.
Me too, as I have fine lines under my eyes.
I do too, Sapphire. The miracle of 2 units of Botox under each eye is unbelievable. Nothing changes but the lines.
botox is for dynamically induced fine lines... the ones that are there because of repeated muscular movement. if they get worse when you smile then botox will help
the overall fine lines of the OP are indeed dry skin and sun damage. There are lots of things to do to try and efface them starting with glycolic acid and retin-a self administered (not at the same time though) and then a series of stronger chemical, laser and light possibilities.
Ophelia, it's easy to sink a lot of time and $ into these treatments, and just like with plastic surgery, it's good to get multple opinions before proceeding. Practitioners tend to recommend whatever they happen to have invested in (those machines are very expensive and many derms/laser centers only buy/lease a handful or less) so it's good to find someone who has really made it their specialty and has lots of different types of equipment and deep knowledge of the studies that went into approving them.
I've tried Botox and depending on how it's placed, it does seem to help. The problem with me is that I need it over the central cheek area to get rid of all my lines, and that drops the cheek a bit. So it's a tradeoff that I don't know if I want long-term.
I do use Retin-A and glycolic acid a few times a week each now, so I'll have to see if that helps over time.
I had a CO2 laser peel under my eyes when it first became popular back in 1995 and couldn't believe the difference it made; I looked like I had 20-year-old skin under the eyes again. But, nothing lasts forever. I'm afraid to get lasered again because people say laser ablates and thins out your skin and makes it more crepey.
Botox around the crowsfeet does not help me much. In the frown lines it's good. I try not to do it more than every 6 mo. Very smooth brow with no ability to frown - fake on guys.
Last yr I had a blue peel -35% tca- for under eye wrinkles. It helped btut the derm said i'll need to repeat the procedure.
Did they say how often you should repeat the Blue Peel? I have some of that at home - bought it on Ebay.
Did they say how often you should repeat the Blue Peel? I have some of that at home - bought it on Ebay.
They said as often as every 4 wks for the 15% Obaji blue peel. I'm not sure if that still holds true. I'm new to peels and just wanted to freshen up under the eyes. As I age I'm sure I'll need to up the frrequency.
I know someone who did a 20% Home TCA peel. I'd be too afraid. Not sure how strong your formula is but I trust you're experienced and have read up on it.
Regarding the TCA Blue Peel, it came with extensive directions so I followed these. Never had any problems with it.
thanks for the info. home application woulda saved me $500.--coulda done more botox
just sharing (2nd hand) info here----the guy i know said his tca was 20%-idk if it was the ebay blue stuff. he used extra layers (not sure how many layers) on a small spot of his cheek-for several acne scars. the scars are well diminished but that spot it now hypopigmented
-he's ok with that trade-off
when i hav the bux i might look into laser for cystic acne scars on my back.
very nice chatting w/ u.
Was just reading the skincare and surgery archives here and thought I'd add my experience. Botox for crows feet did little for me. I've tried a bit of botox to the outer portion of the undereye where I seem to have squint lines and that helped.
Mostly the biggest help was reting a and AHA and TCA peels.
I've done:
1) Microdermabrasion (Don't bother)
2) Erbium (Excellent with 3-4 days recovery or more depending on how deep you go)
3) Thermage - Some people don't get results, I did - I've had three treatments and like it. It's expensive though with no down time.
4) Fraxel - This is okay. I've done the fraxel erbium and haven't tried the Fraxel CO2 which I imagine is better. I personally don't understand why you'd want 20% of the erbium peel instead of 100%. I pick erbium over this monetarilly and results-wise.
5) Salycilic acid peels (I've had good results with aestheticians and at home peels, although home peels seem to flake for 4 days afterward which is awkward at work.
6) TCA - Same as #5
2) Erbium (Excellent with 3-4 days recovery or more depending on how deep you go)
David,
Thanks for the detailed reply. The Erbium as you've described it sounds very promising. I'm not sure how to reconcile your experience with Assiegal's, though. In the Laser Treatments thread, her verdict is said to be, "The results were lovely smooth skin with no more freckles. Took a week to peel, but was red for several months. Recommended as results were great!" It's the "but was red for several months" part that is off-putting. What do you think accounts for your different experiences? The many laser options confuse me fairly quickly. If I wanted an Erbium treatment like the one you had, what exactly would I request?
Thanks very much.