Whitney Wednesday: My Kylie Jenner Moment
As some of you might have seen, we teamed up with a local plastic surgeon, Dr. Paige Holt, and got a few treatments (or tweakments as she liked to call them) done in our office. I figured I would share a little bit more about my personal experience here with you guys!
First of all, I inherited a very small, pretty non-existent upper lip. It didn't hinder my daily life or anything, but without an upper lip, it threw off the balance of my face a bit by making my philtrum look longer, and my nose look bigger. This wasn't something I wasted time worrying about and I'm sure most of you guys didn't even notice it, but it's something I've always been aware of. It was especially annoying trying to rock a bold lip, being the makeup junkie that I am, and it would literally be gone within 30 minutes because my upper lip was more like a waterline than a lip. I think each person always has a thing or two that they're not too fond of, and this was luckily pretty easily fixable thanks to the sweet Dr. Paige.
Lip fillers had honestly never crossed my mind, and I had only ever seen people like Kylie Jenner or a few of my favorite beauty bloggers do it, and they opted for a less conservative amount so I didn't realize you could still have natural looking lips after the fact. Dr. Paige's business partner, Katie, reached out to us because they have the same values as us, to empower and encourage women, and have their BeFORe The After Project where they network with other women in all walks of life. We fell in love with them and their mission, and we wanted to somehow collaborate. I ended up doing lip filler in my upper lip and botox in my forehead. The whole process was so amazing. Dr. Paige was so calming, and so complimentary that I walked away feeling so good about myself and felt like I had gained a very sweet friend (two friends including Katie!). I love that she's trying to change the stigma of plastic surgery and procedures like Botox.
For my Botox, I was actually blown away with how surface level it was. I think you just assume that if it involves needles that it's going to be an invasive procedure but the needle looks similar to an acupuncture needle but so much shorter. The actual injections for Botox are small and not even painful. She didn't even have to numb the area. I literally was like, "Oh that's it???" The next day, I didn't have any bruising or swelling but had a minor headache across my forehead which Tylenol took right away. A week out, my forehead looks a lot younger and smoother. My makeup looks more natural and doesn't settle in my forehead wrinkles because it's a lot more smooth. I still have movement in my forehead, but it just looks prettier. I can tell when I lift my eyebrows that it feels a tiny bit numb in my upper forehead but it's not bothersome and I only notice it when I'm thinking about it. I actually have a scar running through my left eyebrow from a car accident I was in, and that side has always been a little asymmetrical from my right side since, but she put less Botox on that side and I feel like she somehow made my face look more symmetrical by doing that.
For my lip filler, she put numbing cream on my lips and let them get nice and numb, and then went in with the Juvederm injections which felt similar to the Botox- just small pinches. I bled a little but that's to be expected on such a sensitive area and when needles are involved. The next day, my lip had gotten swollen and resembled a Kylie Jenner lip for about a day, but that's completely normal and it was a little sore, but the Tylenol took it away. Other than it being swollen, and a little stiff because of the swelling, I had no issues. Each day the swelling went down and by the time I had reached one week out, my lip looked completely normal and feels normal. I do feel a little texture below the surface of the interior of my lip but, same as the botox, I don't notice it unless I'm thinking about it. It literally looks like my natural lip because she had done such an awesome job. It was just the perfect amount, subtle and I'm super happy with how it turned out! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Overall, I feel like the whole experience helped me personally de-stigmatize treatments like this. Such a small amount has made me feel so much more confident. It's also made me less judgmental towards others who have done treatments of their own. Everyone has their own insecurities, and if you get the opportunity like I did, I'd highly suggest it! Just maybe start small because you may realize that's all you needed! You do you!
- Whitney