Hello everyone! I am so excited to share my experience getting botox and a hydrafacial at the Allen Gabriel med spa. I am happy to partner with the Allen Gabriel team with a year-long collaboration documenting my skin’s progress. Maybe I am biased, but they are the best med spa and plastic surgeon office in Vancouver, WA just 15 minutes outside of Portland, Oregon.
There are two reasons why I got botox: the first being my tight jaw due to TMJ, and the second being the fact that I want to keep my skin youthful for as long as possible! I know botox has some mystery around it so I wanted to share my personal experience and break down my results. My goal is that this post helps you decide if botox is something you want to try. So far I am very impressed and I can’t wait for more treatments.
Why I Wanted To Try Botox
Before getting botox my jaw felt like there was a crank attached to my jaw muscles and someone was cranking the gear around and around, tighter and tighter. After my first botox treatment I feel like my face is finally relaxed.
I’ll admit, when the Allen Gabriel med spa team first reached out to me about botox I was a little hesitant. I went in for an initial meeting, but it took me 3 months to decide if I really wanted to do botox. The truth is, I have always wanted to do botox, but I didn’t want to talk about it publicly. I wanted it to be my little secret – I wanted everyone to wonder how my skin looks so amazing. That is the exact reason the Allen Gabriel med spa team reached out to me. They wanted to partner with a local influencer to get rid of the taboo of botox.
Before getting botox I weighed the pros and cons. I figured if it was something that could help my TMJ while giving me better skin, why not? As I approach age 30 I want to be more preventative when it comes to my skincare. After all, we all want to look like J-Lo at her age so why not get the same skincare treatments that the celebrities do? I have always envied celebrity skin, and I know that I have to take preemptive measures to make sure my skin is elastic and smooth for as long as possible. We all know celebs get small surgeries and weekly hydrafacials to achieve youthful skin for as long as possible. I mean if you had the money wouldn’t you?
Hydrafacial: Allen Gabriel Med Spa
A hydrafacial is a treatment that sucks out blackheads and cleans pores by flushing them with water. This multiple-part treatment includes serums and exfoliators to prep the skin. I was so excited for this facial because I have heard such wonderful things about it. Hydrafacials are the kindest thing you can do to your skin. Afterwards my skin felt baby soft, literally the softest thing I have ever touched in my life! Hours after my treatment my skin looked like glass. I still can see that same smooth shine on my forehead that I saw hours after my facial. If you’re looking for better skin with immediate results, a hydrafacial is recommended once a month.
Botox: Allen Gabriel Med Spa
As I mentioned earlier I wanted to get botox to help treat my TMJ, as well as preventative care for my skin. By two weeks I already felt a difference in my facial tension. I feel like I carry a lot of my stress in my jaw. That is because of the trauma I carried with me after a tooth implant.
When I first got my implant my jaw was so tight that I could barely fit one finger in between my teeth. Thankfully my jaw has improved a lot since then, but ever since that surgery I have had TMJ. I tried everything to relieve the soreness from cranial massages, to putting mint oil in my ears. These things both worked, but they only temporarily relieved the pain of my TMJ. It would come back from multiple triggers including stress, aligning my bottom teeth with invisalisn, and clenching at night.
I got botox injected in 6 places: on the outside of my eyes targeting crows feet and my under eye, in between my inner eyebrows on both eyes, and on my jawline to target the masseter muscle (which is the muscle that will help relax my TMJ). My initial thoughts were that I LOVED it and my face instantly felt more relaxed. Normally it takes up to two months for masseter muscles to feel the full effect. Maybe that’s how tight my jaw really was that I felt relief hours after! Results are most affective two weeks after your treatment. Stay tuned for more posts throughout the year as a partner with the Allen Gabriel med spa team and receive more botox treatments in different areas.
Before getting botox please consult with a licensed professional who is authorized to give injections. Read more on who should be administering your botox here.
Barbara
March 1, 2020your skin looks amazing !!!