Brought to you by Faces of South Tampa
With the rise of Instagram and photo-driven social media, people are under more pressure than ever to look like the best versions of themselves. Kate Williams, ARNP-C, a nurse practitioner and national injectable trainer at Faces of South Tampa, states patients are asking for the noninvasive treatments that will give them the most effective (and most realistic) results.
“People have become so used to enhancing their virtual appearances with Instagram and other photo-editing apps that they’re looking to create a similarly beautiful effect in real life,” she adds. “But, most importantly, they still want to look like themselves.
Here are five of the treatments Williams and the team at Faces are using to help create glowing, youthful appearances — without the filter.
ALLUMERA®
This light-activated cream is applied to the face and left to absorb for 60 minutes. Its photodynamic properties go to work when it’s exposed to an effective light source such as LED, minimizing the appearance of pores, reducing the appearance of fine lines and crow’s feet, and improving skin firmness and overall texture. There’s minimal downtime involved, and it only takes three treatments to see long-term results. “This is next generation technology for someone who wants more than a chemical peel but isn’t ready for a more intense procedure,” says Williams. “Another plus to Allumera is that it works on all skin tones and types.”
PLATELET RICH PLASMA (PRP)
Popularized by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, PRP uses plasma from your own blood to help revitalize the skin and stimulate collagen production. The PRP can be applied to the skin like a facial serum after micro-needling, or it can be directly injected into the face to help treat forehead wrinkles, fine lines and dark circles around the eyes, acne, crepey skin and marionette lines. “This is truly one of the most natural injectables to achieve refreshed looking skin,” Williams says.
NOVATHREADS
To get a facelift-like effect without major surgery, Williams recommends NovaThreads. The PDO sutures are placed under the skin, gently lifting, contouring and volumizing the skin. “NovaThreads can be used anywhere on the body, including the jaw, neck, elbows, knees, chest and abdomen,” Williams says. “This is one of the first noninvasive options that is really effective to lift those areas and make them look more youthful.”
FACIAL CONTOURING
Fillers, like Juvéderm VOLUMA® XC, and collagen stimulators like Sculptra® Aesthetic can help enhance the angles of your face, improving the lights and shadows for photographs. “It gives an effect similar to contouring your face with makeup,” Williams says. “Because Sculptra helps stimulate collagen growth, it can be used wherever you have lost structure or volume, including the cheeks, jaw line, temples, chin and even the buttocks.”
PICOSURE® FOCUS LENS ARRAY
This cutting-edge laser helps treat stubborn skin tone issues, like hyperpigmentation, acne scarring and sun damage. “Because the laser’s energy pulse is so short, just trillionths of a second, it’s gentle on the skin yet very effective on pigmentation,” Williams says. “You’ll be back to work the day after your procedure” The PicoSure® treatment also helps stimulate collagen and elastin in the skin, giving it a rejuvenated look.
