Back in January, my boyfriend and I started searching for engagement rings (squueaaa)!! Very exciting! P>S> The above before and after is a past client, not me. Anyway....ring shopping was also oddly stressful for me….so much pressure to make sure it’s something I truly love and want to look at it for the next 40+ years. Long story short, I finally found THE ring. It only took me 5 months (to be fair, 3 of those months were quarantine)! He bought it, I love it, I adore it, I adore him…now let’s get that ring on my finger! (UPDATE: We got engaged this past Friday! YAY!!!)
Here's MY ring!!! And believe me, it took many camera angles and hand placements to get that pic so my hands wouldn't look shriveled!
The first place we visited to try on rings was massive, I was overwhelmed, and wasn’t sure what to try on. I took pictures of some of them on my finger to show my friends. I was AGHAST at how my hand looked in the pictures. Lord-a-mighty….my hands have always looked wrinkly to me, but in a close up – blech! I knew I’d need to start doing something to help them!
Even though these treatments are available to me on a near daily basis, I have yet to start on any hand beautification mainly because (1) it’s summer and so there are few laser or BBL type procedures I can do now and still go out in the sun, and (2) and most importantly, the proposal is yet to happen and I don’t want red or dry or otherwise post-treatment (not healed) hands when he pops the question!
But very soon I would like to start working towards smoother, tighter skin on my hands. Options include everything from Skin Pen and nano laser peel for texture, to BBL for sun damage, to filler for added volume.
Skin Pen is great because you can have a tan and still get treated. I’m a big fan of microneedling so I may try that first, before lasers. Please note that even though you can be treated with tanned skin, you will have to stay out of direct sunlight while your newly treated skin heals (about a week).
Nano laser peel is an ablative treatment that removes the topmost layer of skin. Treatment depth is totally customizable. The depth is determined by what results you’re looking for, how much downtime you’re willing to have, your skin quality, and the area being treated.
BBL photofacial will remove the visible sun damage on your hands, like freckles and age spots. It’s easy to have more sundamage on your hands, chest and arms than on your face because it’s common for people to ignore protecting non-facial areas with SPF. I am admittedly horrible about sunscreen anywhere but my face. Iris, on the other hand, layers three different types! BBL will also stimulate collagen which makes the skin appear more pliable, elastic and youthful.
Fillers. Radiesse and Lyft are commonly used in the hand to help camouflage the tendons and veins that become more visible as our own collagen breaks down as we age. These fillers can last 9 months or more. The hands move a lot so filler may metabolize faster here than in the face.
Keep in mind that with any non-facial treatment area, healing is much slower, so prepare to be patient! The wrinkles and texture aren’t going to disappear in a few weeks, and it may take multiple treatments to get where you want to be.
Over the years I’ve tried filler in my hands and I did one session of nano laser peel, but I was not motivated for a result and did follow up in a timely manner! The filler definitely made a positive difference in diminishing the appearance of the tendons in the back of my hand, but it metabolized fairly quickly (I do a lot of cardio). I’m definitely attached to a positive outcome this time though, so I’ll be coming up with a plan soon and sticking to it! I hope to have great before and afters to share in a few months!