Vampire to me is more than just a popular myth... I don't usually admit this but ever since I watched "Interview with a Vampire" decades ago, I always believe that they're a very unique and beautiful creature that are both wiser and more humane than human ourselves. Although most of my peers would probably beg to differ, I don't see why we can't learn a thing or two from them, right? They obviously live longer and looks prettier~
To celebrate my 29th birthday last month (yes, I'm that old =P) I decided to take my fascination for vampire to another level and doing something adventurous instead, wink2 Thanks to
Faceworks Clinic, an establish luxurious medical aesthetic clinic located at Pamper Floor, Starhill Gallery and their lovely aesthetic physician,
Dr Maryati Maharon; I'm one step closer to be in the same league as my favorite vampire with their
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment or as Hollywood dubbed it "The Vampire Facial"
Curious much? Well, PRP is not exactly news in the medical fields. It has been widely used in orthopedics, stomatology and reconstructive surgery in the past 10 years. It was first introduced in Europe to enhance and restore areas which requires volume such as acne scars, wrinkles and lines, cheeks, cleavage, and so much more... It's also known as a natural filler because you're using your own DNA and blood for this treatment, isn't it cool? The best thing is, there are no risk of allergic reaction guarantee, yeay!!! Below is a simple diagram on how PRP treatment is done that I found online =)
Before I start writing about my PRP journey, I shall warning you that the pictures you're about to see were not meant for the fainted heart, hihi =P It's scary, messy, ugly and full of blood or so I thought when I saw Kim Kardhashian doing hers in her TV show few days before the treatment. The reality however is so much different from her version, it's either she's being overly dramatic as usual or her doctor was not as good as mine, which is still a big mystery to me, hmmmmm~
Back to my treatment, I know I was in a good hand during my consultation with Dr Maryati. She explained thoroughly about the procedure and recommended PRP to help improving the appearance of my acne scars. As you can clearly see, my skin is far cry from perfect, I have deep acne scars that has been around for years and still bug me every now and then, sigh~ In order to begin my PRP treatment, I had my makeup removed with cleansing oil by Dr Maryati and she kindly left my eyeliner alone which definitely make me look a lot more civilize than I'm supposed to, LOL
Soon after that, a topical anesthetic cream was applied to my whole face to help people with low pain threshold like mine to deal with the pain, hehe =P It took about 30 minutes for the cream to fully absorbs and I find the numb feelings was rather amusing since I never really have it plastered all over my face before =D
While waiting for the cream to works it's magic, I was entertained by the very friendly
Faceworks Clinic's staff and
Dr Maryati herself who shared some of her beauty knowledge that both shocked and surprised me at the same time, wink2 Thanks to
Fatin and
Nani, I have fabulous photographers helping me documenting my PRP journey right from the very beginning without missing a thing, they even take photos of me signing my consent form, hehe =P Thanks girls, hugssss ❤_❤
Next, Dr Maryati withdraw a small amount of my blood (about 8-10cc). It's pretty much like any routine blood test I used to see in regular medical check up. The blood collected were then put in a sterile RegenLab PRP tube where it will be centrifuged immediately. I'm not really afraid of needles, but they had cutely prepped me with plush toys and doll to comforts me, which is a very sweet gesture indeed =)
See the tubes of my blood? I was told I have a very nice veins by doctors all the time... Vampires will definitely have a field day sucking up my blood, lol The centrifuge work by separating out the plasma and platelets from the red blood cells in a specific way to generate a platelet rich plasma to be used for this treatment.
The RegenLab centrifuge machine isolating blood components successfully through spinning and rotating the tubes inside in a certain period of time (10 to 20 minutes) to create a good definition between the red blood cells and the plasma. The platelet rich plasma that visible from the process will be carefully withdraw using a syringe before it can be apply at the problematic areas.
Wonder how the separated blood element looks like? The platelet rich plasma appear pretty much like a jelly texture in a close to nude shade. It contains fibrin, a natural blood protein and platelets (part of the blood that is responsible to stop bleeding). Platelets also contains growth factors, protein which signal cells in your body to produce or reorganize collagen and developing blood vessels.
Next, the platelet rich plasma will be extracted carefully using a syringe before it will be applied at the selected part of my face. Since Dr Maryati is very experienced with the procedure, it took her less than 5 minutes to get it done and here's where the fun begin!!!
According to Dr Maryati, she's using a micro needles gunlike gadget; Dermaqueen to majority section of my face to distribute the PRP evenly and will only injected the PRP directly to areas that require extra attention. Honestly, I'm dreading this stage the most especially after I watched Kim Kardhashian screaming non stop during her PRP procedure. Strange but true, I found out later that the micro needles was not painful at all, it feels very much like a ticklish sensation instead, hehe =P
The injections method however was a little more painful than the micro needles. It targeted specific areas that were harder to reach using the previous technique and more problematic than the others. The pain was still bearable though, I manage to keep my cool throughout the entire procedure better than I expected, phew~ Thanks to the numb cream, it feels practically nothing compared to the facial extraction that I've been to before which still made me cringe whenever I think about it, arghhhh~
Last but not least, Dr Maryati applied a cooling mask to the treated areas and she also leave me with a lavender soothing eye mask to complete the procedure. The mask feels wonderful against my skin, soothing and refreshing at the same time, with a scent that can lulled any human being into a deep sleep, hehe =P
The only downside of this treatment is your skin will looked a little swell and slightly red after the procedure. Don't worry though, it will fade away before you know it and can be easily covered with makeup =) Since PRP provides a natural looking improvement using your own body capacity for repair and generation, the effects can only be seen after 2 to 3 weeks from the treatment.
And after 3 weeks, I do noticed a very obvious result with my skin texture and condition. I get lots of compliments and questions about my new and improve skin @_@ As you can see from my latest pictures below, my acne scars appear less pronounced than before and my skin definitely looks brighter & healthier =)
Did I get your attention yet? Quickly make your way to
Faceworks Clinics, Starhill Gallery for consultation or visit their website
here for more information. You can also check out their FB page
here for updates on their latest promotions. Till then, show off your fangs and keep your blood to yourself, hehe =P
