One Stiletto At A Time

As far back as I can remember I’ve always had a bit of a double chin and an undefined jaw line. No matter how much or how little I’ve weighed it’s remained there. Stubborn and frustrating. My heart medication made the area even worse and when I was finally able to change to a better medication I had hoped it would disappear but it didn’t. This led me to decide to do something about it. I am overall very happy with my appearance and am not too harsh on myself. I try not to be critical of my looks even though I am in the beauty industry but this is something I’ve wanted to fix for the last couple years so why not!

I embarked on a trade exchange journey with Skin Renewal and will be sharing my progress and thoughts on the treatments and their results. I am thrilled to be working with Skin Renewal as they are leaders in the cosmetic field in South Africa and I can feel safe in the hands of my assigned doctor and the therapists.

About a month ago I visited the Skin Renewal Stellenbosch branch and had my consultation with Dr Andre Truter. He confirmed that my double chin and the little hard “lump” I felt underneath was a fat pad. He explained that fat pads are the most difficult types of fat to get rid of and often weight loss and diet don’t make any difference. They are the stubborn zones. Most people have fat pads on the inner or outer thigh i.e saddlebags. Fat pads also tend to be genetic. As my skin is still firm and I am quite young he advised that we do something called Lipodissolve instead of liposuction. Liposuction is not always effective for small pockets of fat and will leave a visible scar under my chin. He recommended PC/Lipodissolve R 1500/5ml x neck and Velashape 20 mins R950 for 4 – 6 treatments depending on how my body responds. So each Lipodssolve treatment will be followed directly by a Velashape treatment.

Velashape uses a combination of Radio frequency and infra-red light (elks™) which aids in new collagen remodeling to tighten sagging and lax skin especially on the neck. Also lymphatic drainage is increased making it ideal to help with the drainage after a lipodissolve treatment.

Lipodissolve or Injecting lipolysis into the problem areas is a non-surgical procedure to diminish localized fat deposits using a natural substance called lecithin in a cocktail with growth factors and peptides.

This is taken from the Skin Renewal site; I love how they have an extensive FAQ on each procedure and helpful tips. “Lipodissolve (also known as Lipostabil) contains the active ingredient Lecithin also known as PPC (Phosphatidyl choline) which dissolves the fat cell wall and causes fat reduction. The long term results of the Lipodissolve procedure are very dependent on what active ingredients are present in the solution. At Skin Renewal, we always use a combination of Lecithin and award winning growth factors and peptides. The growth factors & peptides present in the cocktail stimulate the production of collagen so that the dermis is strengthened and skin texture improved on.”

It is moderately painful in that there will be swelling and redness afterwards but when combined with a radio-frequency RF procedure after the Lipodissolve treatment these side-effects are greatly diminished. However, do be prepared for the worst of the swelling lasting at least 2-4 days afterwards with most of the swelling gone after 7 days.

I’ll be documenting my first treatment and the days following, in my next post on Monday the 17th July with before and after pictures. After the third treatment I will follow-up with another post to show how it looks halfway (Probably in Sep) through the process. Finally, I’ll reveal the final outcome after the last set of treatments (in Oct/Nov).