Bloody Hell, I Got Carded at HEB: Tales of the PRP Facial
When my master injection artist Kim Sheridan of Injectables By Kim suggested I was a good candidate for the Platelet Rich Plasma, or PRP Facial, I was intrigued. Kim has been doing my Botox and Dysport injections for the past two years. She is relatable, smart, patient and truly listens to what I want. Heaven knows there is nothing worse than seeing a beauty industry professional who looks at you, pretends to be listening to what you're saying, then grabs the scissors or the laser or the needle and proceeds to do whatever the hell they think is best. I have endured bad haircuts, burns and the dreaded "caveman brow" because of a few yahoos who thought they knew better than me. Kim is trustworthy and I am always happy with my results, so when she suggested sucking the blood out of my arm, spinning it around a few times and injecting it back in my face, it didn't really scare me. I know her and I trust her, therefore I could trust the process.
Let me start by saying this procedure is not for the faint of heart or for the faint of face. I have a HIGH pain tolerance. I can bear down, grit my teeth and get through it. But parts of the PRP Facial tested me. Not all of it, but parts. It includes the word "facial" but don't for a minute think there is anything remotely relaxing or spa-like about it. But if you can get through it, I think you will love the results.
It starts the day before when you need to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I drank all the water so my veins would stand at attention and harvesting my blood would be easy. On the day of, I arrived at Kim's studio with a clean face. I laid down in a chair while a topical numbing cream was applied to my face and 60 ML's of blood were drawn from my right arm. (The veins were in great form by the way; all that water worked!)
Once the blood is taken, it's put into a "spinner" (not the technical term) and goes round and round, causing separation and letting us grab the white blood cells which are known as "the healers." It takes three times in the spinner to reach a level called "liquid gold." The really good stuff.
Three times in the spinning machine and you get that liquid gold. This is what makes the PRP so good. Photo by Kim Sheridan.
I lay back and Kim cleans my numbed skin. She then spreads the plasma onto my face with her hands and uses a microneedling pen to push it in deeper. Kind of feels like a mini floor sanding machine on my face. Hurts but not terrible. Kim tells me this process creates a minor trauma to my face so that later the white platelets or "healers" can come in and rejuvenate my skin. Once she's finished with the pen, the channels on my face are open and she can push the plasma in with her hands. This stimulates collagen growth, helps with scarring, and improves over all texture.
The skin pen is like a tiny little sander, helping the plasma to penetrate further into the skin improving texture, reducing scars and fine lines ad stimulating collagen production.
Now time for the next level: the injections. This is the second part of the double whammy effect of putting the plasma ON my face and INTO my face, yielding ideal results. She focuses the injections on my smile lines, the apples of my cheeks, part of the area under my eyes, some of my chin and my jaw line. This part ain't no cake walk, people. I winced and squealed my way through this. I murdered a strawberry squishy toy because I squeezed it SO hard. Ouch, ouch, ouch. But I did it. One of the sleep lines on my face disappeared almost immediately. Totally worth it.
Unfortunately one strawberry squishy was badly injured in the making of this blog post.
Here's the catch: when you're done, you're not really done. Kim advises I leave the plasma (which looks like dried blood) on my face as long as possible. Overnight if I can. So I have to walk into the world looking a little like Sissy Spacek in "Carrie." Not what I had planned on but I threw on my shades and was back in my car in no time. So much for stopping at All-Star Burger for lunch. I was going to need to exercise private dining this afternoon.
All total, I was in and out in about 90 minutes. That night my face was a little splotchy but felt fine. The next morning the site of the killer injection on my chin was marked by a small bruise. Three days later the chin bruise was gone but there was a new bruise on the corner of my mouth. Then a bruise on my cheek. Makeup was helpful in covering it up, but I was relieved when everything had healed. I would advise clearing your schedule of any truly important events or appearances in the weeks immediately following PRP. But healing goes fast: two weeks after the procedure I got carded buying wine at HEB in Marble Falls. Hell yeah!
Obviously she knew I was over 21 but the cashier at HEB said she had to card anyone who might be 30 or younger. Holy what?!? In related news, she is my new best friend. This is about 2 weeks after my first PRP Facial.
The PRP Facial is intense. Yes it is BLOOD being smeared all over and injected into your face, but knowing it's your own blood makes it easier to bear and the science behind all of it is truly fascinating. I'll get two more treatments but I am already really happy with the plumping and youthful effect of just one treatment. The only thing I would change is the date of my procedure from early June to October 31st because handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween with dried blood all over my face would have been a pretty sweet costume. Maybe this year I'll dress up as a 21-year-old college kid buying wine instead. (wink, wink).
Injectables By Kim is located in the Hill Country Galleria. Find her at 12700 Hill Country Blvd., Suite 121, Studio 108 & 109, Bee Cave, TX 78738. Call (512) 851-1092 for an appointment.
