Mommy Makeover Part 2

Aesthetic Rejuvenation Center upstairs waiting area

I told you guys I'm doing this whole "Mommy Makeover" thing that I won in parts. Some of the things need some time to heal before whatever is the next step. Rhonda at the Aesthetic Rejuvenation Center put together a treatment plan and the order I should do them in, and I just told them the dates and blocks of time I can get there. They made the appointments for me and texted them to me.

I really appreciated this technologically advanced way of doing things. There is nothing more annoying that having to sit on the phone with the calendar and try to work out appointments. Here's when I can come, you do the puzzle and tell me when I'm coming. I don't have time to sit on the phone. I also have to call when I leave work because I guarantee if I call while AT work, someone will come in or call. If I call from my cell, then I don't have access to the calendar. I'm very pleased at how easy they made this whole thing.


This appointment was with Pamela Delacruz, a medical esthetician. I immediately felt like I was in good hands because she is so pretty and her skin looks so fabulous. I knew I was coming in for Ulthera or Ultherapy (I'm not sure which it's called but it's the same thing) and Dermapen, but I didn't research either one. Why? Why would I have something done and not know what it is beforehand? Because I trust that the people in this place know what they're doing, and I just wanted to experience it all first without going crazy reading about it. I just wanted to jump in and do it. Do I need to know the possible side effects or problems? No. I was doing it anyway. So viva la face treatments!

Pam told me she didn't think I really NEEDED the Ulthera around the eyes but I wanted to do it anyway. I did botox proactively. I had some wrinkles but I'd heard it was good to start early anyway. I figured that it couldn't hurt. Because I hadn't researched it, I wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to do. I was doing the Dermapen because I've had acne scars from cystic acne I had in my senior year of high school and then again in the beginning of my sophomore year of college. I'd taken minocycline both time to get rid of it, and that did the trick, but it did leave some lasting marks that have always bothered me.

They told me that one treatment with the Dermapen probably wouldn't eliminate the scars but they would look better. I'm game for whatever they want to try since I don't have the money to do any of this on my own. This is my shot at trying to fix what I don't like. I think both treatments were to help with or get rid of any sun spots I have too.

She first numbed my face with LMX 4% cream. I'm familiar with this stuff because it's what the Mohel told me to get for Ethan's bris. What I didn't know what that to really get an area numb, you need to use a lot of it and you need to manipulate it around the area. You have really massage it in and keep doing it. It's not enough to just slap some on and wait. By the time she was ready to do any treatments, I couldn't really feel my face. That was just fine with me because I don't have the highest pain tolerance. She made it sound like some people find what she was going to do somewhat painful.

I felt nothing. She did the Ulthera and I felt nothing. No pain. She made sure to stop and check to see that the machine was working and it was working. I did feel a spot here or there with either the Ulthera or the Dermapen but I wouldn't say it hurt. I'd say I FELT it vs not feeling anything.

Then she did the Dermapen. I'd had microdermabrasion one time, on a work trip for John Abate, in a skincare and tanning salon (I know, I know- oxymoron). I think it kind of felt like that. I wasn't numb for the microdermabrasion so maybe that's less intense? I don't know. I think I'm getting microdermabrasion too, so I'll let you know how they compare.

With consultation (when I got there) and both treatments I was there just under two hours. I was told that I'd probably have redness and maybe a little swelling but it would be gone by either later in the night or the next morning.

Last night around 7:30p. Excuse the zombie face

I wasn't really red when I left. I got way red by the early evening. I took E to swim practice and I could tell, in that shvitz of a pool area, with the heat, my face was definitely on fire. I expected that and I was fine with it. I was still red when I got home at around seven o'clock. It didn't hurt, it was just hot.

Also last night around 7:30p

By this morning, my skin looked like when it does after indoor tanning. In a good way. You can't see my scars, not because they're gone, but because my skin is plumped up. It burned a little when I put moisturizer on after my shower this morning, but I expected that too. My face has to be a little raw, even if I can't see it as raw with my eyes. I like the way it looks. It looks healthy. I have no make up on today and I definitely have a healthy looking glow.

Sorry- I'm the worst selfie taker, but you can see I'm not really red.

Pam Delacruz

I highly recommend Pam. She was a pleasure to have an esthetician. She is friendly, open, and you can tell she knows what she's doing. I'm hoping I get another turn with the Dermapen but if they don't give it to me as part of my winnings, I'd consider saving my money and going back to her to do another treatment. I think she said that one treatment with Dermapen costs two hundred and fifty dollars. That's about how much I used to pay for Botox when I did it cosmetically. If it could really get rid of my acne scars, I would consider that two hundred and fifty very well spent.

 Pam is only there on Mondays because she has a salon down in Long Branch. If you're in Bergen County, see her at the Aesthetic Rejuvenation Center in Englewood Cliffs and if you're down the shore, see her at Kevin Alan Salon on Atlantic Ave in Long Branch, NJ.

**Update on the Cool Sculpting procedure: It's Day 8. I had it done last Tuesday. I've been wearing the waist trainer every day, all day, except in the shower and right after- until I get dressed. The itching was almost unbearable. Apparently, that's your nerves just get themselves back to normal. It was really numb up until today. I still have numbness but it's almost back to feeling like it's my own skin vs autonomous skin from my body. I don't feel itchy at all so far today which is leaps and bounds from how it felt just two days ago.

I have had some of those zinger kind of shooting pain. Those aren't really that bad. I'd say the itching is worse. There is nothing that takes it away either- not topical or oral antihistamines. I just keep repeating, "Beauty is pain..." like a mantra.

I do think I can see some difference already. I can see that in the area I'd need to suck in to see any definition, I see some without sucking in. I'm still a bit swollen though and really, you're not supposed to see much of a result until one to four months after. I've seen pics of the results and even Pam said she did it and she had amazing results. It's not like she was trying to sell me- I'd already done it. So I believe her.

I was told I have to wait until two weeks post Ulthera to do the next things. I just looked up my appointments on the calendar and those are Microdermabrasion and IPL. I also have a consult this week at Illuminada Salon for whatever they're going to do to me!

Aesthetic Rejuvenation Center: https://www.rejuvenation-center.com/

Aesthetic Rejuvenation Center downstairs waiting room