Greetings! Easter is upon us, as is all of the pollen that keeps falling from the sky! I love the springtime for the warmer weather and blooming flowers, but I could do without the yellow film on everything! This is also a fun time for sports enthusiasts, with March Madness (and all of the upsets!), the upcoming women's professional tennis tournament at Credit One Stadium, the Masters, and the Heritage Golf Tournament in Hilton Head! Oh, and the Cooper River Bridge Run is right around the corner!
Not only are flowers blooming, but also fillers. For many years I have predominately focused on HA fillers produced by Allergan. I like HA products because of their natural and soft feel; in fact, HA is naturally found in our bodies, including our skin. My Allergan loyalty arose from observations that the Allergan products seemed to achieve greater correction with more longevity than the comparable products from competitor companies. One of the exceptions to this longstanding HA preference has been my choice of Radiesse (though a non-HA product) for hand rejuvenation.
More recently, I have been trying some of the newer fillers from Galderma, most notably, the Restylane Contour and Restylane Eyelight. As is the case with most things I introduce to the practice, I offered myself up to be the Guinea Pig. Kelly injected my under-eye areas with the Eyelight, and I have to say, I have been more than impressed! Yes, I had some minor bruising, which can happen with any filler, but I think it is a wonderful addition to treat the under-eye hollows, and is a wonderful compliment to the Voluma and Volbella that we have already been using. The other product I have been loving is Skinvive. This was launched in late 2023 and is another one of the Allergan products; interestingly, it is not marketed as a filler, but instead an injectable moisturizer. We have seen incredible results for fine lines, creping skin, and scars, such as acne scars. When combined with services such as CO2 laser treatments, the results can be quite impressive!
Shifting gears, I hope everyone has had a chance to check out our health and wellness posts on the new drwilliamswellness IG and FB pages. We are also adding a separate page on the website dedicated to health and wellness. In addition to the benefits of healthy living for disease prevention, I firmly believe that beauty starts from within and that health and wellness go hand in hand with maximizing cosmetic procedure results. Throughout the years, I have also been committed to promoting female entrepreneurs. You may occasionally see shoutouts to some of these women on my post and the website. For starters, today, I would like to mention 2 special women. One is Jeanne Malota. Jeanne is responsible for helping me put together these blogs and maintain my website, and her social media expertise has proven so helpful! She is a jack of all trades, with many skills, and more recently has become an Arbonne rep. So if you have any interest in trying some of the Arbonne products I have mentioned for healthy living, she's your gal! The other person is Lauren Embree. I met Lauren through tennis, and most notably, she is the former assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Florida (and one of the most decorated players in Florida history during her own college career). Lauren left her coaching life last January to pursue her own career in the health and wellness arena, serving as a functional medicine nutritionist and an exercise physiologist at Miraval Resorts in Austin, Texas. Click the links for Jeanne and Lauren to see if they can help you achieve your wellness goals!
Before I sign off for the week, a couple more things...to celebrate Easter and to show our excitement for these new fillers, we are offering 20% off of all fillers purchased this week (unfortunately, this cannot be combined with other offers). And while I don't want to diminish the meaning and glory of Easter, I do recognize that this is "spring break season". So to get you in the spirit for spring and summer fun, I leave you with this spring break song!
'Til next time,
Heidi Williams, MD