“Dr. Shieh has time on Tuesday morning for a facial treatment. Would you like the appointment?” the caller asked. My thought was “wow a facial, I love facials!” But it was something entirely different.

I walked into RejuvaYou in South Pasadena with a spring in my step anticipating being massaged and cleansed. I was taken to wash my face. When they started taking pictures of my face I started thinking “this is going to be more than your average facial.” As I was to find out it was so much more.

As Floy, Dr. Shieh’s wife explained to me, I was to receive a type of laser treatment that would help get rid of my brown spots and some of those pesky veins under the surface of my skin that made my face so red. The facial treatment was called FotoFacial RF and it uses light and radiofrequency to make the skin lighter, brighter, smoother and younger looking.

Okay, this is not exactly what I had in mind, but so long as it wasn’t botox or plastic surgery I was willing to give it a try. I really was tired of my face being so red and it did have a lot of sun damage from when I was young (and used baby oil and iodine to sunbathe).

A topical anesthetic was applied (I was beginning to get nervous again) and after awhile I was taken to a comfy chair and Dr. Shieh explained the procedure. An instrument would shine a bright light on my skin which would break up the unwanted veins and bring the dark spots to the surface of my skin which would later slough off. There might be some swelling, he said, but that would go away quickly and after a week or so my skin would look much better.
The treatment wasn’t anymore painful than tweezing your eyebrows or getting your legs waxed. The whole treatment, anesthetic and everything, takes about 90 minutes. And there is no recovery time.

In a few days I started to notice my skin lightening up a bit. In two weeks most of the brown spots disappeared and I was blown away by the results. I didn’t have that “deer in the headlights look” one gets with major plastic surgery. These results are more subtle. As Floy said “It’s a natural look, we’ll bring out your inner beauty.”

Now I will actually look at myself in the mirror when I am combing my hair or brushing my teeth. It used to be just a quick glance to make sure my hair wasn’t sticking up and that I hadn’t dribbled toothpaste on myself!

I feel renewed, more confident and not so invisible. Ladies of a certain age will know what I mean. At some point we become invisible (especially in California where youth is worshiped.) Waiters ignore us, clerks look past us, and people we have been introduced to many times don’t remember meeting us – invisible.

If you are looking for a lift, a bit of confidence and a spring in your step, give Dr. Shieh and RejuvaYou a try. They are located at 1024A Mission Street in South Pasadena. For more information call (626) 441-8968 or log onto www.rejuvayou.com.