I don’t normally advise nor condone cheating, and yet many times during my own journey, I’ve strayed. I’m talking about my anti-aging journey and relationship with my dermatologists of course. Because when it comes to my face, I don’t clutch to one particular practitioner, don’t glue myself to one specific method. My only loyalty is to my youthful looks. I am normally a creature of habit, but in this case, it’s a tendency I try to resist.
But why stray from such a sacred partnership?
Because when it comes to people who serve my face, sometimes it’s a good idea to play the field and do a little experimentation outside of the relationship. Because I seek knowledge and a different perspective. I view my Doctors as my teachers — my discretions as my field trips.
You learn equally from both.
True, a perfect balance of trust and security has been achieved. But I don’t believe we have to stick to one person or one point of view when it comes to beauty, especially anti-aging beauty. Instead, I like to pick a new brain, see if they know something the other one doesn’t know. Is there a new treatment that they learned about before anyone else does? I want the goods.
It’s like insider trading of anti-aging information.
And then there’s this…
Providing anti-aging procedures is a science and also an art. You have to be trained but you also have to have an eye. Not everyone does. Like an architect, they need to understand the structure of the face as they renovate and restore it to its youthful radiance. They need to have skill as well as vision.
Some have more skill and others have more vision.
As doctors, dermatologists obviously need to have the training required to do these procedures, but as an artist, they need to envision the outcome. Each doctor, just like an artist, has his or her own way of approaching the canvas that is our face. Sometimes a change in the location of a unit of botox garners a slightly different result. Carefully placed fillers can produce a plump, youthful face. But improperly placed and you leave looking like a chipmunk.
As the famous architect, Mies van der Rohe once said, “It’s all in the details.”
I approach my dermatologists the same way I approach my skincare products: I have my go-to reliable and proven source for all my dermatological needs who I go to most of the time for Botox and fillers. Then, as with products, I have a few others that I have on rotation depending on what I need.
I have one doctor that does my Botox better but another who is great with fillers. Lasers? That’s an entirely different person. I move around, listen, and learn from every specialist I visit, and I think (no, I know) I am able to better collaborate when it comes to my treatments.
The amount of anti-aging information out there is overwhelming. We can’t expect one person to have all the answers. There just isn’t enough time in their day to learn everything.
So this is my advice to you:
When you meet a dermatologist for the first time, I think it’s best to give him or her a general idea of what you think you need. Then let him or her talk. Listen to how he or she will address those issues and why. Ask a lot of questions and get as much information as possible.
Find someone whom you trust with your face and go to him or her regularly. But every now and then, allow yourself to stray. Then do the same: ask and listen. It’s like getting a second and third opinion. Once you’ve figured out who is best at what, move around, — play the field. And don’t feel guilty.
Should you leave evidence of your duplicity?
Not at all. What you do with your face is your business. So when your regular dermatologist remarks on how long your Botox has lasted (because unbeknownst to her, you just had it done with someone else) you can pretend that you are just as surprised.
Have you cheated on your dermatologist? If you haven’t, would you now? Let me know in the comments.
xoxo,
V