How would you feel about having your blood taken, getting the plasma extracted then infused into your face with thousands of needle pricks all in the name of beauty?
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Kim Kardashian has tried it and now Illawarra Mercury reader Chloe Drabsch has also road-tested one of the newest beauty regimes to hit Wollongong – the “vampire facial”.
Technically it’s called Skin Needling with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) but as the procedure often draws blood from multiple pin pricks a patient can look as though Dracula has paid them a visit.
Dr Jemima Grant of Thrive Skin Clinic in Bulli said PRP has been used in medicine for a long time to help people recover from accident trauma, such as injecting it into damaged muscles or tendons to speed the healing process. Now it’s being used to “rejuvenate” the skin and induce collagen production.
It can also be used to even skin tone and reduce the appearance of acne scarring.
“This is really different [to Botox],” Dr Grant said. “Botox is a chemical we inject that paralyses a muscle and PRP is actually using your own body … to heal.”
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In a nut shell, Botox relaxes a muscle that causes a wrinkle and PRP will stimulate the body’s natural collagen to plump the area.
Ms Drabsch has previously tried Botox, regularly has microdermabrasion (a deep exfoliating treatment), and recently had her eyebrows cosmetically tattooed.
“I’m pretty open to trying different things,” she said, though admitted being a little nervous.
Her main concerns were crows feet wrinkles around the eyes and a few scars (including one she acquired at age four during an altercation with a bird bath).
After going through a medical questionnaire with Dr Grant (some people may not be suitable for the treatment), Ms Drabsch had an anaesthetic gel applied to her face to numb the area. The gel is similar to what dentists’ use and is washed off before the needling process begins. Then for the blood.
“I hate getting blood taken,” Ms Drabsch said. “I’m imagining it in my head. I can imagine the blood coming out into the needle.”
A few minutes later nurse Amanda Kupronow put the blood into a machine which separated the plasma, before using a skin needling pen to infuse it into the face. Dr Grant explained this “magic of the blood” as the yellow stuff you see when you have a scab.
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The infusing process took around 20 minutes and was far different to what Ms Drabsch was expecting.
“I thought it was going to be like a really slow process,” she said afterwards. “It wasn’t painful, it was just a weird sensation. It’s stinging a little bit … but it’s just sensitive.”
For pain she rated having her tattoos done at an eight out of 10, while she gave this procedure a five.
The following day Ms Drabsch noticed bruising around her eyes and a lot of redness like sunburn. After four days she said her crow’s feet appeared to be “smoothed out heaps”.
Dr Grant said the healthier a client was the quicker the healing time. That is, they eat well, drink lots of water, don’t smoke and don’t drink alcohol to excess. However some bruising and redness may be apparent.
She also recommended more than one session for better results.
The vampire facial costs $600 at Thrive, with discounts for bulk buys.
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