Mulberry House Clinic was the subject of this article in the local "R Magazine" in February 2006.

THE DILEMMAS OF A BEAUTY THERAPIST
 

Written by Lyn Keable, Beauty Therapist

Due to the profession I am in, I am occasionally asked by my clients what I think of BOTOX®, Laser treatment, facial peels, fillers etc. I confessed that I did not have a great deal of knowledge in these areas as my business is the essential maintenance, if you like, of ladies who like to take care of themselves, i.e. facials, waxing, manicures, pedicures etc., not the mega bucks kind of treatments reserved for the very well off! When you talk of BOTOX® and the like, on conjures up an image of a Hollywood star who is pasts it but desperately trying to hang on to her youth with a permanently surprised look on her face, or the fillers which bring back memories of poor Leslie Ash who had a severe allergic reaction when getting her lips plumped up resulting in the unfortunate nickname of Trout Lips! However I have always believed that looking after yourself is essential and if you can afford these specialist treatments then go for it but always do your research first!

So, with my lack of knowledge playing on my mind, I decided to go on an "educational" to Mulberry House, which happens to be around the corner from my salon, and made an appointment with Dr John Tanqueray. The clinic is in the front room of Dr Tanqueray beautiful Georgian house, so not at all clinical as you might imagine, and the waiting room is a comfortably furnished sitting room with open fire, also at the front of the house. There is a relaxed homely atmosphere and I was made to feel welcome by John's wife, Liz, who is an SRN and does some of the treatments also. Coffee was offered and I was introduced to John who offered me a seat in his treatment room so that we could chat. I asked him to go through all of his treatments with me, some of which I had never heard of. He was happy to explain in detail, instilling confidence and assuring me I would not end up like Michael Jackson should I decide to go ahead! Wait a minute! After only fifteen minutes of my educational visit I was booking an appointment for my first BOTOX® session! I have to wear my hair off my face for work and I have always been self-conscious of my high forehead which I thought seriously resembled corrugated iron, or even one of those dogs that never grow into their face! The BOTOX® would relax or numb the frontalis muscle which covers the forehead and is responsible for lifting the eyebrows, thus causing the horizontal lines. Fantastic - yes please, book me in for a nice smooth forehead with no lines, And shall I also get my crow's feet done as well?, or laughter lines as my mum calls them, you know, those tell-tale lines at the sides of my eyes which let the world know that I'm not twenty-one any more. So, John booked me in for my first session for the following week.

I came away from Mulberry House armed with knowledge and a handful of brochures for bedtime reading about what we had discussed. Oh my goodness! I can't believe I have booked in for BOTOX®. What will my husband say? Well, I won't tell him, I'll just have to keep a long fringe so he won't notice. Oh God, what if I end up looking like Joan Rivers? Well, they say that curiosity killed the cat! I've still got a week to cancel, don't panic. Now get a grip! You have every confidence in Dr Tanqueray otherwise you wouldn't have booked it! I kept telling myself. So keeping my secret appointment under my hat, the week flew by and suddenly I was clanging the old door bell at Chez Tanqueray.

I received about eight injections in my forehead at various points and three on each outer eye. The needle is so fine that it felt like tiny pin pricks, although the sides of the eyes were more sensitive due to the delicate skin there. I was on the treatment couch for no more than five minutes when John said, "That's it, you're done!" There was no sensitivity and the only reaction was a few little spots which looked like tiny insect bites but they disappeared within an hour. So my secret still intact, my family were none the wiser as there were no visible changes that night. Every opportunity I would go into the bathroom and peer into the mirror looking for changes but nothing was going to happen before bed. There was no pain - I was expecting to be struck by lightning for interfering with nature and God's gift of what beauty I was born with. Ha Ha!! But the only thing I felt was a slight numbness not too dissimilar to an anaesthetic wearing off after a trip to the dentist! But this feeling was in my upper face as opposed to the jaw area!

I noticed the effect the next day. Already I could see a difference in the smoothness of the forehead. Hoorah! I was told by John that the effects would take up to two weeks and already my forehead was looking less like the Pug and more like a Spaniel, except my eyes aren't so brown! Within a week my forehead was totally without a single line and there were no crow's feet around my eyes. One of my concerns was ending up with a frozen look which would take away the ability of the face to "express" itself. But the muscle between the eyebrows, which draws them together as in frowning, still had free movement and so the expression lines remained and therefore the face still had character. Phew!

My check-up appointment was made for two weeks later to see how the BOTOX® had reacted and to establish customer satisfaction. My clients and friends occasionally commented on how well I looked. They used the word "radiant" and asked whether I'd changed my make-up. I had to confess to my husband and he was amazed that I'd taken such a "risk" but was seriously impressed at the result! I was only too happy to tell them that I'd joined the Hollywood elite and there was nothing to fear from medical aesthetics, providing you go to a reputable company such as Mulberry House! I was relieved that it wasn't so obvious that I'd had something done, but delighted that some people noticed I was looking "fresh". Is that the correct word to be using at my age?! John advised me that the effects of BOTOX® last approximately 3 months when it would be necessary to top it up. Eventually the effect of each session would last longer due to the lines not being created and therefore repairing themselves over a period of time.

So, now 100 per cent confident in Dr Tanqueray, the next thing we discussed was the effects of sun damage. Having never had a spot in my life and enjoying peaches and cream skin as a youth, I was now paying the price for having fine dry skin. Dry skin lacks oils, hence no zits. But guess what. It ages quicker and doesn't tan so well as our oily friends. I have always had freckles on my clear skin which my mum said were a sign of beauty. Ha! Not so. They are a sign of sun damage, and as I've got older the freckles have got bigger and joined together, after years in my youth of sunbathing, and become brown pigmentation or "sun damage". I have also quite high colour which is a sign of sensitive skin, and under the magnifying lamp little broken capillaries (or red thread vines) are apparent due to weather damage and wear and tear! Help! John suggested Laser treatment which is for enhanced skin rejuvenation and colour correction. He recommended a course of six treatments with about a month in between each one.

I arrived for my first Laser session straight from work and was asked to remove my make-up and apply a local anaesthetic gel to my face in order to lessen any sensitivity! Already I was nervous! After fifteen minutes John called me in to begin the treatment on his couch. We both had to wear protective goggles due to the intense light therapy, hence the name! Another gel was applied to my face and then a probe was slowly run all over my face backwards and forwards, Depending on the sensitivity was the intensity of treatment. John checked with me all the time to see whether I was comfortable. It wasn't the most relaxing facial I've experienced and was like a mild pins and needles over the skin. It felt cool, (I had imagined it to be the opposite) but scratchy. He went over my whole face three or four times, each time zapping pigmentation, brown spots and broken veins. The last lap reducing fine lines and wrinkles - yes please - turn it up! Directly after treatment my cheeks were quite red, but John assured me it was only temporary and I could apply make-up if I needed to go out or anything. There was no sensitivity and by the time I went to bed, about five hours later, the redness had completely gone. After two or three treatments I have noticed the evenness of my complexion, the thread veins have gone and my cheeks don't flush so readily. The colour is definitely corrected and I am often asked what foundation I use! Of course, I am happy to recommend the Mulberry House Clinic. In out type of business, ninety per cent is word of mouth.

In today's society with our obsession with the media, the pressure has never been greater to maintain our youthfulness. Don't look at it as vanity, look at it as an investment! Now after more than three months it is time for my next BOTOX® treatament. The effects have worn off so gradually rthat I've hardly noticed the lines coming back. But I can go back to Mulberry House with confidence, after all, I'm going to be a Grandma in July so needs must….!

Lyn Keable, Beauty Therapist, Manny's, High Street, Hardingstone, Northampton

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