Well, Hi!

Taking a dip into the Beauty pool with today’s post. Obviously BurbNChic is fashion based, but I am a girl and I love me a good facial treatment.

I have recently teamed up with Dermatology Associates of La Grange to start a trial of different skincare treatments and to really further my knowledge, and now YOUR knowledge on skincare. In just one visit with Carli Immordino, an Esthetician from Dermatology Associates of La Grange, I have learned an abundance of information that I plan to word vomit onto you today!

Let’s first and foremost start with Carli Immordino. Whom I now turn to for anything skin related!

Before I give you Carli’s impressive background I must start with a disclaimer. I could genuinely sit and talk with her about skin related topics for hours on end. I guess it wouldn’t be much of a conversation because I know very little and she knows just about everything when it comes to skin, but she is one of the most down to earth Esthetician’s I have worked with. She was not forceful about what I SHOULD be doing, or discouraged about the amount of sun I have gotten in the past. She really focuses on how to better your skin and prevent in the future! Carli really is a wealth of knowledge! Find out for yourself below.

Carli Immordino, RN, BSN, LE

Carli joined Dermatology Associates of Lagrange in 2012. Carli became an RN in 2018, in addition to also being a licensed esthetician. Carli provides a variety of aesthetic procedures to assist her patients in achieving their skin goals, including Botox and injectable fillers, coolsculpting and laser procedures. She is passionate in addressing her patient’s skin care concerns through consultation and providing the appropriate treatment to achieve the desired outcome.

Now that we know Carli, let’s get into the BBL Treatment. Also known as, BroadBand Light Treatment.

Let me start by giving you a Spark Notes version of what this treatment does.

What is the BBL Treatment?

The light energy delivered by BBL will gently heat the upper layers of your skin. The heat absorbed by the targeted areas will simulate your skin cells to regenerate. This corrective process will restore your skin to its natural beauty, making it more clear, smooth and vibrant. Most importantly, it will make your skin appear more young looking!

When I initially sat down with Carli, I had expressed a strong dislike of the discoloration on my face. I have a very uneven skin tone, and sun spots, and I was looking to fix it. Without hesitation, Carli brought up the BBL Laser. So if you are someone who is consistently battling an uneven skin tone then this is your treatment! I also had multiple veins running throughout the creases of my nose and on my cheeks. Some of which I did not even know I had! Never fear though, Carli’s magic BBL Wand ZAPPED them away before I could even give them a name and an address. Kind of INSANE!

Treatment Day

On the day of the treatment I was sure to document for you guys so you could get the full experience. I started with a “Before” picture while I was at home and I quickly snapped an “After” picture while in Office, immediately following the treatment. As I’m sure protocol would suggest, Carli was quick to tell me that the treatment would most likely leave me with a red skin tone, but only for a short while. Everyone’s skin has different sensitivity, so she obviously had to give me the worst case scenario. I have sensitive skin, so I was ready to go into hiding after the treatment for at least the rest of the day! I had takeout ordered and a place on the couch reserved for the rest of the night!!

To my surprise, my skin’s reaction was close to NOTHING as far as redness goes. When I left the office, I looked as though I actually worked out for once, or that I got a little sun while Brunching on a Sunday. It was so minuscule, that I actually went home, slapped on some makeup and went out for Margarita’s!!

Let’s take a look at the before and after so you can see for yourself.

Before

After

See, barely any redness! To my relief. As I said, everyone is different so if you DO proceed with BBL Treatment, I would prepare for any type of redness reaction. Either way, Carli was confident that ANY redness would only remain for 2-4 hours at most. It is the best excuse to have a netflix night!

How did it feel?

The entire treatment I kept thinking to myself how I would describe the BBL Treatment, sensation. Here is what I came up with..

Take a curling wand. A Hot, fresh curling wand.. and BARELY tap it on your face. HAHAH!! Instant heat, hot heat and then gone. It just feels like a really hot ZAP! I will admit, around the nose, eye area it was SUPER sensitive. Of course this was where most of my little veins were so we really targeted that area. Carli was helpful in counting back from 3,2,1, before she would zap in those areas!

The coolest part, was the part I was unable to see. I spoke on the baby veins I had all around my nose and some on my cheeks! With my sister being in the room, Carli was excited to show how instantly this device works. After zapping the veins, it would burst them and they would disappear! My sister Steph said it was the craziest thing to see. Obviously under ultrasound gel and goggles, I just had to take her word for it.

The sensation is super manageable. With a thick layer or ultrasound jelly and no numbing cream prior, I was completely comfortable during the entire process.

What’s Next?

As for post-treatment review.. I was absolutely obsessed. Immediately following the BBL Treatment, I had these little freckly sunspots that were now on the surface of my skin. Carli had mentioned these were sunspots that were super deep in my layers of skin that had just not made it to the surface yet. Not only did the BBL Treatment bring them to the surface, but they would eventually flake off like dead skin within the course of the next 3 days. “Peppering” was the word she used because they basically looked like someone sprinkled Pepper on my skin. CRAZY!!! I could not believe how many sunspots I had… or was going to have!

About two days later I thoroughly exfoliated my skin and the freckly specks were gone. I could not believe it! Technology man.

Like most things I have noticed, Carli recommended this treatment a couple times a year to thoroughly keep up with improvement in the skin. We also chatted Products and questions about skin in general.

Products.

After BBL Treatment, Carli had given me a sample bag of SkinMedica products!

So far I am loving the brand. Everything feels very gentle on my skin, but productive. Sometimes I feel like I have to borderline scrub off my skin to get a result and I don’t feel the need with these products. They are very effective.

Here’s what’s in my Swag Bag:

My favorite product currently from the ones above, is the Exfoliating Cleanser. It leaves the skin feeling super clean and smooth. I am an exfoliating queen, so I love trying new ones all the time!

Last But Not least…

If you are following me on Social Media, you know that I opened it up to you guys to ask Carli Immordino any questions that you wanted to ask in regards to skincare. Well let me tell you, she really delivered!

Let’s See what Carli had to say:

1. What is the best skincare routine for oily skin?

The best skincare for any type of skin is specific to that particular person skin type. Some people with oily skin have problems with acne while others don’t. In general, I always recommend a foaming or gel cleanser as your go-to but incorporating a wash once a day or once every other day that has salicylic acid or glycolic acid. I also recommend a retinol product at night, typically the retinols over the counter are not strong enough to be therapeutic so I recommend buying from a medical office.

One thing you definitely should not skip on if you have oily skin is moisturizer. It is a common belief that you do not need to moisturize if you have oily skin but oily and hydrated skin are different. If you do not moisturize your skin properly, your body makes more oil to try to compensate for the lack of moisture.

2. What is the cause of adult acne, and what is the best way to get rid of it?

There are several reasons why an adult would start to get acne. I recommend going to see your dermatologist. There are many medications specific to adult acne that could be prescribed.

3. What brand is best for drugstore skincare? (Cleanser specifically)

I highly recommend CeraVe foaming cleanser. This cleanser is nice because it works for both oily, acne-prone skin and dry skin.

The moisturizer that I absolutely love over the counter is Neutrogena hydro boost. There is one for dry skin called “gel cream” and one for oily skin called “water gel.” These incorporate hyaluronic acid which is a super hydrator. One molecule of hyaluronic acid holds 1000 molecules of water.

In general, I think moisturizers and cleansers do not require you to splurge (unless someone has super dry skin or super oily skin). I think you should splurge more on serums, like antioxidant serums.

4. If there was one product you should use EVERYDAY for your skin, for the rest of your life, what should it be?

Hands down, sunblock! SPF 30+ and when outside reapply every 90 minutes to 2 hours.

5. In your 20’s what is one anti-aging treatment you should be getting/using?

I think it requires both at home care and in office. Many people in their

20s do not think it is neccesary to start anti-aging but in reality it is prime time to start anti aging.

At home, I recommend a retinol product to increase cellular turnover and an antioxidant serum. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals. Free radicals cause DNA damage which eventually leads to skin abnormalities that we do not like visually but also lead to skin cancer.

In office, I recommend the BBL two times a year because it is evidence- based that doing the BBL twice a year actually corrects the DNA damage done in the past.

Don’t You want to go wash your face and do a mask? Ha! I really love talking about treatments and products I have realized. There is so much out there these days that I am instantly intrigued when I hear of a new treatment!

If you are looking to amp it up with your skin, now is the time. If I have learned one major thing from Carli throughout this process, it is that it is NEVER too early to start taking preventative measures. We have a nice lineup of things coming your way! I have learned so many things that I should already be doing in my 20’s, for when I am in my 50-60’s that I feel like I need to share it all with you guys!

Head on over to my Instagram TV (IGTV) to see a full “Next Day Recap” from my BBL Treatment!

(Here’s a clip)

If you are now considering this treatment, shout out both BurbNChic and Carli Immordino (IG- chicagodermcare) on Instagram and let us know how much you loved it! I promise, you WILL Love it!

Interested in what Carli and I have in store next?