Ahhhhhh injectables. To say I don’t have a love-hate relationship with them would be lying. On the one hand, they are the fountain of youth in a little syringe. If used cautiously and responsibly they can take 20 years easily off one’s face. If used irresponsibly, one could end up with facial malformations and irregularities, lumps, and bumps. For the past ten years or so, smug little 27 years old have been lining up at dermatologists and plastic surgeons to use Botox and Dysport to prevent the wrinkle from ever even forming. Botox is a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria clostridium botulinum and is a poison secreted by a bacterium. This neurotoxin freezes and relaxes the muscle. There are plenty of FDA approved uses for Botox, including migraines, neck spasms, excessive sweating, and hyperhidrosis.
On this Wednesday I made my appointment with a plastic surgeon I know well, named Dr. Ari Hoschander. His office is in Manhasset, NY.
I was greeted by friendly, welcoming staff on arrival. I waited in the waiting room and was quickly taken back. Dr. Hoschander asked me whether I have had Botox before and which areas. He asked me which areas I wanted to have done today, and I said all three of the most common areas, including forehead, glabellar and crows’ feet. The injections were practically painless, but your skin does make a weird sound when injected because the liquid goes into the subcutaneous layer of skin. The forehead hurt the least followed by the glabellar and then the crow’s feet, which was a little weird to have something injected so close to my eyes. After each injection site, he used a vibrating tool to help spread the liquid quickly to avoid the Botox accumulating in any particular area. I had no bleeding afterward and felt physically healthy and drove from the office right to work. About an hour after the injection I did notice a small hard bump on the rightside of my forehead which initially concerned me, but I reached out to Dr. Hoschander who got right back to me and told me it was normal and it might bruise a bit which it did not. The average price of botox in the NYC area ranges from 10-20 dollars per unit or 250-500 dollars per treatment area. I would suggest using a reputable doctor or practitioner either in a plastic surgery office or a dermatologist. The above pictures are top pre botox, left three days post and right five days post. The effects of botox are not immediate and usually, take between 3-7 days to see any impact. It is also not permanent and wears off anywhere from 2-4 months after the injections. The experience at KH plastic surgery overall was quick, easy, and painless, and I would return in the future for this or other treatments.
Beauty Fluff, Port Washington ,NY – Lash lift and tint
Full disclosure, I have been going to Beauty fluff for almost 5 years. We are so blessed as a small community to have such a fantastic place in our town. Yennie, the owner, couldn’t be more helpful and she is the most generous business owner I know. I can make appointments via text, often giving them a day notice, and they are beyond accommodating. This week along with my European facial, which was done by Saundra and was terrific; I also had a lash lift and tint. If there are other moms out there like me, my morning routine consists of this: Yoga pants, t-shirt, brush teeth, and hair up in a messy bun. When you have three kids who need constant attention, there is no time for hair, makeup, or much else. So when I heard they offered this, I was intrigued. First of all, its semi permeant, which means it lasts 2-3 months. Second of all it does not damage your eyelashes, which was very important for me as I have heard horror stories about lash extensions, and the best part is it took 45 minutes, was pain free and for the next two months I will wake up every day with beautifully curled lashes that look like I have mascara on.
The technician starts by washing your eyelids and lashes. Then she applies a silicone mold on the eyelid. The technician separates and extends your lashes over the silicone mold. She then spreads on the perm solution. The perm solution did smell kinda funny like chemicals. After that, the setting solution is applied, which burned slightly as well. To be honest, it feels somewhat weird having your eyes closed and heavy for close to 45 minutes. If you were a person who does not like anyone touching your eye, then this treatment might not be for you. The lash lift is also used in conjunction with a lash tint which I chose the dark blue because the technician said it would go the best with my eye color. Overall the treatment was almost pain-free, quick, and comfortable. The lash lift and tint cost $125 for the treatment and as I mentioned above can be done in 45 minutes. See above for my before, during, and after pictures and head over to Beauty Fluff for this and other treatments.
Know Yoga Know Bliss Manhasset, NY
Let’s talk about cortisol, yoga, and adrenal fatigue. When I was diagnosed with Lyme disease three years ago, I could barely get out of bed, let alone make it to the gym for a hard workout. Through study, it became apparent that along with my Lyme disease, I had severe adrenal fatigue from overuse of stress hormones in my body, the main one being cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone secreted in your body mainly when you are in fight or flight mode. Being in the health field and having to work with sick children with the possibility of performing CPR at any given moment, I was pretty much in a constant state of fight or flight. Having small children around also increases your cortisol level because you are always on a high level of alert. There are numerous ways to decrease your cortisol. Those include laughing, relaxation, and one of my favorites is yoga.
Being a mom of three kids’ convenience for me always comes first, along with trying to pinch pennies. I am all over the place for workouts. Like most moms, I know I don’t have one gym I go to, but many little boutique type places that make up 3-5 workouts per week. Trying to fit in all kinds of exercise including, weights, cardio, yoga, pilates can be tight on convenience and your wallet. So when I heard about this yoga studio opening up in Manhasset on Plandome road, I was intrigued. It looked small and inviting, and when I visited the website, sign up was pretty seamless. The first class I took was on a Thursday morning, and I was lucky to get the owner of the studio as the teacher, and his name was Mark. Upon arrival, I was quickly able to park in the back as there is a rear door and a front door. I was running a little late to the class, and Mark promptly introduced himself and got me set up. He was warm and friendly and welcoming. The class was excellent, and Mark is hilarious and not pretentious or showy like some yoga instructors can be. The place is immaculate and clean, and all the equipment is neatly put away in a dresser at the front. I grabbed a beautiful mat, two blocks made of some corkboard material and a blanket. The class was listed as align and flow, and the class was fast-moving, easy to follow, and I felt great, relaxed, and stretched out afterward. The class is 20 dollars, and I asked Mark if I always needed to sign in online or if I could show up that morning 20 dollars in hand. Mark replied yes and seemed to understand that sometimes it’s hard to sign up ahead of time or I forget. Often it’s just a game-time decision. I have been going for the last 2 Thursdays since the first class and have loved the two different teachers I have gotten also. I am so glad I found this little place just 15 minutes from Port Washington that made me feel welcome and right at home from the minute I walked in the door. Cheers to decreased cortisol, decreased body fat, and increased wellness and relaxation.
Cleansing Concepts: Colon cleanse ( garden city location)
One of the things that I felt truly helped me get back to health was coffee enemas. I know, I know it sounds super gross,but I promise you this helped clean my liver tremendously. It also took a large amount of work to make the coffee enema and would use up 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon. So I started to look around my area to have a colon cleanse. To be honest, I wanted somewhere close but not too close, and I wanted somewhere not that intimate so that I would get lost in the crowd. I also heard that some places will have someone in the room for you to help massage your belly and help stimulated more cleansing and detoxing, but I did not want that either. So when a friend recommended cleansing concepts and I looked it up, it met all the requirements. So I did what any smart person would do when you want to try a new place out, and I got a Groupon. The Groupon was 3 sessions for 85 dollars. When I called to make the appointment, I was able to get one within 2 weeks. They quickly sent me an email with instructions to prepare for my first cleanse, what to wear, what to expect, and what to bring.
On arrival, I was greeted by a friendly face at the front desk, who quickly brought me back to my room. In the room, there is a cleansing machine bed, a toilet, and a sink. Everything is set up on the cleansing bed before you arrive, including a gown, pads, lubricant, and plastic tube. After you get yourself undressed and uncomfortably situated on the bed you self insert the tube which is about an inch wide. Since I had already done the coffee enemas, I had no problems with the insertion. Then after you are all settled, you ring a button, and the assistant comes back into the room, and she starts the machine. The first time I did this, the water did not flow as there was a kink in the back end of the device.
I was like “this is so easy” until I realized that nothing was actually happening. So I called the woman back in, and she did something to the tube in the back, and then the water started flowing in. At first, it was okay, but after about 4 minutes it became extremely uncomfortable. You begin to cramp and nothing, nothing can take away or distract you from the feeling. The pain is close to that of labor pains, which makes sense because it is cramping. I held the fluid for as long as I could and tried to use my hands to massage my stomach to dislodge any stool stuck in my intestine. I went through the same process maybe 4-5 times, but due to the intense cramping, I was very relieved when my 45 minutes were up. The woman came in and shut off the machine. You awkwardly get up and make your way over to the toilet which you are super glad is in the room. I sat there for another 10-15 minutes. I cleaned myself up, got dressed again, and made my way out to the desk. At the counter, you are handed a cup with a probiotic in it and a cup of water. I left and drove the 20 minutes back to my house. I again needed to use the bathroom when I got home.
I showered when I got home, and pretty much stayed home as much as I could with three kids for the rest of the day. I would keep the rest of the day open without scheduling any exercise or workouts. I was also mildly crampy for the first day as well, and despite what I had heard about my stomach being flat after a colonic I actually felt a little bloated, likely due to the excess swelling and fluid. While I did not notice any amazing health benefits right away, I did about 3 more at the same facility after this, and I felt that this also contributed to my overall wellness and return to health after my lyme disease. It did not, by any means, help me to lose weight, and I did not lose any weight in the days after. I did find the facility clean, well managed, and easy to book appointments. I would, and did return and have used the facility for other treatments including an infrared sauna and ionic foot detox, both of which I will chronicle in future blogs.
Baltic sea mudwrap at waters edge resort spa.
Most often, when my husband and I go away or when I go away, my favorite place to visit in most hotels and resorts is the spa. Lover of all things poke, prod, scrub, massage, and fluff. One thing I have never done at any spa was a body wrap. I had actually tried to do something similar at a resort in Las Vegas this spring but was not able to have any treatments done due to falling asleep outside the day before my treatment and having a nasty sunburn on my body. So this time, I was determined to stay away from the sun and actually complete my wrap mission. The spa is located in the main building of the resort up a set of stairs tucked away behind the main lobby. At the top of the stairs is a check-in desk where I was immediately greeted by a friendly receptionist. I was quickly escorted back to the female locker room where I was given a locker with a robe and slippers. I was encouraged to go to the relaxation/ waiting room across the hall and have some refreshments. Upon entering the waiting room, my technician was already waiting for me to take me back for my treatment. As I walked into the treatment room, I noted a massage table with a tin foil looking wrap on it and a shower. The room smelled nice and was lit by candlelight. I was instructed to lay flat on my back and was asked if I wanted the treatment on my stomach to which I replied yes. The treatment started with a light exfoliation to my entire body. It was followed by an application of the mud which was warm, to my legs, arms, back, and stomach. I was then wrapped in the foil looking thing and covered with multiple blankets. After I was wrapped, she proceeded to massage my feet and my neck. I expected to sweat a lot in the wrap but actually didn’t. Being in the cover with the mud felt kind of icky and weird but calming none the less. After about 30 minutes, I was instructed to shower and get the mud entirely off my body, which came off quickly. I then played down again on a clean massage table still dripping wet. She then toweled me off and applied and massaged in a lotion to all the body parts she missed before while the wrap the on. After the cream was applied, I was told the treatment was over. The therapy in total lasted about an hour and 15 minutes while initially I was told it would last an hour and a half. They applied a gratuity to the treatment, and the total with 18% gratuity was 190 dollars.
While the wrap was relaxing, I didn’t notice any changes in terms of weight loss. My skin was softer than usual, but that was quickly lost showering after the treatment. I was impressed with the therapist as she took great pride in keeping me modest and covering me up throughout the application. The next day I did notice some detoxing effects, including general malaise and body aches. Both of which I think is attributed to the wrap but may just be because I was run down from the weekend. Overall the experience was pleasant and relaxing, but I likely would not pay that amount of money for something with little lasting benefits. Next time I will just stick to my massages.
Lean Bean weight loss supplement.
As a 36-year-old mother of 3, I am always looking for ways to lose weight quickly. I have been working out since I was 15 years old, workout at least five days a week and eat pretty healthy, including no gluten and no dairy. So when a little over a month ago in one late-night research session, I came across an article about female fat burners. After further research, I decided to impulsively order two different kinds of them and try them each for 1 month per supplement without any drastic changes to my diet. Lean bean was first since it arrived first. The directions are 1 capsule 4 times per day with a meal or snack. I decided to start low and go slow ( something I learned in nursing school way back when 🙂 ) To be honest I was a little worried about the amount of caffeine in every capsule, and if you know me, you know this girl loves her sleep.
For the first two or three days, I could feel a little jolt about 15-20 minutes after taking a pill, but after that, the side effects were minimal at most. I still am slightly nervous about the caffeine in the capsules, so I take all of them by 4pm. The other side effect I noticed for the first 1-2 days was an itchy throat which also dissipated from which I attribute to the raspberry ketones. I thought I might have an issue remembering to take the pills 4x per day, but to be honest, I have not had a problem and have taken them pretty much consistently. Okay now for the good stuff, Did it work? To be honest, I have not felt that much different. Maybe a little less hungry, especially when taken first thing in the morning. I usually wake up, take a pill, then get a workout in, and then have my first meal. Are my clothes looser? Definitely not. Do I feel like I lost weight? Not really. Do I feel more defined or that I lost fat? Nah. Would I pay 59 Dollars for another month’s supply? Maybe. So needless to say I am excited to try hourglass next month! Stay tuned for the review.
Prive’ Swiss westbrook conneticut.
This past weekend my husband and I went on a weekend getaway to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. Whenever I travel, I love to experience new types of exercise. I googled places close by to our resort. The water’s edge and happened to find this place practically on the property. The class I thought I signed up for was the standard barefoot bands class, but I signed up for the wrong location on the app as they have two locations, one in Westbrook and one in Madison. When I arrived about 15 minutes early and told the front desk which class I was there for they were super friendly and gave me the last spot in a similar class being held at this location which was step and bands. The facility was beautiful and clean. After checking in, they showed me the lockers, the infrared saunas, regular saunas, shower and large gym area with specialized equipment including treadmills and Peloton bikes. In the small studio where my class was being held, I met my instructor for the hour Christine, who was patient with me while I set up my equipment. The class was broken into two parts one for step on a platform, and the second half was with the bands. The step part was easy to follow for me, who has not done a step class in more than 5 years. The bands were akin to resistance bands lining the ceiling which is pulled down by a large metal instrument. I got my heart rate up for the first part of the class via the step and then for the second half was able to focus on core, resistance training, and strength. The class seemed very family-like, and by the end of the class, the instructor was calling me Am which I loved. I wish I had more time to use the other facilities, including the infrared sauna which I have used before and is really cool and the regular sauna. I would totally revisit this gym and loved the class I took there.
All about me
My name is Amy, and I live in Long Island, New York. I have three children and a great husband. I am passionate about many things, including God, my job ( pediatric nurse practitioner), health and fitness, and beauty products. Three years ago, I became sick for 8 months, and no one could tell me what was wrong with me. I eventually was diagnosed with Lyme disease through a blood test. Conventional medicine only got me 80% of the way back to health, so I began an intense journey through unconventional medicine to get healthy. Over the past three years, I have tried hundreds of products and treatments to get me back to my former self. I am about 98% back to healthy. I also enjoy all things fitness and diet and will try anything to lose five pounds :). I hope you enjoy my writings and musings on all things health, fitness, and beauty.
A journey towards health, wellness and beauty 