Monthly Archives: January 2017

Need a refresher?

Have you ever felt so tired you’re not even tired anymore? As if your body readjusted to the level of exhaustion you are currently at to help you survive? All you Moms out there know what I’m talking about. I have felt some degree of that this past week. My one year old spent the week with the flu. I spent my nights rocking her, jiggling her, medicating her, laying on the couch with her, laying by her crib and any other activity I could think of other than sleeping. I kept reminding myself it was harder for her than me but as I walked past a mirror on my way to bed the reflection revealed puke in my hair, mismatch pajama set and make-up smeared over half my face and I couldn’t even get the energy to go brush my teeth. I knew I needed to refresh my skin and put some life back into it before I went to see patients the next morning. Even though I firmly believe in a good skincare regimen taking months to show visible results there are tips and tricks for “faking good skin” on the fly.  So here are some tricks I use to fake it until I make it in the skin department.

  1. Use a mist. Hydrated skin is happy skin. Honestly, this week my skin care products didn’t get a lot of love. But every morning before and after applying make-up I got that dewy look I love with a little mist. Takes one second. My favorite luxury hydration spray is Pommist by Jane Iredale. It smells like pomegranate and has the perfect amount of mist distribution with each spray. My favorite drug store most is Evian. You can get it at the dollar store, it’s straight up mineral water and it does the trick!
  2. Use extra glow. When I feel drab and need a pick-me-up I use extra highlighter and less pressed powder. Try the Jane Iredale highlighting pencil in white/pink. One side is a shimmering white and the other side pink. I highlight and blush with one pencil making it a quick and easy option to add color and glow for those days you need to look energized but don’t actually have the energy. The formula is so easy to blend!
  3. Botox for brow lift and opening the eyes. Never look tired with Botox. Did you know Botox can lift the brows? I have Botox injected around my eyes to give my eyelids an open brightness more than just for crows feet lines.
  4. TNS lip plump system. When you are tired and not caring for your skin like you usually do it’s the lips that often suffer first. Dry, cracking lips are not cool. The TNS lip plump system has growth factor that hydrates and helps with lines. The system gave my lips color, fullness and life this week!
  5. HA5 for immediate rejuvenation. HA5 is a great trick for eye pick me up throughout the day. Get your hands wet and then put a very small amount of HA5 under each eye. The HA5 will pull the water into your skin giving a tighter skin appearance. I did this at lunch everyday and it almost immediately woke up my skin making me appear less tired then I was feeling.

We have so many great tips and tricks at Johnson Dermatology. If you want to learn more of our skin secrets then I highly recommend a free consult with Bridgett or Dani about everything we have to offer!

“A strong woman is one who is able to smile in the morning like she wasn’t crying last night”

Loving life, Nina

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My Falsies Experience

I have a shameful new YouTube beauty addiction. I love watching all the beauty videos about make-up and beauty tips. I started watching different colleagues doing injections and such and then I met the beauty youtubers community and now I feel like we are friends. Almost every eye tutorial ends in putting on false lashes. In my opinion, I don’t need falsies because my Latisse has my lashes thicker, darker and longer anyways. But for the sake of argument I had never worn falsies and thought I should give it a try before I knock it or think my lashes are too good for falsies.

Initially I feared trying them for multiple reasons.

  1. What if I had an allergy to the glue and my lids swelled shut?
  2. I wear contacts. What if my eyes watered and burned all day from the glue?
  3. What if I am talking to a patient and one pops half way off and I look like a fool?
  4. What if the glue pulls all my great Latisse lashes right off?

But for the sake of research I proceeded.

The first step was applying lashes. I must say on you tube videos it looks pretty easy. Quite the opposite. I couldn’t get my fingers close enough to the lash line and I glued my false lashes to my real lashes at first try. Then, when I did get them on my team member had to adjust them for me. It was definitely much harder than it looks and I would say it would add at least 5 minutes to any morning routine.

Next step, simply wear them. Wasn’t so simple. At the beginning of the day I wanted to claw them off. I could see them, which was distracting. They felt like they were pulling at my lid-like I put a sticker over my eyelids. I must admit as the day went on I got used to the feeling and they felt more comfortable. One annoyance was the length of the false lashes was causing my blinking to grab my hair, pulling it into my face. At one point in the middle of the day one false lash came loose from the inner corner of my eye and I had to stop and reapply. This was more than likely a user error complication.

Last step: removal. Honestly, I couldn’t wait until I got home. As I drove to pick up my girls from daycare I grabbed those suckers and just pulled them off. I don’t recommend this technique because it was slightly painful but mainly it just felt good to get them off. If you’re a woman than you could relate this feeling to the feeling when you get to pull your underwire off at the end of the day, ahhhhh {insert elongated exhale}.

I think there are some pros and cons to false eyelashes. For me I prefer to stick with Latisse but here are my list of pros and cons.

Pros

  1. Dramatic look. You will never get that exaggerated length and fullness with Latisse. It’s like glitter eyeshadow. It’s not natural appearing at all but it still can be pretty for the right occasion.
  2. One time experience. If you only want longer, thicker, darker lashes for one event and don’t want a big investment than you could do this for $10.

Cons

  1. Slightly uncomfortable.
  2. Can cause irritation, rashes, dryness, swelling.
  3. If you want longer, thicker, darker lashes daily falsies are more expensive than latisse.
  4. False lashes are less natural. People always comment on my Latisse lashes by saying “your lashes are beautiful”. People commented more often on the falsies but it was always “are your lashes real?”. Not the attention I was necessarily looking to attract.
  5. Time consuming to apply.

I think to sum it up it’s really a personal decision. I love Latisse because it is a more cost effective, natural, daily look. It’s easy to apply two times/week to maintain. Maybe takes 60 seconds of my entire week. I also think that false eyelashes blend more naturally and appear more natural when used with Latisse lashes. If you don’t follow Johnson Dermatology on snapchat and Instagram you missed the live stream of my day with falsies. Don’t miss my next personal experiment and go there now @johnsondermatology on Instagram and jdermatology snapcode on snapchat! See you there!

Remember the eyes are the windows to the soul and the eyelids are the window treatment you see on that window. Need fresh curtains? Call JD this week to see if you are a good candidate for Latisse or our other eyelid treatments! 479-649-3376 See you there!!!

xoxo, Nina

New Year, New Us, New Best

Uggghhh you guys! I literally was about to post my blog with New Years resolutions and had an epitome and was like nope- change of plans! Just wrote this post on the fly from my heart. My very first blog post was four years ago today. I love the New Year holiday. I enjoy reflecting on the past year and thinking about what the next year will hold. How I will change, what goals I want to achieve, what I want to do more of and need to do less of- it’s fulfilling to me dreaming and brainstorming.

This year has been memorable at Johnson Dermatology. We turned 10 years old. We grew to over 50 employees with new devices(IPL, Velashape, UltraShape), new addition to the building, new fillers (Volbella is lit) and even a new dermatologist (YAY, Dr.Nelson).  We don’t plan to become stagnant in 2017. We plan to serve The River Valley and all their skin needs better and better every year. So I wanted to talk to you guys tonight about my goals at JD this Year.

2017 New Year, New Us, Best Us Resolutions

  1. Educate everyone about VelaShape and UltraShape. I consult and make anti aging recommendations for people everyday and totally forget to go below the head, neck and décolleté! Body contouring is an awesome liposuction alternative! I promise to teach you guys more about it this year!
  2. Build positivity around cosmetic procedures. Do you look down on women who color their hair or wear make-up? We all just want to feel pretty and fresh. This year I want to empower women to not feel vain for taking care of their skin. Encourage women to support each other instead of judging each other.
  3. 2017 is the year for men to join us in skincare. This means sunscreen, retinol, Botox, fillers and lasers! In 2017 I want your husband to come with you every three months for your Botox. Men shouldn’t feel feminine for wanting to care for their skin. Moisturizing is masculine might be my motto.
  4. Pale is the new tan needs to be cool. I want kids, teenagers and college students to put sunburns and cigarettes in the same category of carcinogens they don’t like. In 2017 I want to spread the word on fashionable sun protective clothing better. If you have any ways I could reach this goal let me know because this is hard for me.
  5. Increase skin cancer checks for the River Valley. Since Dr. Nelson has joined our team he has been going out into the community and offering skin cancer screenings at events. In 2017, I want to do my part to let people know they should get a full body skin check at least once per year! Get in your birthday suit and get to the clinic! Do you have an event coming up that you can help spread the word? E-mail Shelly@johnsondermatology.com and see if your event would be something Dr. Nelson could speak at or do exams! Or is it an event where I could bring the cosmetic team and do free consults? Let us know, in 2017 I want to get out there and get your skin needs met!

What else should we resolute this year? Lets make our skin healthier than ever this year. Lets build our relationship.  Do you have tips for JD? Do you have skin education needs I could meet for you on the blog? E-mail me! Comment! I love hearing from you guys! 2017 is a new year and I can’t wait to make it the best us, the new us!

Cheers, Nina