Thursday, August 8, 2013 :: Filorga Fillers @ DRx
I know many have been waiting for this blog post about aesthetic enhancements I have done on my face which resulted in a noticeably pronounced chin and fuller cheeks on my photos. I have been waiting for a month to pass before penning this post as it will take about 3-4 weeks for the fillers to settle in nicely and any swelling to go down. By waiting for the fillers to settle in nicely on my face, I will also be at a better position to advise readers who are considering such enhancements as well. I have to say, some of you really have sharp eyes! I have been receiving so many emails about whether I have work done on my face and where is it done at etc. And to all, I have replied with honesty and well, there is really nothing dramatic about having fillers under my own skin haha.
A little background about fillers if you are just like me who is unsure of the difference between filler and botox. I have learnt and understood alot about the difference between these 2 procedures from the experts and doctors at DRx whom I must say have been extremely patient in explaining the differences to me.
With help from DRx website, here’s an explanation to help you understand. As we age, the effects of gravity, sun exposure and years of facial muscle movement such as smiling, chewing and squinting etc begin to take toil on our face/skin. The underlying tissue that makes our skin looks youthful and plumped up (think Fann Wong’s cheeks) will begin to break down as time passes, leaving ugly laugh lines, crow’s feet and facial creases over the area where there are muscle movements in the face. I for example, am a victim of laugh lines at my nasolabial which I will further explain in this post.
How fillers play a partFillers help to fill in these ugly lines, creases and deep facial wrinkles but they are temporary as it will be absorbed into your body over time. With the help of fillers, you will get a smoother and youthful looking appearance as fillers get beneath your skin to plump up the creases and fill up the sunken areas on the face – in my case, it is used to plump up my sunken cheeks, fill up the deep laugh lines in my nasolybial and achieve a sharper chin.
What is the difference between botox and fillersOn botox, it is an entirely different matter as it consist of a muscle PARALYSIS agent which is used to decrease facial motion. Once you stop the facial motions, you reduce the muscle movements so folds such as laugh lines will not appear as the muscle has been frozen (which is why Michael Jackson only have 1 expression haha). In short, botox is used to decrease facial motion to help eliminate fine lines and wrinkles whereas fillers are used to enhance facial volume. I hope this clears the air! :)
How I choose my fillersThere are many fillers in the market and it is good to know what are the options available. For my fillers, I am using FILORGA dermal fillers. A little on the background of FILORGA. They are a French based company with more than 30 years experience in manufacturing aesthetic equipment and cosmetic products. I always believe in companies who have their own R&D department and not merely outsourcing the R&D to other companies. I went for Filorga fillers as it has the lowest protein content which will mean risks involving infection due to rejection of foreign particle (soft-tissue filler) will be greatly reduced. With the extensive R&D on the fillers, Filorga dermal fillers have high optimal viscosity which allows the doctor to mould the desired shape easily (reducing problems involving lumps*) and also giving a natural looking harmonious result. It is also the FIRST polyvalent cross-linked hyaluronic acid filler.
*I am not kidding about lumps as I have friends who have lumpy noses and bumps on the skin because of the fillers used. It was also one of the concern I raised to Dr David who assured me I will be 100% satisfied with his injection technique and the use of Filorga fillers.
*
This is my morning face without makeup haha. Actually, this is my before look.The first step was to numb the areas to be worked on with local anaesthetic to cut down on any pain, bruising and swelling. Within 30 minutes, I could no longer feel my face.
At the consultation with Dr David one week before the procedure, he actually told me honestly that there is nothing much to work on my face. How glad I am to hear that haha! After further consultation in understanding my concerns, he recommended me the following:
1) To go for fillers at my cheeks as they look pretty sunken
2) To go for fillers at my laugh lines at my nasolybial as they are very deep. This part of my skin creases and fold inwards everytime I smile. Through time, it resulted in deep lines which are otherwise known as “puppet line”. It was only after Dr David pointed out then I realized…even as I am not smiling, there were these ugly puppet lines on my face :(
3) To go for a longer chin as the proportion of my forehead and my chin is not perfect. Dr David advised a slightly sharper (thus longer) chin will be more proportionate. Of course I can’t say no to this! I have a problem whenever my weight increases - it does not go to my boobs but it goes directly to my chin making it look like fat U-shaped chin from hell. My friends have poked fun relentlessly at my face looking like a small fishball whenever there is a weight gain haha.
Consultation aside, Dr David has got to be the most meticulous male doctor I have come across. Learnt so much about the proportions of the face and the uses of fillers from him. I feel that other than choosing the right filler, the physician or doctor who will be injecting the fillers is important as well. I am glad that Dr David is extremely attentive to the smallest detail and in fact, even before I voice out my concerns, he was the one who first pointed out the above 3 areas to work on my face. I am pretty easy going haha so I went along with implicit trust in Dr David! :)
With confidence in DRx thanks to Dr David, I have embarked on a skincare journey with DRx which I will blog about in the next few posts. Stay tuned as the products are miraculous on both my combination skin and John’s sensitive acne prone skin.
My chin was the first to be worked on. The photo on the left shows the injection and the second photo is when Dr David moulded the chin into the desired shape.
I was battered and exhausted just after the first injection. Haha im just kidding. Dr David lamented my threshold for pain is ridiculously low. In fact he said I was the only customer he had who said the procedure is painful oops. I do have a friend who had fillers done on her nose and cheeks, and she actually did it WITHOUT the local anaesthetic (numbing cream). She said it was completely bearable. So maybe my threshold for pain is really low haha.
Next up was injection on my nasolybial. This is the MOST painful in my opinion.
But thinking back now, I would do it all over again for beauty. No problem at all hahaha.
With my chin and nasolybial done.
The last to be worked on was the cheeks. After the first 2 procedures at my chin and nasolybial, I genuinely thought the cheeks would be the most painful and I was anticipating the pain but to my pleasant surprise, I felt no pain during the procedure on my cheeks! It was such a relief.
With Dr David. I am so thankful I always get to work with attentive and extremely patient people just like Dr David himself :*) Have been recommending my friends to go look for Dr David as well because he was so professional and knowledgeable throughout the entire procedure.
With fellow bloggers Donna and Joanna and the Filorga representative who took time to explain the type of fillers going into our face :) Thank you for being so informative.
The downtime is zero as you can see. I applied makeup after the procedure and headed to the salon because John wanted to see my “new face” as he calls it haha. The man was extremely happy and in awe when he saw me :p He is always surprising me with the things he said. He actually exclaimed “Wah omg I also want to do!” when he saw me and I burst out laughing lol. So most likely if he doesn’t slim down before the wedding, he will be seeing Dr David for some improvements on his facial features so we will both look perfect in our wedding shoot! ;)
Taken immediately after the procedure.
This was taken 2 weeks after my fillers :)
My cheeks are more plumped up (think Fann Wong’s prominent apple cheeks) but not overly dramatic. Dr David gave enough filler injection for a healthier look to reduce the sunken cheeks no thanks to 25 years of gravity! Additionally, my laugh lines (nasolybial) is not so obvious now and most importantly, it is NO LONGER THERE when I do not smile now. So happy about it because after the first consultation with Dr David (before the procedure which was 2 weeks later), I was pretty affected by being made aware of the existence of laugh lines which caused me to look like I have a puppet mouth.
Fast forward to this moment of time, I was having a little talk with John about being addicted to fillers because they made me look so effortlessly good in photos without having to bother about the right angles. And he advised me to continue going for fillers as they make me look more “awake”, youthful and plumped up. Many times before I did fillers with DRx, John mentioned my cheeks look sunken like my mom’s which was the deciding factor for me to go try out fillers. Now that he has seen the new look, he prefers me with my cheeks fuller and my laugh lines reduced gahh. No one else’s opinions matter more to me than John’s so…haha. Anyway, I will keep this space updated if I continue to do fillers in the future! :)
On a side note, thank you for the tremendous support for this VGY manufactured Tropicano Maxi! It is arriving on 12 Aug and I CAN’T WAIT to wear it out! With the support for this maxi, it has made me more confident in manufacturing more maxi designs and possibly going into the direction for beautiful maxi dresses. Thank you so much all over again! :*)
The DRx Clinic
302 Orchard Road, 16th floor
Tong Building (Next to Paragon Shopping Centre, on top of Rolex)
Singapore 238862
Tel: (65) 6733 1555
Mon – Fri: 10am – 8pm
Sat: 10am – 5pm
Closed on Sunday and PH
With Love,Tricia
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