Living the Sweet Life: Needles and Blades!


By Alisa Murray
www.AlisaMurray.com
Nationally recognized
portrait artist and award-
winning columnist.

Have you looked in the mirror lately? That is the question I posed in the cover story with Renew Laser and Skin this month. I know that I personally go years without really paying attention and then bam! I see something that has crept up on me and must be fixed! Sometimes seeing myself on television makes this more evident and urgent.  Recently, I was invited to be on KPRC Channel 2 every Friday, so you know where I am going with this slice of my sweet life.

While I was there on set, the station did a story of how so many young people – and a little older ones – are resorting to plastic surgeries and face fillers to fix those little imperfections that they see on social media and in their selfies. As I watched the girls at the desk cringe at seeing the needles, I secretly smiled because those, my friends, are my secret weapons against aging! Needles and blades are in a large part responsible for how I maintain this youthful glow – these non-sagging cheeks, the vanished furrowed brows and of course, the perfect brow lines!  Come on, you didn’t really think this stuff stays like this naturally? Did you?

Alisa Murray getting bladed with Cindy Machado.

Dr. Desai or “Nina” has been in charge of my aging mess for many years.  She has been the one to decide what to do and when to do it so it looks like nothing has been done. I have had so much done, though, that when I went to a spa in Mexico earlier this year, they wanted me to check off whether I had had fillers, sculpting, etc., and I told them all the above! They just laughed and said, “no way!”  That’s where finding a doctor who knows when to do what and what’s what comes in very handy.

I am particularly intrigued with this latest technology in platelet rich plasma or PRP, the O shot, micro-needling and blading. In the past month, I have had all three procedures done and as usual have been very pleased with them all thanks to Nina and her team. With my shooting schedule and now regular television appearances, it’s critical for anything I do to not be invasive, and all of the procedures I have done was with zero downtime and zero side effects.  Truthfully, if I had not been spilling to you here, you likely would never have even guessed I had anything done.

Micro-needling is a really cool process that uses collagen and vitamins to penetrate the surface of the face whereby creating a controlled injury that the body responds to by growing collagen and building a firmness and elasticity that reminds me of me in my 20s!  I have done micro-needling with vitamins and collagen, and later this year when, as Nina says, I am done going out of the country and getting a tan, then she will do a vampire facelift with my own platelets. I’ll look “extra” young and marvelous for our family photos for the holidays! The Kybella procedure has taken at least a 1/4 inch off my pesky double chin, and thanks to it being a permanent solution, it’s a one and done procedure that I’d highly recommend. The needle is a bit larger than all of the other procedures, but it’s a small price to pay for the long term and happy results.

The PRP technology used in the O shot is life changing. You are going to have to just trust me; everyone should have this one! I have been pleased, Brian has been pleased, and then, there’s this cool idea of blading the eyebrows. It’s actually getting a tattoo – which I was so pleased to be able to say to everyone that I did not have until now –  in the area where you have eyebrows. They slice tiny lines into the skin and place ink there that looks like your hair. I hate the fake-looking, drawn on eyebrow trend, and I asked the gals who were waxing mine to just stop because I preferred the “Brooke Shields” look. This micro-blading, though, looks natural and makes the whole eyebrow thing go away from my already too busy routine.

My grandmothers both would cream themselves up each night and wear big hats and gloves to pick vegetables in the garden. Both of them aged gracefully, and yes, they had wrinkles that I loved. I’ve watched a few episodes of Botched and always think, “Lordy! Don’t let me ever get that crazy about changing me.” Looking your best and feeling your best is something that is from the inside out and finding someone who is remarkably keen on what you have always looked like and keeping things that way is very different from trying to change stuff. Nina has done an amazing job of letting me age towards my 50s without making me look like I have been remade. If it can be done naturally and in a way that noone would ever know, then why not use a few needles and blades to stop stuff even if it’s just for another decade or so?

Take Care of YOU!

alisa@absolutelyfocusmedia.com