Why We Burn Our Face Off

In this episode of Glow Up and Get Real, a panel discusses their experiences with CO2 facial treatments, including motivations for trying the treatment, the effects of various post-care products, recovery experiences, and surprises during the healing process. They also share valuable advice for those considering the treatment and emphasize the importance of self-care and doing it with friends.

Sweet Face Injector:  https://linktr.ee/sweetfaceinjector

Takeaways

The CO2 facial treatment is intense but offers significant results.

Motivations for treatment can include skin health and aesthetic improvements.

Post-care products can influence the healing process and results.

Recovery experiences vary, with some feeling more comfortable than others.

Surprises during healing can include unexpected swelling and purging.

It's important to protect the skin from the sun after treatment.

Timing the treatment around personal schedules can enhance the experience.

Doing the treatment with friends can make it more enjoyable.

Maintaining a good skincare routine post-treatment is crucial.

The panel emphasizes the importance of self-care and confidence in one's skin.

Titles

Glowing Skin: The CO2 Facial Experience

Unveiling the Secrets of CO2 Treatments

 sound bites

"It's an amazing treatment."

"The results still are not in."

"I feel like my skin feels amazing."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to CO2 Facial Treatment

00:55 Motivations for CO2 Treatment

03:29 Post-Care Products and Their Effects

05:50 Recovery Experiences and Social Interactions

09:11 Results and Skin Care Changes

13:19 Advice for Future CO2 Candidates

16:51 Sweetest Tips and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Amy Ingle (00:01.128)
Welcome to Glow Up and Get Real. I'm the Sweet Face Injector and today we have a panel of the four of us to discuss our CO2 facial treatment that we did several weeks ago. So I'll start with Patty. Patty, could you please introduce yourself and kind of what you do?

Patty Verdonck (00:04.742)
Thank

Patty Verdonck (00:17.639)
I'm Patty Verdunck. I am a mom. am a nurse and Sweet Face takes care of me and yeah.

Amy Ingle (00:29.596)
All right, Nikki.

Nicki Ochs (00:32.281)
My name is Nikki Oakes. I'm also a mother of two and I work for a hospital in my hometown in the medical record department.

Amy Ingle (00:41.47)
and Jen.

Jenn Russell (00:42.494)
Hello, my name is Jen Russell. I am a mom of four and I'm also a nurse and I work in the OR of our local hospital here and the stress of nursing gets floated away because of Amy's talents.

Amy Ingle (01:04.878)
Well, so I'm so glad you could come today and we could all sit around and talk about our co2 treatment We have the treatment done about four weeks ago And this is a treatment that you can get once a year We don't do it more often than once a year because it is It's quite intense. There is a week of downtime and we'll talk about that a little later I'll also post some pictures if that's okay of kind of our our progress through the healing

journey that we had. So let me just ask what motivated each of you to try a CO2 facial treatment?

Nicki Ochs (01:37.72)
Thank

Patty Verdonck (01:42.778)
Do want me to start? Okay. So this is my second CO2 treatment and the first time I was very motivated just because it's always nice to have that fresh glow and get rid of the dead skin. So the second time we decided to do it, I was like game on. It's an amazing treatment. The results are enormous. And when other people see that and like what's going on with your face and then when you, you know,

Nicki Ochs (01:43.768)
you

Amy Ingle (01:43.9)
Go for it.

Nicki Ochs (01:50.008)
Thank you.

Jenn Russell (01:51.374)
Thank

Nicki Ochs (01:57.405)
It's

Patty Verdonck (02:12.294)
It's really good. So the second time I feel like I was like game on. The first time I was a little nervous. But the results are completely worth the downtime.

Amy Ingle (02:23.506)
Right. Yeah, what about you, Nikki?

Nicki Ochs (02:25.887)
Well, I'm a newbie to all this, but after seeing Patty's fabulous results, I was very curious. And now that I live in the Sunshine State, I thought I better take better care of my skin. And I've also had melanoma. So I am very motivated to take better care of my skin.

Amy Ingle (02:43.518)
Okay, yeah. What about you, Jen?

Jenn Russell (02:44.973)
Well, have seen Patty get it done the first time. I've also seen you after having it done and saw those results. I had a lot of discoloration and sunspots on my face and I knew that this was something that was going to help with that based on seeing the results on you guys. And I was very anxious to have it done. And now I'm curious what it's gonna look like next time.

Nicki Ochs (03:00.952)
that you are not one who has a problem way you're it. You're you're it. has a with the way you're it. You're not the has a it. You're only one way you're it. You're not the only the way it. You're not the with You're not it.

Amy Ingle (03:13.234)
Right. So what we did was a little experiment. We didn't just get CO2. We also experimented with some products for healing, so post-care products. So everybody had a little bit different post-care. For me, I used Exosomes on my right side, immediately post-procedure. And then I used Prevace. It's a recovery cream.

Nicki Ochs (03:25.399)
So, I'm and start with the first

Amy Ingle (03:42.43)
for about two to three weeks after on the left side. So just kind of comparing, does my right side look better? Does my left side, did I have less swelling or less inflammation? And we can get into those results. But Patty, you had a couple of different things going on. You had the exosome regen on your left side. It's a complex. then you had, and then you used the exo-balm as well on your left side.

Patty Verdonck (04:05.656)
Yep.

Amy Ingle (04:12.584)
So, Nikki, you used repair on your right side and nothing on your left side, correct? Except for our occlusions that we had, And then, Jen, you had salmon sperm on your right side, PDRN, and on the left you had repair.

Nicki Ochs (04:20.944)
Correct. Skincare.

Patty Verdonck (04:32.556)
Thank

Nicki Ochs (04:36.791)
Thank you.

Amy Ingle (04:39.294)
So tell me, we'll start with you Patty, tell me about your results if you've noticed anything different with using the different products.

Patty Verdonck (04:47.076)
Well, I feel like the left side definitely started healing faster to get, you know, where this, you know, when you start flaking off and then your good skin is showing through. feel like it helped that recovery. Looking at it now, I don't know if I see a difference now, but it definitely helped with that recovery.

Amy Ingle (05:02.056)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Ingle (05:09.118)
Okay, all right, good. And that's really what exosomes are, is to help with that inflammation. So that makes a lot of sense. What about you, Nikki?

Nicki Ochs (05:17.802)
Well, Patty took the words right out of my mouth actually because my right side, did feel like it was healing a little better, seeing that I wasn't using anything on the left side, but now it's like you can't tell it all looks fabulous, so.

Jenn Russell (05:34.923)
was healing relatively similar. I wish that I could recall because I do think one side had more swelling than the other. And I would have to go back at my photos to remember which side it was that was, that seemed like it was, like the...

Nicki Ochs (05:37.685)
Okay.

Jenn Russell (05:55.295)
The gook that's coming out of your face. I feel like that was more prominent on one side than the other, but I can't recall which side it was, unfortunately. Now, I feel like maybe it was my right side. I feel like it was my right side, but I can't remember for sure.

Amy Ingle (06:03.592)
You can't remember which side. Have to look back at your pictures and see.

Amy Ingle (06:12.478)
Your right side was healing faster? Or... Oh, perfect.

Jenn Russell (06:15.133)
Yeah, like it was purging more and then like it purged more and then they were healing relatively similar.

Amy Ingle (06:24.1)
Okay, yeah, yeah. So tell me about your first week recovery. Did you go out of the house? Did was there something about the recovery that grossed you out? Share your share your story.

Patty Verdonck (06:40.507)
Well, I am a complete bleeder. So and I saw this the last time. So after the treatment, I'd have like little blood driplets. So I kind of looked like freakish. But since it was amongst friends, we all kind of like would hang out with each other. And then other friends have seen me do it before. So I was out. I mean, I was hanging with people like, you know, and I feel like

People are intrigued what you're doing. So I feel like, well, I'm going to promote my, my, you know, my own self and what I'm doing. And, you know, and then nobody like, well, hey, what did you do? And then I'm like, okay, I can refer a friend. Um, cause I just think that the more normalized that you make it, that people just, they are okay with it. They're okay with it. As as you're like confident enough in your own skin, which

It is a little tough, I will say. From my first experience, do want me to a story about how I had to go to Scott's new boss? So this is my second one, like I said. My first experience, I was a little more shy about going out, but my husband's like, hey, I have a new job opportunity I need you to go with. We need to be interviewed by...

Amy Ingle (07:45.628)
Yes.

Patty Verdonck (08:01.142)
the CEO of the company and his wife, they want to take us to the country club. And I'm like, listen, you better be warning them because I was like completely like scabby and like dry at the time, like right before you go to the molting phase. And so his wife opened me with, you know, wide open arms like, hey, I've had stuff done to my face before too. Don't you worry about it. I had to go up to a country club with this

Nicki Ochs (08:11.409)
Okay.

Patty Verdonck (08:31.715)
scabby face. We just had an adult beverage and you know laughed it off. And then we still talk about it now. You know, it's like, remember when I went up to your country club with my scabby face and interviewed my husband?

Amy Ingle (08:33.224)
Thank you.

Yeah, yeah, right. Right.

Nicki Ochs (08:41.268)
I did. Like I said, I'm a newbie to all this. This was my first CO2 laser. So I hid the first couple of days, but we had a couple of friends coming to stay with us. I think on day five it was.

Amy Ingle (08:47.074)
Yes. Right? And Nikki, know you like, you've hunkered down at home.

Nicki Ochs (09:07.795)
Like I said, I was fine with it at that point because I had started healing and it started scabbing over and it was icky. That was the one downfall of it, but I knew what to expect. I did my homework and I've seen results of what your CO2 laser does and I was so intrigued by it I'm so happy I did it.

Amy Ingle (09:26.428)
Yeah, good. And the results still are not in. It takes about two to three months to really see the collagen come in and fine lines to disappear. The hyperpigmentation is probably gone now. So you have to protect your skin from the sun because it will just come right back. So you have to be really careful. You have baby butt, I would say baby butt skin on your face. It's like brand new spot. Yes, there you go. Yes.

Nicki Ochs (09:31.388)
Right?

Nicki Ochs (09:49.62)
Yes, and I've never been a hat girl, but I'm a hat girl now. I protect my skin.

Patty Verdonck (09:52.885)
Yes

Amy Ingle (09:56.051)
Well, Jen, what about you? Did you hide?

Jenn Russell (09:56.169)
I hit away. This is the first time I've done any type of like what I would call, I don't know if you would call it intrusive, but to me, there's definitely downtime. It's obvious that, you you're going through some type of healing process. I kind of hit away. And when I did have to go out, I think maybe the third day I had to go to the grocery store because of those children I spoke about, they like to eat. And I put,

I had on, I had like kind of pulled myself forward and whatever. My kids were a little anxious looking at my face like that's gonna heal. That's honestly gonna heal. I was like, I've seen it happen. Yes, this is like, I'm not gonna be looking like this forever. And then I would say, like Nikki said, the itchiness that was expected. we knew what to expect. You did a great job informing me of what stages were.

Patty Verdonck (10:32.522)
you

Jenn Russell (10:52.445)
telling me what those experiences would be when I could expect approximately the itching and the molting and to start coming out on the other side. But I've been really thrilled with it so far. If this is only the beginning and in month two or three, it's even better. I'm super excited because I've had people at work even make comments like, my gosh, I was just looking at your skin. It's crazy, you're right. It looks so much different.

Nicki Ochs (11:16.057)
Okay.

Amy Ingle (11:18.3)
Well, already you have comments.

Jenn Russell (11:19.815)
Yes, yeah, even like by the second week because I had some spots like very dark sunspots around my temples and across my nose and they're almost I mean honestly non existent at this point, and especially on my temples, where it was a lot of discoloration you can't see it at all.

Patty Verdonck (11:37.952)
Thanks.

Amy Ingle (11:38.162)
Right, yeah, yeah. Was there anything about the process that surprised you all?

Nicki Ochs (11:38.386)
That's awesome.

Nicki Ochs (11:45.17)
Patty Verdonck (11:45.889)
For me, the first time, this one I knew what to expect, the swelling really caught me off guard. Like your nose starts broadening and then it starts going dependent and then it was like my, what do call my turkey gizzard, like the edema was like down in here. So the edema kind of caught me off guard.

Amy Ingle (12:07.272)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, and not everybody swells. So I was surprised that you swelled as much as you did.

Patty Verdonck (12:14.952)
Yeah, and I didn't as much this time. I mean, I still had edema, but not as much.

Amy Ingle (12:18.439)
You did not.

Amy Ingle (12:22.298)
Okay, okay. What about you, Nikki? Did anything surprise you?

Nicki Ochs (12:26.707)
I was kind of curious whether it would hurt, burn, tingle and to be honest the procedure was not bad for me. I did have some puffiness and some swelling but that was to be expected after talking to you girls and other than the itching, the itching kind of drove me a little crazy just and that was part of the process of healing but I would do it again on heartbeat.

Amy Ingle (12:49.981)
Yeah.

Nicki Ochs (12:50.256)
I feel like I'm glowing and I feel more youthful. And again, I was a sun goddess in my younger years and I had a lot of sun damage as well. And I feel like it just kind of removed that layer and made me glow.

Amy Ingle (12:58.398)
Mm-hmm.

Jenn Russell (13:04.168)
I thought that I wasn't, I knew that there was swelling because Patty had told me they're swelling. I wasn't prepared to see it on myself. I also didn't realize how much purging I would have. like, mean, I had like gunk coming out and I'm somebody that I wouldn't say that I am superb at skincare, but I feel like I've done a

Amy Ingle (13:04.744)
Mm-hmm. How about you, Jen?

Patty Verdonck (13:16.649)
But.

Jenn Russell (13:31.783)
I thought I had done a relatively good job at skincare and I'm like, girl, you did a terrible job at skincare.

Patty Verdonck (13:38.559)
Just a little bit.

Nicki Ochs (13:38.99)
Okay.

Amy Ingle (13:40.953)
Yeah, and you know the second time you do this, treatment, you may notice you don't purge as much. We seem to see those that are like new to this really purge that first time.

It doesn't mean you won't purge the second time, but we do see it like less and less as if you continue the treatments yearly. that's just, you know, that regeneration of that collagen. It just really helps push some of those impurities out. You know, the hyperpigmentation is one of them. Small, it shrinks your pores. So if you have larger pores, it will help.

Nicki Ochs (14:09.01)
Okay.

Amy Ingle (14:16.252)
close those so it just really kind of pushes all the junk out which is nice. What advice would you give to someone considering CO2 on their face?

Nicki Ochs (14:29.585)
I'm

Amy Ingle (14:30.162)
Don't plan a wedding. Just don't overthink it. Yeah.

Patty Verdonck (14:30.561)
Go for it!

Jenn Russell (14:30.63)
Don't overthink it. Just get it done.

Patty Verdonck (14:36.991)
And I would just say make sure that you figure out your timing on your schedule. You know, like I'm lucky I work from home, so time off wasn't an issue, but you know, like Jen had to take time off of work. Nikki works from home. So I think, you know, if I were to do it again, I would probably do it at the end of the week. You know, I mean, not the end of the week like we did. I would say probably I would do it more like on a Monday.

Amy Ingle (14:41.255)
Exactly.

Amy Ingle (14:58.535)
and

Patty Verdonck (15:03.711)
So I'm working in my office through the Friday and then by the weekend, beautiful.

Amy Ingle (15:08.604)
Yeah, right, right. Yeah. Are you having any issues or problems since your treatment with your skin?

Patty Verdonck (15:16.68)
still have a little of the redness and I feel a little drier but I'm probably not moisturizing enough so I'm going to try to improve that. But I think the redness, I had that before and that eventually goes away.

Nicki Ochs (15:20.592)
Thank

Amy Ingle (15:25.203)
Mm-hmm.

Nicki Ochs (15:26.053)
Thank

Amy Ingle (15:30.852)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Have you noticed any hyperpigmentation?

No.

Patty Verdonck (15:37.054)
I have not. I don't know about you girls.

Nicki Ochs (15:37.943)
No. No.

Amy Ingle (15:39.391)
I have a little, and it's called post-inflammatory inflammation and hyperpigmentation. I do have it, but I see it sometimes with darker skinned women. And it's just, you just have to wait it out through the process. I'm using hydroquinone to help kind of lighten those up a little bit, but I know in about a month or two that will all calm down and it'll be fine. It'll look good. women do get...

Nicki Ochs (15:43.824)
Thank you.

Amy Ingle (16:05.126)
little worried and concerned when they see that they have hyperpigmentation after the treatment versus hypo. So yeah, that is something. Has your treatment changed or your skincare regimen, has it changed since you had your treatment?

we do anything different?

Patty Verdonck (16:27.593)
I mean, I had used that after products that you had given us, those are lovely. I will say I did really enjoy those. So now I'm back to my regular stuff, but I do feel like I do need to just increase some moisturizing. And it might be this time of the year too.

Amy Ingle (16:36.254)
Yes.

Amy Ingle (16:42.992)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. What about you?

Nicki Ochs (16:49.198)
Yeah, I have to say I loved that skincare. It was cleanse, treat and hydrate. I'm also back to my own skincare routine. But yeah, my skin feels amazing and I would highly, highly recommend this.

Amy Ingle (17:04.954)
Okay, all right. What about you Jen?

Jenn Russell (17:08.703)
added like a hyaluronic serum into my nightly routine. And using the oil cleanser, I really like that. So like a double wash on my face, I use the oil cleanser. And then I use just a gentle face wash in addition to that. And I feel like that's helped with some of the dry spots that I was noticing.

Amy Ingle (17:30.064)
Mm-hmm. Do you feel like your face overall is drier since the treatment?

Nicki Ochs (17:31.28)
Bye.

Jenn Russell (17:36.314)
do feel like it was drier, I feel like I've kind of added a couple of things and I'm not feeling as dry as I was like the second week, now that we're at like week four and I added those things in.

Amy Ingle (17:45.064)
Mm-hmm.

Amy Ingle (17:48.698)
Mm-hmm, okay. Yeah, so the pervasive I used I felt like it dried out my skin I didn't see a difference between that and the exosomes that I use I I Didn't see any difference. I just felt like I was super dry from it. It just didn't hold a lot of moisture in

Nicki Ochs (17:58.383)
Thanks.

Jenn Russell (18:04.831)
Thank

Nicki Ochs (18:05.86)
No.

Amy Ingle (18:08.188)
So, I know, Patty, you kind of felt the same way. Your skin is dry like that. So, all right, well, one more question from each of you. And I ask everybody this when I interview for the podcast is what is your sweetest tip of the day?

Patty Verdonck (18:25.654)
I would say book an appointment at Sweet Spot.

Amy Ingle (18:26.554)
Amy Ingle (18:31.646)
Thanks. Good tip. You're a Nicky.

Nicki Ochs (18:38.607)
Book an appointment and do it. Yes, yes, yes. And I also want to comment on how knowledgeable both you and your staff are. And it was just a wonderful experience. Amy, thank you. And I love your Medi Spa. It's so clean and fresh and it's just inviting and everyone should do this for themselves. Thank you.

Amy Ingle (18:42.588)
of juice.

Amy Ingle (18:58.76)
Thank you. Thanks. What's your sweetest tip of the day,

Jenn Russell (19:02.021)
would say make sure you do it with girlfriends. That's what I would say. It's more fun that way. Make it a couple point. Do it with your girlfriends. If you have someone a big event coming up in your life six months away or something like that, do it as a group, because I think it was awesome to do it with friends.

Patty Verdonck (19:05.169)
Yeah!

Nicki Ochs (19:06.062)
Yeah!

Amy Ingle (19:07.168)
Do it with your girlfriends.

Amy Ingle (19:20.046)
All right. Thanks.

Nicki Ochs (19:21.249)
Agreed. Thank you.

Patty Verdonck (19:22.311)
Yes.