When Judy Messenbrink looked into the mirror six months ago, she saw the stages of her life on her face. Dotting her cheeks were brown spots, souvenirs of the summers she spent as a lifeguard while growing up in Minnesota. Faint scars were reminders of blemishes she had during adolescence. The fine lines around her eyes began appearing a decade ago, and the slackening of the skin in her jaws and neck was a sign she was in her late 40s.
Like many women, Messenbrink wasn’t happy to see her complexion aging, so she applied to The Denver Post’s makeover contest for a chance to receive skin-care treatments from DermaSpa in Englewood.
She attached a photo of herself that clearly showed the uneven pigmentation and other issues she was having with her complexion.
As soon as Dr. Richard Asarch and skin specialist Heidi Fendry saw the photo and read Messenbrink’s story, they said they could help her. A series of salt peels, intense pulsed light (IPL), Thermage and Botox injections would be ideal for her skin.
“The sun damage bothered me the most,” Messenbrink said.
Over the next four months, she visited the DermaSpa on
average once a week, getting a total of 12 treatments, as well as a couple of cosmetic aids such as having her eyelashes tinted and her eyebrows arched. She also started using the line of skin care products Asarch developed.
A safe alternative
A commercial compliance officer for First Data Corp., Messenbrink can’t afford any downtime, so it was essential that the treatments not require missing work. Asarch’s treatments were a “safe, noninvasive alternative to getting a healthier-looking complexion” than having laser surgery or plastic surgery, she said.
Messenbrink’s complaints are familiar to Asarch. Changes in skin texture, the appearance of fine lines, dilated blood vessels and uneven pigmentation are common in women in their 40s, he says. Many treatments have been devised to treat such skin and smooth it out, and Asarch’s staff employed four main procedures for Messenbrink.
She had five salt peels, during which a fine spray of salt is applied to the skin with a small tipped instrument, sloughing off the top layer of skin and along with it, brown spots and other signs of uneven pigmentation. The treatment takes about 15 minutes, after which the aesthetician uses a cream that penetrates into the skin with the aid of an ultrasound tool. The process leaves the skin red, but the color returns to normal in a few hours.
Intense pulsed light treatments target similar problems, reducing redness and making the skin tone even.
To track Messenbrink’s response to the peels and IPL sessions, the staff took a “before” picture of her skin with a Visia machine that identifies spots that have been damaged by ultraviolet rays, enlarged pores and other imperfections. When Messenbrink started, the Visia report indicated 58 percent of women her age had more clear skin than she did; four months later, the figure dropped to 22 percent.
While results were immediate from the peels and light treatments, Messenbrink is still seeing improvements months later after her Ther-
mage session. For the procedure, Asarch used radio-frequency technology that heats collagen in the deeper layers of the skin and underlying tissue while protecting the outer layer of the skin. The procedure causes the underlayers to tighten, giving a more youthful appearance to the skin, and stimulates collagen production.
Results take time
“It hurt some when he did it on my neck. It was like a rubber band snapping on the skin,” Messenbrink said. Results from the treatment can take six months to fully develop.
And while her makeover sessions are over, Messenbrink says she intends to continue being a DermaSpa client. “This has changed my life,” she said. “I think I look about 10 years younger.”
Messenbrink lost about 75 pounds in 2005, and following up on that success, she says, “My goal in 2006 was to improve the condition of my skin – which took only about 90 days.”
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
WORKS IN PROGRESS a makeover series in six parts
Style readers were given a chance to have makeovers of their hair, skin, image and closets from local experts.
Part 6
Removing wrinkles and age spots, improving skin texture and tone.
