You are listening to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast.

Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. And today I have a very special person in our podcast studio. Her name is Destiny and she's one of our patients. So she has a really great story and I'm excited to have her kind of share it with you. And so for those of you who might be thinking about the things that she's done, you can find out more about it. So welcome Destiny.

Hi. Thank you for having me.

So tell us a little bit about yourself and kind of what, how you came to know La Jolla Cosmetic and what your goals were.

Well, it was a little bit of a long journey. I'm 30 years old so my skin care journey wasn't necessarily an easy one cause I just got started maybe about a year and a half ago. So growing up I, it was around my sophomore year of high school is when I started to break out and it was such a devastating time for me as it is for probably most people. And then I'm a perfectionist, so it was a little even more tough than it might be just for your average person. So I just tried a lot of different things. Skin health wasn't, it was a little bit more taboo I feel like, back when I was a sophomore in high school. And so I didn't have access to all of the things I have access to now. So it was a real, it was a real struggle in high school.

(01:39)
Um, also brown, so melanin, you know, and scarring is just a little bit more tough. And so there just wasn't as much information available or products available that were geared for my specific skin tone. And so, um, yeah, it was a struggle. It wasn't until I got out of high school and of course I started making my own money that I started to look into just more procedures and that kind of thing. And I actually heard about this place for my mom. So I decided to check it out. And yeah, I met Cameron and it, I mean the rest was history. I talked to her about my skin concerns cuz I had a, I had gone to an aesthetician before for many years and my skin didn't really transform as much as I wanted it to. You know, it looked a lot better but it just still wasn't where I wanted it to be.

(02:28)
And so I just continued to looking. And then again, I came across Cameron, I talked to her about my skin concerns. She listened to me and she immediately suggested a chemical peel, which I had never done before, but I've heard of it. And I was interested in trying it out. Cause at that point I was desperate. I was just like, okay, I'll try anything. I can't get any worse. And she gave me a skin routine. She introduced me to a handful of products. After I was done with the chemical peel, I started to use the products and I mean my skin has just transformed. Like truly, I wish I had the pictures to show the before and after, I mean from even years ago. It's insane.

So what was the biggest number one driver? Like were you having active acne breakouts that you were trying to solve? Or was it the color?

I mean it was, it was just a combination. I had active acne and then also the pigmentation. So the scarring. So I mean I was battling both and so if you don't stop the breakouts then you're gonna continue to get that pigmentation. And so it was, yeah, it was a little tough to try to tackle that.

So which peel did she recommend for you?

I don't know the, remember the exact name of it. No, it was a chemical peel but I don't remember the exact name.

Was it the Perfect Derma Peel? Does that sound familiar?

Yes, that's it. That's the one.

Okay. Cuz we have a few different peels, but that I'm guessing might

That one is more for pigmentation I believe is what she said. Right. So yes, it's that one.

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. It's that one. Okay. Yeah cuz it is a really good one for melasma. We actually did a show with her about melasma and so, but did it also help your acne?

Oh yeah, 100%. Like I know that they say that it takes a little while for you to see results, but I saw immediate results from wow. My first chemical peel. And so I just kept coming back. I think I've had a, probably like five since then. Oh, four or five, I've had a few of them. But the very first chemical peel I noticed in an immediate difference in my skin complexion and just the texture of my skin, my acne definitely started to go away. And so I think that's why I started to incorporate it more.

And then how often do you do them?

I believe it's every few months.

Oh, okay. So

I'm taking a break right now, so. But uh, it was every few months for I wanna say a year.

Oh wow. Okay. And your skin looks like perfect <laugh> for the audience who's listening, you can't see her. But if you go over to our YouTube channel, you can see destiny's skin and it's like perfect. So <laugh>, whatever you're doing,

Shout out Cameron. <laugh>.

Shout out to Cameron. Exactly. So it looks like you were introduced to the med spa. So you said by your mom?

So actually, so I had an augmentation, breast augmentation.

Oh, okay.

So they give you the free, but my mom did tell me about it, so, which that was awesome as well. We'll save that for another time. Another podcast <laugh>.

Yeah, we can talk about that.

So you know how they give you the free facial that comes with it. And so I was like, okay, who doesn't want a free facial? Um, but my mom was the one who introduced me to La Jolla cosmetics in the first place. But yeah, I got the free facial and then I talked to Cameron about my, my needs.

Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, that's, that's nice that it sort of, I love to hear that. You know, it's, it's a great way to introduce our surgery patients over to the med spa. So it's nice to know that it was like a fruitful endeavor.

Oh absolutely.

It, it helped your skin so much and, and really Cameron and our other aestheticians, both Brittany and Janine up who's up in Carlsbad, they're all really good with understanding like diagnosing skin issues and what to do and what not to do. Cuz I think a lot of us think, you know, we see stuff online all the time and we're kind of bombarded with all these different amazing products, right? And you're like, what's gonna help me? And I know because I've had active acne like my whole life. So it's one of those things that's just awful and I can really understand that kind of your, the emotional impact that it has on you.

(06:34)
And it, it's like you don't wanna go out and you're, you don't exactly. I mean it's just a horrible thing. It's a really hard Right. So you know what I've noticed is they're, they're so good each of these ladies of really helping you get right to the bottom of the problem. And I think a regular facial now and then it's nice but they're not like medical grade, you know, to really fix it. Yeah. So it's like nice to have. But you know, I think a lot of us who are experiencing, whether it's age spots or you know, melasma from pregnancy or acne and acne, post-inflammatory hyper hyperpigmentation, which is all the little things that we see after a breakout, I think those, you know, it's nice that they've got the tools and I think also because we've got all our providers, you know, who can do lasers and other things to sort of help if the person needs more. So you've done the perfect derma peel and then they told me also have done the diamond glow facial and what do you think about that?

I love all of them. Of course the chemical peel's always gonna have a special place in my heart cuz that one is what really changed the game as far as my skin is concerned. But that one is a nice, when I'm not doing the chemical peels, it's nice to just kind of freshen up my skin. So I also love that as well. It freshens it up.

So tell me about sort of your daily skincare routine cuz it's, you know, Cameron always uses the analogy of like going to the dentist and getting a teeth cleaning, but then if you never brushed and flossed in between, that would be crazy. So when you're at home, what is your skincare routine and you know, how do you kind of keep your skin looking great in between seeing Cameron?

So we sat down and she just, again, she catered the products that she recommended to what my goals are, my skincare goals or my skin health goals. And yeah, so I use all the products that she recommended. So I use this oxygen facial cleanser. I was using the HQ pads to help with the pigmentation. I'm not on that cuz you need to take a break every once in a while. But now I am using another cream and I meant to write down the list. I'm sorry <laugh>, but it helps also with brightening up the skin and with pigmentation as well. Um, I use the Alto Defense serum, I use a retinol.

Okay. And we could get, if you don't mind us sharing, we can get from your records kind of the things that you've bought.

Oh perfect.

And we could put them, we could put them in the show notes for everybody.

Okay.

Because I know that skin better's, like a couple of the things you've mentioned are SkinBetter. And SkinBetter has a great oxygen wash. In fact I used it this morning <laugh>. I love it. It's a really nice and especially for people who might be, I think it's good for anybody but for people who might be oily or prone to acne, it's so great. And my daughter's on it too. So we all in the family love that <laugh> and I think the retinol is always important for any kind of skin problem but definitely to keep that cellular turnover going.

Oh 100%. Yeah. It's a game changer for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So I just do that. I use those products twice a day.

Now I have a question about, cuz I've seen the Perfect Derma Peel, it's kind of a two-stage thing. I think it's like you put it on and then you wait a certain amount of time and can you kind of explain what's the process?

Yeah, so I come in, she puts the peel on, which doesn't take very long at all. I mean it's tingly a little bit, but it's not like a painful process or anything like that. It's just almost like a facial except for it doesn't get washed off. And then I just go home and then the next couple of days my face starts to peel and I believe the process is about seven days. Might be a little less than that. It really just depends on your skin. But essentially you just peel for those days until it's completely peeled off and then you go back to your normal routine.

So I remember her talking about it and she's like, but you can't touch your face. Like, it's gonna be peeling and you're gonna wanna like <laugh> peel back

Oh yeah.

Peel back the pieces of skin. So how do you, was that like a temptation for you to like get it off? Or what did you do?

It wasn't actually, I, I mean I think I'm lucky because ever since I started this process I've been working from home. So I think that if you are gonna get the chemical peel, you probably should have like an allotted amount of time to peel in peace. You can't really be in the sun of course. So sun exposure when you have the peels kind of a no-no cause you don't wanna damage your skin further. But no, I wasn't tempted. I think I was so focused on the results that I just wanted everything to be, I just wanted to stick to the rules. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I possibly can to make sure that this process, you know, went well.

It was gonna be perfect. Yeah. Cause I think that's that and that's nice for anybody who works from home, then you can kind of hide out and turn your camera off if you're on a meeting. But yeah, that's really nice so that you're not tempted because certainly while you were peeling it would be impossible to like put on makeup or you know, cuz you've got light

Yeah. Even though they say you can, it looks a little weird and I don't, cause again, I'm just like, I wanna leave my skin, I want it to have a break. But you can cut off the little skin pieces that are hanging off so, or

Peel. Yeah do a little trim <laugh>.

Right. You do a little trim and it's, you know, I mean it's worth it to me. I'm just like everybody knows, I went to the grocery store one time when I actually was peeling and the cashier, she was a woman, she immediately knew it was peel. So it's not like people are thinking anything weird. It does feel a little odd to be walking around. People just probably think you have a really bad sunburn. But, it is what it is. Anything for the skin, <laugh>.

Yeah, this is true. It's like it's a means to an end and it's only a couple days. So you started to see results after that first one like right away?

Oh yeah, it was immediate for me.

And was it mostly the pigmentation part or the acne or?

Um, I wanna say both. I mean I think it was a combination of the products that I was using afterwards. Um, again she tailors it to your skin type. Um, and I think that's the most important thing. She recognized what I was needing and then she prescribed accordingly. But um, yeah, I noticed immediate results, the acne and the pigmentation both at the same time. Of course the acne doesn't disappear cuz it's a combination.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think that's what I would want people to understand the most is it's not just the skin but like what you're eating and that kind of thing as well. So

True. Yeah. Now on that day. So they put the thing on and then do you wash it off like much later right?

Yeah, I just wait for the 24 hours.

And then do you go back in the office or is it

No.

Because I feel like there's two phases. No, not two phases?

No. So after they put the peel on you, you're done, you peel, I mean you just come back when it's your next um, your next appointment. But you don't have to come in again for them to do anything else as far as the chemical peel's concerned.

Now did you have any swelling or redness or prickly feelings or any of that? Or was it just sort of waiting for the peel to be gone?

Yeah, I mean there's moments where itches a little bit, there's a little bit of tightness, but it's nothing, it's not bad at all. I mean it's what you would expect. It's just like when you put glue on your hands, you know, when you were little kid.

Oh yeah.

You put glue and that. So it's kind of just a similar feeling. It's that that tight feeling and you know something's on top of there but it doesn't really bother you. You're just aware that you know. And then of course when the skin's peeling you can see little skin pieces or the, like the peel. But other than that, I mean there's just, tightness could be a little itchy. They give you a a cream that you can use but it's not bad at all.

And then was there anything that surprised you during or after your treatments or something that you weren't expecting?

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to work so fast. <laugh>. Yeah, no it was a pleasant surprise for sure. I just, I was really surprised. I, I think that I had been so disappointed so many times before that I just, you know, paying a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean something's going to work. And so I think I was just exhausted. I've exhausted all my options and I just wasn't sure what to expect and I wasn't expecting it to work so fast. And they do tell you, you know, it might take a couple appeals before you notice any difference. But I'm glad that they set it up that way because I noticed immediately and that made me very happy. <laugh>.

Yeah, it it exceeded your expectations, which is nice.

Oh yeah. It was very encouraging after being so discouraged for so long. So I really appreciated that.

And what would you tell someone who's thinking about taking their skincare more seriously with treatments like Diamond Glow or doing the Perfect Derma Peel?

Do it as soon as you can. I mean I am sad that I didn't have access to all this stuff, you know, before. Cause it would've made a difference. It does something to your self-esteem for sure. I always tell Cameron that I'm so grateful for her because yes she helped my skin and that's, you know, just surface level. But it also helped with my self-esteem. I just feel so much happier now and I feel so much more confident And then, you know, I'm just able to be more of myself, I feel. Cause now that's one less thing I have to worry about. So do it as soon as you can <laugh> you will not regret it. <laugh>.

<laugh>. Well that's nice. I I think that's making a commitment to skincare at this level in terms of that medical grade treatments or medical grade products. It's a commitment just because it's a little bit more expensive than if you go to Target and get oh whatever, you know, or even if you go to Nordstrom and you are buying some, I mean there's some really expensive products out there, but like you just said, it doesn't mean that they're gonna work. And so the message is sort of, you can make the commitment and when you stick with it then you have something to show for it.

It's the results.

Yeah, the results exactly.

I think, yeah, it's definitely consistency. It's an investment but I just feel like it's so important to invest in ourselves, especially if it's going to impact us so great. So, um, yeah. Consistency is key for sure.

Yeah it is. And that's back to kind of the same thing of the Cameron's um, example of brushing and flossing your teeth in between dental visits or it's true just if you go to the gym and you get a personal trainer for one day doesn't mean

You're, you're gonna be in shape all of a sudden. No, it definitely takes work. But if you're willing to put in the work, if you're willing to invest, it absolutely works. And there's no doubt about that. I mean, like I said, my before and after pictures are insane.

That's, that's wonderful. Well anything else that you've kind of noticed on this journey that you wanna share?

Other than how amazing Cameron is? I mean just everybody here is just such a welcoming environment. I really think you get what you pay for. So again, even though it is an investment, they've helped me so much. They're so kind. I just, I felt comfortable from the very beginning cuz Cameron's just amazing. If you have a chance to, you know, be with Cameron, I would definitely recommend her. But all of the aestheticians I'm sure are amazing. Everyone I've met,

She is great and, and Janine is up in our Carlsbad office and she has over 20 years of experience as an aesthetician just like Cameron. And she's equally, I think she's newer to us of course cuz our, our Carlsbad office only opened a couple months ago. But Cameron's incredible and it's, but I want the audience to know that if you're in North county and you know you want to get in and have somebody who also is really, really technically savvy to see Janine there because she also has a kind of that same thing like what Cameron has where they're really able to diagnose and treat the skin and put you on a program that you know

Works in the long run.

Yeah. If we kind of calendar certain things and just stick it in like okay in four months. And I know too with the GlamFam program that you know, that's our VIP loyalty club and the GlamFam we do, you get discounts on all of the services for the year. So it really does help because if they ever do like bundles of treatments, like maybe if you buy three or you buy five or something, they'll do a special extra discount which makes that also a lot more affordable cause you're putting in the products and, and we'll get the list of products for the audience too to put in the show notes. But I think that that commitment that you're talking about is, you know, it's financial but it's also uh, there's a payoff <laugh> with it. So then you don't

Yeah. And you end up spending the same amount of money buying all these products cuz there's so many products that I still have that I never used. But you, you know, you see an advertisement and you buy it and then you try it out doesn't work. And now you have this product that you're not using so you end up spending the same amount except for one works and the other one may work a little bit but not to the extent that you may want it to. So it was not a hard transition for me.

I remember seeing an ad online and I'm trying to remember what it was for, but they were touting a before and after of a skincare product with a before and after of a laser treatment that was a whole different device. And I'd seen the photos before because it was like technology that I think we had and I was like, no. Oh my god, these are the before and afters from this whole other thing. And they're basically trying to say it's this little product that you can buy from TikTok, <laugh>. You know, it's like no, they're just stealing the photos. And I think that's where we as the consumer are like, well how do we know if it really works? You know? And that's like you say, then it's a huge investment and you're not really getting the payoff.

Exactly. And then it's a frustrating experience because you're like, why isn't this working for me? And it's working for everybody else. And sometimes you could do more harm than good. There's so many times when I've done stuff to my skin cause I just, you know, I was ignorant. I had, I didn't have the knowledge that was in my area of expertise. And so I think it's good to talk to a professional and talk to somebody who knows what they're doing and they put in the work. So.

And I think too, it was like covid created a lot of skincare that you could sort of do online that was supposed to be like professional grade, you know, do your peel at home, do this and that at home, like you said, you can really end up damaging your skin. Especially, you know, if you're a person of color then you have the risk of hypo pigmenting, which is like the pigment actually you having like white spots where it goes too deep or scars your skin and that you don't wanna mess around with. And that's really hard to, to treat later. So, and sometimes like with hypopigmentation, there is no treatment if it goes down to the melanin layer layer and it pulls out the pigment, it's gone. <laugh>, there's something you could do. I guess you could get a tattoo, but really it's, so I think it's like more than ever we're bombarded with all these ads and all these solutions and sometimes it's like, okay I'm just gonna drive, I'm gonna go to go to the office, have Cameron fix me up.

One hundred percent.

Just cuz then you know, it's something that's going to be safe.

Yeah. And she's a professional and she knows what she's doing and she took the time to learn. And so why would I do it if I have somebody as great as her that could do it for me? So yeah.

And she's so fun. And we, we could also put in the show notes her the other episodes that we've done with her, but she's been doing facials like every other week or something since or every month since she was 17 years old. Because in her family that was something that, like her grandmother was just like, you have to take care of your skin and just pounded it into her. I was totally like, I should have been probably on Accutane as a teenager cuz mine was so bad. Never knew and never had facials, never had treatments, didn't understand sort of what that benefit would've been. And so then I've, it's sort of been a lifelong problem and you know, only more recently have I been able to kind of get stuff under control and I see, I think so Cameron like gets it <laugh> and she, and it's like ingrained in her and then that, but then you see her skin and you and you know.

And it makes sense. Absolutely. I'm like, if I'm gonna, right, if I'm taking advice from anyone, it's definitely gonna be Cameron cuz she looks amazing. Yeah.

It's like you'd never trust a skinny chef or something. It's the same thing. Right? Like would you trust her if her skin was bad?

Yeah, her skin looks amazing. Yeah. And you can just tell she just knows exactly. She just didn't hesitate. She's like, okay, do this, this, this and this. And it worked. Yeah. I mean I just did what she told me to do. I didn't ask any questions and I mean, here we are.

Here we are. So, exactly. Well thanks so much Destiny. It was really fun to talk to you today and you look fabulous and so we'll, we'll look for your before and afters and you know, if you found any other pictures from before, let me know and you can send it to us, but

Oh yes.

We'll put those in the show notes for people and we'll also put links to the procedures that we talked about. So we talked about the Diamond Glow by Skin Medica, which is amazing treatment and they, there's different infusions you can pick to either brighten or have the t n s nutrient solution or you, there's different like little add-ons that you can do to sort of hyperfocus that treatment. And then obviously the Perfect Derma Peel too. So. Well thank you.

Well thank you so much for having me.

Okay, well and we will maybe if you wanna talk about your breast augmentation, we could talk about that too at some point.

Oh yeah, at some point. If you're up for I'm open to that, I'm up for it. <laugh>.

Oh good, good. I would love to have it. So everybody in our podcast audience, we'll have the things in the show notes and then just so you know, we do have a little special, if you show your phone, like if you show one of our staff members that you are a subscriber to our podcast, they'll give you $25 off of any product or service of $50 or more. So Destiny, what would be, if you were going to get $25 off of %50 or more, what would be the product you would put it towards?

Ooh, that's a hard one cuz there's so many good products. Maybe the Oxygen cleanser though. That one's just something that I can't live without. It's the best

<laugh>. It is really good.

Yeah, maybe towards that, honestly,

Towards that. I know I buy it in bulk <laugh>

I same.

Same between my daughter and me. It's like we love it so much.

I've always gotta have it on hand. Yeah. Oh yeah. Can't live without it.

Yeah. Okay, well thanks again and thanks to you, our audience for joining in and we appreciate if you'll like, subscribe and definitely leave us a review. Tell us what you think, cuz we're all about, you know, wanting to bring you really great content and really interesting and informative content with amazing people like Destiny. So thanks again.

Thank you.

Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the XiMed building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to lj csc.com or follow the team on Instagram at lj csc. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis, t h e a x i s.io.