Resurface, Rebuild, Relax: The November Med Spa Specials I’d Actually Book Before the Holidays
It’s November here in El Paso and Thanksgiving is a few weeks away. The office holiday party happens after that and I bet for some of you visiting your in-laws happens soon after that. Every week this month I get some version of this question: “How do I look rested in six weeks without anybody knowing I did anything?”
Resurface the skin’s surface, stimulate collagen production in the deep layers and relax the facial lines that make you look tired. Three different levels of the face, three different time courses and done in time for Christmas if you start in November. That is the whole November board.
Surgeon-to-surgeon, here are the treatments I’d do if I was on the November board: a Sciton laser treatment I’d do on myself, a microneedling package that I think trumps PRP, and a neurotoxin special with numbers that make sense.
And they’re all worth doing. Let me explain.
Renew. Profrac and the Micro Laser Peel, 20% Off.
Sciton’s Erbium laser (2940 nm) comes in a few flavors but the two I use most often are ProFrac (fractional ablative) and Micro Laser Peel (superficial ablative).
Erbium lasers ablate (vaporize) skin. Erbium laser energy is preferentially absorbed by water, and since skin is mostly water, especially at the surface, there’s very little wasted energy. Ablation happens where you aim it and the heat falls off quickly. That makes Erbium accurate and predictable, with less collateral thermal injury and more predictable healing. This is one of the ways it is kinder than a CO2 laser.
A Micro Laser Peel is a light-based peel. Ablation of the skin’s surface is uniform (not fractional) and the depth is tunable, in microns. A peel done with a laser is more consistent than a peel done with a chemical reaction on a moving target (your face). But a peel is a peel, and in the right hands either one can outperform the other in a given skin.
ProFrac creates columns (fractional) of ablation that can be taken deeper than a Micro Laser Peel, and leaves un-ablated columns of skin in between to speed healing. Patients ask what the point of ProFrac is if we are already doing a Micro Laser Peel. The answer is depth. Micro Laser Peel plus ProFrac is a combo I do a lot: uniform, superficial resurfacing of the face plus deeper fractional ablation to stimulate collagen in the dermis. Two levels of the skin treated in one visit with one recovery.
Facelifts and deep plane neck lifts reposition the deeper structures of the face and neck and tighten the deep investing layers, but they don’t improve skin quality. Laser resurfacing after a facelift or deep plane neck lift is how you improve the skin itself. This is another way Erbium lasers shine: they heal more predictably than CO2 lasers, which is kinder to patients who are already healing from surgery. Micro Laser Peel to uniformly resurface the skin and ProFrac to stimulate collagen production in the deeper layers of the face and neck.
For patients who are not surgical candidates (or who don’t want surgery anytime soon) Micro Laser Peel and ProFrac are great stand-alone treatments to improve skin quality. Micro Laser Peel is great for uniform textural change like sun damage and ProFrac is great for deeper lines. Recovery is a little longer than non-ablative lasers. Expect a sunburn feel for a day or two and pink, flaky skin for three to five days after ProFrac, and just flaky skin (depending on the aggressiveness of the treatment) for about a weekend after Micro Laser Peel. Apply numbing cream for forty-five minutes before treatment. Expect a warm sunburn sensation during treatment. Back to normal makeup by day seven. Do it three weeks before Thanksgiving and you are healed and glowing when the family shows up.
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can happen after Erbium laser treatments in darker skin types (Fitzpatrick IV to VI), but it can often be mitigated by altering the treatment parameters, pre-treating the skin, and sometimes choosing Micro Laser Peel over ProFrac. Always discuss candidacy before booking.
Book a Micro Laser Peel or ProFrac in November and get 20% off. That applies to single treatments too. How many will you need? If you have substantial sun damage I might recommend two treatments three to six weeks apart. If you just want to look your best for an event, one treatment three weeks before should do it.
Restore. The Glow Package: Microneedling with Ariessence Pure PDGF+, $750.
I said this is the quiet upgrade over PRP, and I meant it.
This month, one microneedling-plus-growth-factor treatment is $750. It’s called the Glow Package, and you’ll leave with a goodie bag (skincare worth taking home). Sorry, we can’t tell you what’s in the bag. That would ruin the surprise.
Microneedling stimulates collagen by creating thousands of controlled injuries (microchannels) in the skin at a depth we set for you. Your body responds by sending fibroblasts (the collagen-producing cells) to each microchannel to lay down new collagen and elastin over the following weeks. Skin becomes smoother, firmer and more radiant, and the pores tighten up.
PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) is arguably the most potent growth factor in human wound biology. PRP (platelet-rich plasma) is made from your own blood in the office: we draw blood, spin it down to concentrate the platelets and apply it to the skin during microneedling. Platelets carry growth factors (including PDGF) that signal cells in the skin to make more collagen. PRP works. I have used it for a long time. Problem: the amount of growth factor varies from patient to patient and even from morning to afternoon. Sometimes PRP is great, sometimes not so much.
Ariessence Pure PDGF+ is a PDGF rich topical that delivers more PDGF than you’re likely getting from your own PRP. It’s consistent from tube to tube and visit to visit. No blood draw required. It’s my favorite upgrade for patients who have already tried PRP microneedling or are hesitant about sticking themselves for their own blood.
Expect pink skin for a day or two after treatment, glow two weeks later and continued collagen production for four to six weeks thereafter. Best results after three treatments four weeks apart followed by one treatment every three to four months for maintenance.
Revive. Buy 50 Units of Neurotoxin, Receive 10 Units Free.
Straight from me on the November math: pay for 50, get treated for 60.
Neurotoxins relax muscles to keep dynamic lines from becoming permanent wrinkles. All four neurotoxins we offer (Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, and Daxxify) have slightly different times to onset (time until you start noticing changes), time to peak effect (when it’s working the best), and duration. When choosing which neurotoxin to use for you I take those factors into account as well as which areas we’re treating, how much I plan to inject, and your goals and timeline for seeing results. The special works with any of the four.
Sixty units is enough to treat all three upper-face areas in most people: the forehead (frontalis), the horizontal forehead lines; the frown (corrugators and procerus), the vertical lines between the brows; and the crow’s feet (lateral orbicularis oculi), the lines at the outer corner of the eyes that flare out when you smile. Wrinkles form where the skin repeatedly creases when the muscle underneath contracts, which is why we assess muscle activity before injecting. It is also why I’ll ask you to raise your eyebrows, frown and smile when you’re sitting in my chair.
Underdosed Botox doesn’t soften lines enough. Overdosed Botox leads to a frozen appearance on camera. For most patients, 60 units injected strategically softens lines in the upper face and restores a refreshed appearance.
Neurotoxin peaks at seven to fourteen days after injection and lasts three to four months (sometimes more or less, depending on which product we use, the dose, and your individual biology). If you have holiday pictures coming up, plan on getting it done two weeks before so it is fully effective before you hit the town.
A Clean Comparison
| Special | What it is | Investment | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renew | Sciton Erbium platform: ProFrac (fractional) and/or Micro Laser Peel (full-field) resurfacing | 20% off, single sessions qualify | Sun damage, fine lines, dullness, surface texture |
| Restore | Microneedling with Ariessence Pure PDGF+ (Glow Package) | $750 per session with a complimentary goodie bag | Collagen rebuild, brightness, firmness, pore quality |
| Revive | Botulinum toxin injectable for the upper face | Buy 50 units, receive 10 units free | Softening forehead lines, frown lines, and crow’s feet |
Where to Come, East or West
All of our November specials can be done at either of our El Paso locations.
Eastside: 1387 George Dieter Drive, Building C, El Paso, Texas 79936.
Westside: 5925 Silver Springs Drive, Suite C, El Paso, Texas 79912.
Same team, same protocols, same device inventory on both sides of town. Pick whichever side fits your week. The Med Spa page has the full menu, the laser treatments page has more on the Sciton platform, and the injectables page covers the neurotoxin menu.
A Note on Who Is Doing the Work
The name on the door matters here. Mine. I’m Mayo Clinic plastic surgery fellowship trained, double board-certified, a Clinical Associate Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen years running. The Med Spa at Southwest Plastic Surgery practices medicine the way I practice medicine, on protocols I designed and with staff I trained.
Medicine is complicated, and procedures like ablative laser resurfacing, microneedling with PDGF or neurotoxin injections deserve to be done by an expert. The hand on the device is the whole treatment.
Ready to Talk?
Call our Med Spa at (915) 590-7907 to book any of the November specials at the Eastside (1387 George Dieter Building C) or Westside (5925 Silver Springs Suite C) office, or text 1-866-814-0038. For surgical or combined consults, call my main office at (915) 590-7900 or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com/appointments. Follow me at @RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook. #StayBeautiful
Cross-links
- Longer clinical read on APS: A Plastic Surgeon’s Read on the November Med Spa Specials
- Front-office read on SWPS: November Med Spa Specials at Southwest Plastic Surgery East and West