Timing Your Treatments Before the Holidays

By: Lindsay Sebek

Every year around this time, someone sits in my chair the week of a party and asks if we can fit something in. Sometimes we can. More often, the honest answer is that we would both be happier with the result if we had started a few weeks earlier. Aesthetic treatments are not instant, and most of them look their best on a schedule. Here is how far ahead to plan, treatment by treatment, so you are not racing the calendar in December.

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Why Timing Matters More Than People Expect

Most treatments have two separate clocks running. The first is recovery, which is how long any redness, swelling or bruising takes to settle. The second is results, which is how long it takes for the change you came in for to actually show up. Those two clocks are rarely the same length.

Neurotoxin is a good example. There is almost no recovery, but the full effect takes about two weeks to arrive. A peel is the opposite. The change is there quickly, but your skin may flake for several days first. Planning around only one of those clocks is how people end up frustrated.

Everyone responds a little differently, so treat the timelines below as planning ranges rather than promises.

Filler and Lip Filler

Plan on three to four weeks. Swelling and bruising are common and usually settle within one to two weeks, but filler continues to soften and settle for a few weeks after that. Lips in particular can look quite different on day two than they do on day twenty one.

Collagen Stimulators (Sculptra and Radiesse)

These work gradually, which is the whole point of them. They are typically done as a series of sessions spaced several weeks apart, and the change builds over three to six months as your own collagen responds. If you want to see a difference by this holiday season, this one needed to start in late summer. If you are reading this and thinking about next year instead, now is a reasonable time to begin.

Microneedling

Microneedling is usually done as a series, with sessions spaced about four to six weeks apart, and most people have some redness for one to three days afterward. To finish a short series before the holidays, you would need to start within the next week or two and schedule the final session at least two weeks before your event.

Chemical Peels

Timing here depends entirely on the peel. Lighter peels may leave you dry or flaky for three to five days. Deeper ones take longer. As a general rule, leave at least two to three weeks between a peel and an event you care about. This is also the treatment where it is genuinely worth asking us before you book, because the right answer depends on your skin and on which peel you are having.

Facials

Facials are the most flexible thing on this list, which is what makes them a good option when time is short. A hydrating facial a few days before an event works well. Anything involving extractions or exfoliation deserves about a week, since skin can look a little pink or purge briefly afterward.

Our fall menu has the Harvest Glow Peel Facial and the Autumn Latte Facial. They are different experiences rather than different strengths, so ask us which one fits the timeline you are working with.

Medical Grade Skincare

Skincare is the slow one. Most active ingredients need eight to twelve weeks of consistent use before you see a real difference. If a product is part of your holiday plan, it should already be in your routine.

Your Holiday Booking Calendar

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26 this year. Christmas Day is Friday, December 25, and New Year's Eve is Thursday, December 31. Working backward from those dates:

If Thanksgiving is your date:

• Filler, lip filler, or your first neurotoxin appointment: book by Thursday, October 29

• Chemical peel: book by Thursday, November 5

• Returning neurotoxin patient: book by Thursday, November 12

• Facial: the week of November 16

If Christmas or New Year's Eve is your date:

• Filler, lip filler, or your first neurotoxin appointment: book by Wednesday, November 25

• Chemical peel: book by Friday, December 4

• Returning neurotoxin patient: book by Friday, December 11

• Facial: the week of December 14

One practical note. The two weeks before Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of December are the busiest stretch of our year. Those appointments fill well ahead of the deadlines above, so treat these as the latest you should book, not the best time to call.

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Three Things People Forget

Bruising happens, and it is worth planning around. If you know you bruise easily, build in extra time rather than hoping.

Travel compresses everything. If you are leaving town on the 20th, your real deadline is the 20th, not the 25th.

Ask before you combine treatments. If you are considering more than one thing, the order and the spacing matter. That is a conversation to have with Mandy or me, not something to work out from a blog post.

If You Are Thinking of a Gift

Treatments make a thoughtful gift, but they are a difficult one to schedule on someone else's behalf, especially in December. Gift cards solve that. They let the person choose their own treatment and book at a time that actually works for them, which also keeps them out of the most crowded weeks on our calendar. Just ask the front desk.

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Let's Get You on the Calendar

If you are not sure what you need or when to start, that is exactly what a consultation is for. We will talk about what you are hoping for, work backward from your date, and tell you honestly whether it is realistic. Sometimes the answer is to wait until January, and that is a perfectly good answer too.