My love for the SLK clinic runs deep. Being a client there is like having your own personal fairy…read moregodmothers on standby. It probably sounds dramatic for me to say that these beautiful people have changed my life, but that is exactly what they've done.
Growing up, I was always very self conscious about my recessed chin. I was teased relentlessly about that, my acne, my gummy smile, and in general, the fact that I wasn't a 'pretty' girl. Kids are brutal, and frankly, adults weren't much kinder. And those words stuck with me, buried beneath the piles of beauty products I bought over the years that promised to make my skin smoother and tighter.
I tried not to smile too big because what if someone saw my gums and teased me relentlessly for it? And pictures of me from the side? Forget about it. I can't show you a before photo because it doesn't exist. For thirty-eight years, I hated my side profile so much that any photo of me that actually managed to get taken from the side was immediately destroyed, never to be seen again. Side profile? I don't know her.
I only ever wore my hair down and as close around my face as possible to conceal my chin. The older I got, the more self conscious I became as gravity began to take its toll, giving me a double chin no matter how small I was. My recessed chin got even MORE recessed, and my confidence was at an all time low.
That was when I had my first consultation with SLK in March of 2020. It started with Botox to smooth my wrinkles and stop my upper lip from disappearing when I smiled. Then, I ventured into microneedling and Vivace and that thing where they zap away that little pocket of padding beneath the chin. Slowly, I started regaining some confidence and wearing LESS makeup. As someone who used to not go ANYWHERE without a full face of makeup, this was a huge revelation.
But then, I got filler for the very first time, under my eyes (tear troughs) for the deep dark hollows that framed my eyes and in my chin to balance my profile, and that is when the magic happened. Mallory did my first set of injections and when I tell you that woman is an ARTIST. If you saw me in person, you would have no idea that I never had a chin. This chin looks (and feels) like it was always mine.
As the filler started to settle within a day or two, something amazing happened when I looked in the mirror. For the first time in my entire life, I didn't pick my reflection apart. The person staring back at me looked how I felt on the inside: beautiful. A month later, I haven't even had my second appointment yet, but I have already stopped ducking away from the camera. Instead, I smile because I'm happy. Because I feel pretty. Because there's no longer an endless stream of thoughts wondering if I concealed my chin well enough.
Is this what Amy Schumer felt like when she fell off that spin bike and whacked her head in the movie "I Feel Pretty"? Because SAME, girl. Same. Can't tell me NOTHING.
Beauty may only be skin deep, but how we feel about ourselves runs so much deeper than that. Our lack of confidence creates a domino effect and impacts every single aspect of our lives. But on the flip side of that, when we feel we look our best, that bleeds over into other areas of our lives.
The truth is, I have always deserved to take up space, regardless of if I had a chin or not or if my gums showed when I smiled, or if I was wearing tons of make up or none at all. But now, I own the space I take up, and I feel comfortable in it. I simply cannot tell you what a gift it has been to finally feel good in my own skin.
I have only one regret about my filler, and that's that I wish I'd done it a loooooong time ago. If you're considering it, let this be your sign to go for it.
