It’s Halloween again and the ghosts and ghouls will be out in force! All things spooky come out at this time of year but it’s not always supernatural – and I don’t mean sweet little trick or treaters knocking on the door! I mean the winter skin that cannot decide if it wants to be greasy one minute and dry the next or even both at once. In any case it can be very frightening when you get a glimpse in the mirror.

That is the changing of the seasons and the onset of indoor heating. Our US heating tends to be very dry convection heat as opposed to gentle radiant heat so we need to work harder to keep it stable. That means drinking more water, putting on the humidifer, getting enough clean smoke-free outdoor air and reapplying moisturizer.

As we are getting topical and timely I thought we should mention vampires. I am talking about the famous ‘vampire’ facial. I mean who can forget the sight of Kim Kardashian with her ‘bloodied’ face? The plasma facial as it is technically known requires a vial of a patient’s blood being extracted then spun in a centrifuge until the plasma separates out into “liquid gold.” Or plasma when spun at a different speed to yield the thicker red plasma.

These two fluids can be injected into troublesome face areas (to start the skin’s own renewal process) or spread over microneedled skin using a SkinPen®.So where does the vampire bit come into it? Well sometimes injections or microneedling can cause very small painless blood pricks and the plasma with their ghoulish yellow and bloody red look,like blood! The best results come when left on the skin until the next day as those growth factors seep deep into the skin.

Though it might look scary the results will definitely NOT have you running for cover! Expect a fresh plump dewy glow that keeps working for months after treatment.