BBL Heroic

Anything But Mid is hosted by Amy Edwards and Whitney Stropp. Neither host is a doctor and nothing here is medical advice. Lightly cleaned for readability.

Amy: I'm Amy.

Whitney: And I'm Whitney.

Amy: And this is midlife,

Whitney: but you are anything but mid.

Took me 1 minute. As soon as my mouth started talking, I was like, what are the next words?

Amy: Who does it? Yeah.

Whitney: I know my name.

Amy: Maybe we should go back and forth. I don't know.

Whitney: I don't know.

Amy: It's fine. I have a few things to share. One, I'm irritated today. I was telling you I'm irritated. Yes. Everyone

Whitney: Let's Let's get into it.

Amy: I have this sense that, you know, and you can probably tell me this, I feel like there's going to come a day when I'm going to miss the times when people want things from me.

Whitney: Yes, it is true, but when you're in it and somebody goes, "You better cherish these times," you just want to give them the finger because

Amy: I've said that to people, actually. I think. Yeah.

Whitney: "You better cherish these times." Okay. Well, you don't cherish them until they're gone and it's not hitting you in the face every day.

Amy: Yeah, well, it just seemed like a total disregard for my time. And it was just like, "Oh, I need you to help me shave my arms for my tattoo." Yeah, that's Justin today. And then And then I had to bring him something, and then Gigi needed stuff, and it was just And then the dog peed, and I had to wash her bed, and I'm Calgon.

Whitney: It's all on us. I'm sorry, but why can't Shaving your arm is not a two-person job, like

Amy: It is for him. That's He's kind of like

Whitney: A big baby.

Amy: Not a big baby, but it's kind of like if he's doing something, I'm doing it too. Do you know what I mean?

Whitney: Yeah, he Codependent?

Amy: Actually, yes. We are codependent.

Whitney: No, he he's just one of those partners that and I and I didn't have this in in my partner, my husband, like I saw couples that, like, went to the grocery store together and you know? And I would be like, "Wow, do I want to have that kind of a partner where I'm with him non-stop?" But what I wanted was for someone to be with me non-stop, but then not really be with me non-stop. Does that make sense?

Amy: Yeah.

Amy: Uh-huh. Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

Whitney: And so, my husband was just like, "I'm going to do my thing. You do your thing," or, you know, "Or you do all of that, and I'll do none of that."

Right, but

Whitney: But I I looked at those couples that, like, went to the grocery store together and I was like, "I wonder how that is."

Amy: We do sometimes, yeah.

Whitney: It's sweet.

Amy: We do sometimes. It's fun. We have a good time. We're both recovering codependents, so, for sure.

Whitney: Right.

For sure. And

Amy: Me too. I'm not recovering, I don't think.

Whitney: I'm not recovering. Yeah.

Amy: I'm We're in it. But But still today, I think I was on edge. I think that I'm going to start my period because I still haven't started. It's been months. And I'm waiting for it to so I can do my blood work so we can talk about the algae, anyway.

Amy: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Right.

Whitney: So,

Whitney: Oh, she doesn't want you to get your blood work done until you've had your period? She wants you in a certain part of your cycle? They say day 21 of your cycle is the optimal time to get your blood done.

Whitney: But if you are in menopause or perimenopause or whatever and you're not getting a regular period, then you're not getting

Amy: Yeah, I'm not sure what to do. Yeah.

Whitney: Yeah, that's what I'm always wondering about. Like, now that I don't have a period, do I still have a cycle?

Amy: I don't think so.

Whitney: Yeah. But then, now I'm on estrogen, so then am I on a cycle?

Amy: Maybe.

Whitney: Like, it's very confusing.

Amy: It is confusing. So, yeah, so I was wait I had had one so regularly that I was like, "Oh, I'll just wait till I have one to do my blood work." And now I don't have one.

Whitney: Yeah.

And now you're not having one.

Amy: Yeah. So, anyway, I'm still waiting on that. But I'm so irritated today that I suspect maybe I'm going to start.

Whitney: Oh, maybe. Maybe. But also, in your defense, you you know, when when everyone is coming at you at once and you've got your own stuff that you were planning on doing, that is a legitimate reason to be irritated.

Amy: Well, especially

Whitney: Especially when it's things that they could be doing themselves. I'm sorry, Justin. I love you, but you can shave your own damn arm.

And your daughter can take the sheets off of her bed. Like

Amy: And he left all

Whitney: the dog can't clean up his own pee, so.

Amy: He didn't clean up his hair. The hair was out and there was a lot.

Whitney: Oh, geez.

Oh, yeah.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Anyway,

Oh, man.

Amy: I'm just bitching now. But But I'm going to have a a talk with everyone today.

That's all right.

I've decided.

Whitney: Oh, okay.

Amy: I have like I'm going to have to just tell everybody, "Listen, we got to step it up around here."

Whitney: Yeah, cuz I don't want to do it all, nor should I. No one is an infant.

Amy: I don't.

Mm-mm.

Whitney: The only one that gets away with it is your dog.

Amy: Yes, and she felt bad.

Whitney: She she doesn't Yeah. All she wants to do is love you, but sometimes she has an accident.

Amy: Sometimes she does. All right, I got something for you.

Oh, hilarious. I've got something for you.

I want to say,

I have been very dedicated with creatine,

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: 5 to 10 mg a day with food usually midday or afternoon, and

Whitney: Yes, you've been hustling.

Amy: I think my brain is functioning so much better.

Whitney: So, something's wrong with my brain then, because I have also been diligent, but I haven't been doing 10. I just remembered yesterday that, "Oh, I'm supposed to really be doubling up."

Amy: Ah.

Whitney: So maybe that's it.

Amy: Maybe it is. I mean, maybe. And I'm not doing 10 every day, but some I am. And so I'm at least consistently five. The Naked makes packets of 5 mg. This is the Naked Creatine. I just hold it up to the camera. That I had been talking about, so it is nothing in it. Because I sent you one that was Laird and Gabby were pitching one that was like

Whitney: Oh.

Naked Creatine.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amy: you drink

Whitney: Yes, I see that that commercial all the time, yeah.

Amy: And I looked over the ingredients, and I don't like it. I don't want all that stuff. I just want pure. So, this Naked, they do make flavors, and I don't know what all is in that, but I I did just the pure. So, now you've got some packets that are five.

Whitney: Awesome.

Amy: You can throw them in a smoothie or travel.

Whitney: Now, I will say, and I can't remember because of midlife, if you cuz I was just listening to the creatine episode again, even though I was there.

Amy: I was relistening. I'm in the

Whitney: It's hard. I forget what we say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think vitamin C is something that helps with the creatine.

Amy: Really?

Whitney: And

Amy: Like absorption?

Whitney: Yes. And so cuz I um When I realized, "Oh, I think I'm supposed to be doubling up and doing 10," I started doing a little research, and it was saying, you know, you want to make sure that there's some vitamin C in your diet. Now that can just be fruit or a little thing of orange juice. But on some creatine that I have Oh, wait. You know what? Scratch all that. It's collagen.

Amy: Collagen?

It begins with a C.

Whitney: Okay. And there's my mid moment.

Amy: There it is.

Whitney: Right there.

Amy: Collagen helps?

Whitney: Collagen needs vitamin C in order

Amy: Oh, collagen needs vitamin C. I thought you meant creatine needs collagen.

Whitney: Yes. No, no, no. Collagen Creatine is fine. Naked Creatine is fine. It's the collagen

Amy: Creatine?

Whitney: that needs vitamin C. And we haven't done a collagen episode yet.

Amy: Okay.

Yeah, we probably should.

Whitney: Yeah, I definitely want to, cuz I found out some stuff. All right, so

Amy: Oh, well, hold on, I have more updates.

Whitney: tell me about this, yes. Okay.

Amy: Tell me about what?

Whitney: Well, so this creatine, it's just the It's just, like it says, completely naked.

Amy: It is just creatine.

Whitney: And you would need to do two packets if you wanted 10 g.

Amy: Although, I bought a big

Whitney: Awesome. Thank you.

Amy: I bought a big tub of it for at home. So, you just do two scoops.

Whitney: Awesome. Yes, I have a big tub.

Amy: Yep.

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. So, if anybody notices, I got my hair back in.

Whitney: I noticed.

Amy: I did. I got my extensions back in. I'm so excited.

Whitney: They look great.

Amy: But the lady that does my extensions, she's awesome, Tiffany at the Collective ATX, a little plug for them. She was like, "Oh, you got to do an episode on hair loss." And I was like, "We already have." And she said that they are going to start doing at her salon, like, I don't know when this starts, maybe in a few months, a that HydraFacial has come out with a scalp facial with peptides

Whitney: Ooh.

Amy: that helps you regrow your hair.

Whitney: Right. It's probably got

Amy: After one treatment.

Whitney: What?

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Did she tell you what's in it?

Amy: No, but there's a website, and so I Oh, I took a photo.

Whitney: I wonder what's in it. Minoxidil? It's probably minoxidil.

Amy: I don't know. You can go to the website and check it out. Damn it, I took a picture.

Whitney: Like, one treatment? Wow.

And it's the ATX Collective? Oh no, that's not the website.

Amy: The Collective ATX. So, Purify, Nourish, Boost. Okay, it doesn't say. It's helps helps with scalp health, hair thinning, hair loss, 85% Oh, wait. 50% of women experience that. And so, it stimulates and opens hair follicles using light suction and exfoliation.

Whitney: Ooh, light suction.

Amy: It's called It's called Keravive, K-E-R-A-V-I-V-E.

And

Whitney: K-E-R-A-V-I-V-E Scalp Facial. There it is.

Amy: R-A

V-I-V-E. So, Keravive.

Scalp facial. And and then it it infuses your follicles with peptides, and then support and then you can use something to support it with a daily peptide spray.

Whitney: Interesting.

Amy: I know. I thought you'd be really excited to hear that.

Whitney: I am. I will have to do a little bit more I'm going to have to dive into that.

Amy: Yeah, that's something down the road, like maybe we'll get one or

Whitney: So, what made you decide it it's pure because you feel better with the longer luxurious hair?

Amy: I do. When I look back at pictures of myself, I'm like, "Ooh, I miss it. I like it. I like how it looks."

Whitney: Yeah.

And you can't grow it, like

Amy: Not like this.

Whitney: your hair's this?

Yeah.

Amy: I mean, no. No. I feel like

Whitney: And it looks just like your regular hair.

Amy: Thanks. Good. That's the idea. But the downside is it's super tight in the beginning and has to relax, so it hurts. It's hard It was hard to sleep last night, but it's okay. It's like two rows and it's all right. It'll loosen up.

Whitney: And how long did it take to get them put in?

Amy: Oh, to get them put in? I don't know, an hour.

Whitney: Oh, why did I think it was like a half-a-day-type situation?

Amy: Oh, no, no, no, no. They're already ready to go. Like they'll If you're getting them out and put back in Now, I had them out, so they were just just put them in. But if you're getting them out and put back in and a little color done, takes like 3 hours because they'll like wash them, color them if they need it, do your roots, and then put them back in. So.

Whitney: Right, take just

Amy: So, it's a whole like you like if I started doing it, they would color my roots when I go in to get the They could, only if you want that, yeah, probably. But they want the color of your hair to match

Whitney: the color

Amy: Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to do it because I color my hair so frequently to keep those grays away, and then they're only gone for 2 days, motherfuckers, and then they're back.

Oh, my gosh.

Anyway, oh well.

Amy: My hair was so My hair was so gray. Justin saw it on FaceTime, and he goes, "Golly. Look gray." And I was like, "Oh, no."

Whitney: Yeah. Oh, that is so funny. I always think that it's so bad everyone can see, but then I get lazy and I'm like, "Ah, it's fine."

Amy: Yeah. That's how bad it was.

How long has it been right now?

Whitney: Two weeks?

Amy: Two weeks? I can see some.

Whitney: Oh, yeah, they're all all along All right there, terrible. Terrible.

Amy: Yeah.

They're not terrible. It's not that bad.

Whitney: Well, it's if you can see it, it's fucking bad. I guess I'm coloring my hair later today.

Amy: All right. All right. So,

Whitney: All right. Anything else you need to update me on?

Amy: Yeah, one other thing I want to tell you, two other things. Speaking of peptides, I discovered that there's an MLM going on that is peptides.

Whitney: What is MLM?

Amy: So, I want everybody to be aware. Multi-level marketing, like, you know,

Whitney: Oh, oh. And you're telling me because I seem to get into those.

Amy: Well, I just want people to be aware. It's called MAKE Wellness. I saw somebody talking about something that was peptides, somebody I know, and I was like, "This sounds funny." And I went and researched, and sure enough, it's got questionable reviews. So, I would say just

Whitney: It sounds funny.

Amy: It's called MAKE Wellness. So, just like if you hear about it and stuff, they're making a lot of promises. I believe the peptides are oral. Just beware, just like maybe

Whitney: It's a It's a

Amy: maybe not the place to

Whitney: It's a Ponzi

Amy: scheme.

Whitney: Yes, a Ponzi scheme, it is.

Amy: And then, lastly, the last thing I want to share with you, I I had a lot. I had a whole list. These aren't even mid moments. Well, my mid moment was really getting irritated with everybody.

Whitney: I know.

Right, and then everyone witnessed my mid moment.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Creatine, collagen.

Amy: In real time. In real time. Have you heard of mukbangs?

Whitney: Oh, yeah. I I was

Amy: Oh, my god, you know what this is?

Whitney: Dude, I started a YouTube channel cuz I was going to do a mukbang. I was going to be Break Break Bread with a Redhead

Amy: When was this?

Whitney: was the name of it.

Oh, years ago. I don't know.

Amy: Mukbang's been around that long?

Whitney: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all Asian little Asian people eating a shit ton of food.

Amy: No, not now. Now, it's everybody.

Whitney: Right. That's what it was back 10 years ago.

Amy: You knew about this? I didn't even know.

Whitney: Yes. Well, tell everyone what what what it is so that they know.

Amy: Well, Gigi told me what it was, my 16-year-old. Wow, I'm behind.

Whitney: And, well,

Amy: Break Bread with a Redhead.

Whitney: But I'm confused. That's I still have it. I just never did anything. Hunter At the time, Hunter was still alive, and he was like, "Wait. You're just going to eat a bunch of food and live stream it and people are going to watch you?" And I go, "Yeah, and you can make a ton of money. It's really this weird thing. They like to see tiny people eating tons of food."

Amy: Yeah, that's what Gigi said. But now, it's everybody.

Whitney: And is she doing it?

Amy: No, but she likes

Whitney: But is she watching it?

Amy: She likes it, and I was so offended. I was

Whitney: Damn it, I could have been a millionaire by now.

Amy: You could have been. You really could have been. You could have an OnlyFans of just eating.

Whitney: My husband poo-pooed it. He was like, "What?" I've never said that before in my life, and I never want to say that again.

Amy: Poo-pooed it?

Whitney: Yes. What the heck? That is another mid moment. That's That was horrible.

Amy: Well, I just couldn't believe it that Gigi likes it, because she can't even sit by me when I'm chewing. And I was like, "This is insane."

Whitney: Did you look it up? Did you watch some?

Amy: She showed me, and I was disgusted. And I was like, "This should not be a thing. No one wants to see this. How is this person have half a million followers, like?"

Whitney: Yeah, it's it is And I'm And I was telling my husband, I'm like, "It's so easy. You just order a bunch of food, and then you sit there and eat it on live camera."

Amy: That's gross.

Whitney: And then it's there. And then people want to watch you. I know, Break Bread with a Redhead, that's pretty good.

Amy: It is pretty good. Oh, well.

Whitney: Damn it.

Amy: You know what? Just

Whitney: And I would have been ahead of the game. I'd probably be about 400 lb, though.

Amy: I mean, you know, I don't know how you would, you know.

Whitney: Maybe I can still do it. Maybe somebody wants to watch a middle-aged woman eating a bunch of food.

Amy: They probably do. Honestly, I'm amazed by what people want.

Whitney: So, oh, well, nowadays, all of my nieces and nephews who are little, they spend all their time on their iPads and stuff watching just normal activities, like a family going to the grocery store. They're not even interacting with their audience.

Amy: That's

Whitney: It's just that, you know, like I guess they're called The Gomezes or something, I don't know. Anyway, my nieces watch them, but it's like, "What are you watching, honey?" And she's like, "Oh, they're going to the grocery store." And it's not like them interacting like, "What should we buy?" It's just them going to the grocery store.

Amy: Yeah.

Wow. Maybe it's soothing in some way.

Whitney: There's something about just watching people. My mom sat and watched a 30-minute video of a man shaving his beard.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: And I go, "What are you doing?" She's like, "Well, I just have to see how it ends." And I go, "He'll have no beard.

Whitney: Like, what are you doing?" She's like, "I know. It's I don't know."

Amy: Or just fast-forward to the end. I mean,

Whitney: Oh, that's hilarious. All right, so I have something for you.

Amy: Oh. Goody.

Whitney: Yeah, your birthday's coming up, so I got something for you, kind of. There you go. I saw this and I was like, "I've got to get it."

Amy: Oh, my god! It's a pause. I thought it was It's a positive

Whitney: pickle. You thought it was a pickle dildo or something?

Amy: I thought it was like a anal Well, cuz it's not that big. I thought it was an anal pickle. But it is The Positive Pickle.

Whitney: Anal pickle.

The cornichon positif.

Amy: Press me.

The Positive Pickle: Shine and shine.

Amy: Press me.

The Positive Pickle: You're rocking it.

Whitney: You're rocking it.

The Positive Pickle: If you are a pickle, you'd be dill-icious.

Amy: I would be. Oh, thank you so much.

Whitney: You're a really big dill.

Amy: I am. Well, I'm going to keep him, her,

Whitney: Yes, it it is

Amy: right out here.

Whitney: Yes, so

The Positive Pickle: In a world of plain cucumbers, be a spicy pickle.

Whitney: I am obsessed with pickles. I love to eat pickles and drink their juice, and so Amy's always sending me strange

Amy: Pickle content.

Whitney: pickle content, like a pickle fountain or like For somebody's wedding, they had a pickle fountain.

Amy: Yeah.

They had a pickle fountain.

Whitney: Yeah, with and I was like, "My mouth is watering." Even talking about the a pickle, my mouth is watering.

Amy: Juicy.

Whitney: Oh, man. Anyway.

Amy: Okay. Thank you.

Whitney: You're so welcome. And thank you for my creatine.

Amy: You're welcome.

Whitney: All right, today, we are going to talk about a specific light therapy treatment that I just had yesterday.

Amy: Oh, my gosh.

Whitney: Okay, I know. So, it's called BBL Heroic, all right? Now BBL has been around for a while, but now there is the Heroic version.

Amy: Okay.

Heroic, okay.

Whitney: BBL is is BroadBand Light, right?

Amy: I've done it. I've done a BBL. I did a BBL in 20 it was probably 10 years ago.

Whitney: Yeah, and was it called BBL back then or was it

Amy: I did. I got a BBL and a Halo at the same time.

Whitney: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I thought about maybe going into all of the lasers, but then I was like, "You know what? I'm just going to make it easy and we're going to talk about this specific one because I just had it done yesterday."

Amy: Now, I'm thinking I I can tell. Now, I'm thinking I can tell.

Whitney: Yes. So Yes, so I thought I would look way worse, to be honest.

Amy: Yeah, I can see like how it kind of

Whitney: It's starting Yeah, so it starts to do coffee grounds. So So let me tell you, so the BBL Heroic is a really cool thing. It's basically a massive jump in technology from traditional IPL. So, back in the day, I was getting IPL, which is Intense Pulsed Light, right?

Amy: Sure, sure. Done it.

Done it, yeah.

Whitney: Now, there's the BBL, which is the BroadBand Light, anyway.

Amy: Not to be confused with the Brazilian butt lift, okay.

Whitney: Which when I was doing this research, it kept wanting to bring up the butt lift, and I'm like, "I'm not I don't This is a laser."

Amy: Do you ever look Have you ever looked at before and afters?

Whitney: No.

Amy: It'll make you want one. They're so good.

Whitney: No, I have a good butt, so I'm fine with my butt.

Amy: You're fine with your butt, yeah.

Whitney: And I don't want padding in there. I don't know.

Amy: It sounds tough to recover from. I'm I'm curious what that would be like. I I don't want one either, but.

Whitney: No, but it did I did never click on it.

Amy: I did when I looked at before and afters, though, and I was like, "Woah."

Whitney: But I'm thinking like, "I don't want a Kardashian butt."

Amy: I dreamed the other night I had this super young, round butt, and I was like shaking it for Justin. It was a great dream.

Whitney: Oh, that is hilarious.

Amy: Okay, anyway.

Whitney: Shaking it. All right, so

Amy: BBL Heroic. Where Where did you do this? Do you mention that place?

Whitney: So, yeah, so I've never been to this place before. It's Maui Medspa. It's up towards like Round Rock.

Amy: Sounds sketchy. No, it's good?

Whitney: It was really pretty. It was a beautiful spot.

Amy: Why did you go there?

Whitney: Because I wanted the deal.

Amy: Oh, they had a special.

Whitney: But also So, I have been wanting to do something. I feel like my skin has been looking really kind of dull and tired and, you know, I got these lashes to try to help me look like I'm awake, but I'm just like, "I need to do something, but I don't want to ever do it because I don't want the downtime." And, you know, anytime you do a laser, you're going to be red, then you start to peel, and then they call it coffee grounds. Things start coming up on your face and it scabs over and then it falls off.

Amy: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Whitney: And I just I've always got I'm always got something on my my calendar, of my social calendar, where I don't want to look like that.

Amy: Right, right.

Whitney: But finally, after I had friends in town this past weekend and and after they left, I was like, "You know what? My next real big thing is Valentine's Day weekend for the event that we're having for Every Widow Thing." And I'm like, "Fuck it. I'm just going to go and I'm going to I'm going to do something." So, I started doing all this research on what to do. And then, I asked, and this is research with ChatGPT, obviously, my bestie. And I'm asking that like, "Well, give me the best like what where are the places that do this kind of thing, who has great reviews, reasonably priced." And this Maui Medspa came up and they were having a deal for this BBL, and you could get BBL and something called MOXI, which is basically, I found out once I got there, like a chemical peel. And I said, "Er, nope, I don't want that." Cuz I've done a chemical peel before and I cried my eyes out all the way home and then for hours after. I was like, "Why did I do this to myself?" Cuz it was so painful.

Amy: Cuz it burned so bad, yeah?

Whitney: Yes, it was so painful. So, I I did all this research and the BBL Heroic is the latest technology for BBLs. It's the most recent, most updated.

Amy: That's cool.

Let me ask real quick. Did you do your face and neck and chest?

Whitney: Yeah.

I did my neck, my chest, and my face.

Amy: And what'd you pay?

Whitney: $350.

Amy: What?

Whitney: Yes, it was supposed to be that actually wasn't the deal. The deal was going to be face, neck, and chest and this MOXI for like $495 or something. And then when I got in there, I realized I don't want that MOXI thing. She felt Listen, when I walked in, she was like, "Oh, my gosh, I am so excited to work on you because of all your sun damage."

Amy: Oh, god.

Whitney: And I was like, "Well, well, thank you for that."

Amy: Thank you.

Whitney: "I feel so pretty."

Thank you.

So, then she felt sorry for me or whatever and wanted to get in there and so she was like, "I'm going to I'm going to do all of it for $350."

Amy: She felt sorry for you.

Whitney: Yeah, but the face was two Normally, the face is $275, the neck was $50, and the chest was an extra $75. Like if you did it all together or something like that. But anyway, I got like $100 off.

Amy: Okay.

Wow. All right.

Whitney: Anyway, so I you know, I'm excited to share because Well, let me just keep going. All right, so it's it's called a laser, but it's technically not a laser. It's it's pulsed light and and the Heroic stands for High Energy Rapid Output with Intelligent Control.

It works.

Amy: That's ridiculous.

Whitney: So, the Intelligent Control is the newest feature. It's using a radar-like sensor that adjusts the light pulses based on how fast the technician is moving the handpiece so that you're never burned

too too much, like you're you're not getting Cuz I guess the IPL,

Amy: Wow.

Whitney: you know, there's user error. And they can And it's a stamp situation where they're stamping different areas of your face, and if they stay on it too long, it obviously is going to burn or worse.

Amy: Mm-hmm. Wow.

Whitney: And this this has this Intelligent Control where it prevents the stamping. It's literally a perfect even treatment. So, that's good. And then it's not a stamp anymore, it's gliding, gliding, gliding, so.

Amy: Nice. So, did it hurt?

Whitney: It hurt. But, but because I'm a redhead, like first of all, things don't things don't work for I think that's my phone. Sorry.

Amy: Okay, it's fine.

Whitney: Things don't work. Anesthesia and stuff don't work that great for me. So, and then pain hurts more as a redhead. So, when we were talking and I was like, "I don't want to do that, you know, chemical peel MOXI thing cuz it's just going to be so painful." She was like, "You know what? I'm going to numb you." Just even for this BBL, cuz normally you don't get numbed for it. And so, I sat with this numbing cream for like 30 minutes, and then it still hurt.

Amy: Sss.

Whitney: And she had me sit in like twice as long waiting for that and, you know, to to do its thing. So, it is a little painful. It's like, you know, somebody snapping rubber bands on your face, but also they're kind of hot. So, it I would suggest for everyone to just get the numbing cream. Why why torture yourself? And then I held a fan up on my face while they did it to help with pain as well. So, this this particular treatment is also very fast because you're doing the gliding and it's very precise like the the Intelligent Control, it doesn't take very long. Like the older machines, it would take like 30 or 45 minutes to do your chest or your back or something, and now it was like 10 minutes.

Amy: How much was that? How long did the whole thing take?

Whitney: Three

Probably 30 minutes.

Amy: Nice.

Whitney: And she did three rounds.

Amy: Passes, yeah.

Whitney: Yes. Yes, you know the lingo. She did She did say pass.

Amy: Do I know the lingo?

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: Who do you think I am?

Whitney: Right, you know everything. So then the other the other So So the three things that are really different with the BBL Heroic is the in-motion technique. It's not stamping, it's gliding. The the precision. So, now there's these filters that you can do, these smart filters, to treat different things with each pass.

Amy: Cool.

Whitney: So, like you could do acne, you can do resurfacing, not resurfacing, acne, redness or rosacea, sunspots. For me, what she did is the first pass was like just a an initial thin surface layer of just like getting, you know, I don't know. She just said it's a surface layer. Then the sec second pass were for the dark spots, for the freckles and the old age things and things underneath. For those of you who don't know, this brings up It's not just focusing on things on your face, it's actually pulling things that will be on your face in the next 6 months, the next year, whatever, and and pulling it up to the surface and sloughing it off. And then the third go around was for redness and the capillaries and all of that. So, she did three three passes on all, you know,

Amy: That's nice.

Whitney: surfaces.

Amy: Cool.

Whitney: And then, I'm really surprised. She said my face will be done in 7 days. She said the chest takes longer. I've In the past, it's been like 14 days

Amy: That's about right.

Really?

Whitney: of peeling and stuff. I thought that I would look

like obviously had had something done.

Amy: What'd you look like right after?

Whitney: It was a little red, but I mean, I spent I hung out with Ryan all night long and he didn't say He said I was getting a little red, but we were also sitting by the fire

Amy: But that's all?

Yeah.

Whitney: and drinking wine, so.

Amy: I just feel like I can see like around your eyes just a little bit. I don't know. I didn't notice right off the bat, though. And I can tell about these things.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah. And then and even my chest, I thought my chest would look really bad because I have so much sun damage.

Amy: But I can see it starting to like scab.

Whitney: But you can see it, yeah. So, I don't know. I'm guessing that over the next several days, it's going to get worse and then it gets better. But the downtime, right away, you can just, you know, you look flushed for an hour, and then and in a couple days, the coffee grounds and all of that, but you can wear makeup immediately,

Amy: Nice.

Whitney: which I do have on. Now, here is the exciting thing that I found out. And I found this out after when I was doing the research for this episode. There, you love studies, Amy. There is a famous Stanford study showing that these regular If you do these BBL treatments regularly, get this. It can actually change the gene expression of skin scale skin cells to behave more like younger skin.

Amy: Ah.

Whitney: So, it's not just a surface thing, it's literally changing

your genes to be younger.

Amy: Wow.

Whitney: Isn't that awesome?

Amy: I'm uh pretty much sold. What Like, how many do you have to do, like every

Whitney: It was

They say three to four.

Amy: Three to four months?

Whitney: No, no, no, three to four sessions. And like I asked her, I said, "When can I come back to do another one?" And she said, "Even in 2 weeks, but you can for your face, but for your chest, you need to wait about a month

Amy: I need to do it.

Whitney: and then come back." But this study, I'm just going to give you a little bit more info on that. It was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 2012 by Anne Lynn S. Chang,

Amy: Wow.

Yeah, I wanna go.

Whitney: doctor.

Yeah. You're like, "Let's take a look in there."

Amy: My chest needs it.

Whitney: Yeah. And by the way, if I did this Cuz I I I told her, "I don't want I like my freckles. I don't want to be completely freckle-less." But if I did this enough times, it would take away all my freckles.

Amy: No, they'll be way

Whitney: Well, I'd have to do my entire body.

Amy: I know, but then you have other parts of your body with freckles.

Whitney: I know. I'd just be walking around with some freckled arms, but no no freckles anywhere else. No, I'd have to do it all, but I'm going to do my back next because I've never done any thing on my back, and my back gets a lot of sun. It's harder to get your sunblock on over there. But, anyway, this study, just so that you know, the core discovery was rejuvenation versus repair. So, most skin treatments are just working by injuring the skin and forcing it to repair itself, but the study suggests that something different is happening. It's actually reprogramming how the skin scale skin cells express their genetic code.

Amy: Whoa.

Whitney: That's pretty awesome.

Amy: It's so awesome.

Whitney: It provides functional change instead of cosmetic mimic and behaving like younger skin at a molecular level.

Amy: Fog that.

That's so cool.

Whitney: Then, they followed these people around. They they they didn't just do it and follow them for like a couple of weeks or whatever, they came back 10 years later.

Amy: Yeah.

What? Wait a minute.

Whitney: The people

Amy: This This is just BBLs.

Whitney: in the in this in this study, the BBL, this specific BBL, yes.

Amy: Okay.

Okay.

Whitney: And

Amy: So, it wasn't the Heroic, but it was BBL.

Whitney: They didn't have Heroic back then.

Amy: Right, right.

Whitney: So, they were using a different protocol, but the BBL Heroic is is the same

Amy: The latest.

Whitney: protocol, but the latest, exactly.

Amy: It is.

Okay.

Whitney: So, they came back to these people that let's see. The researchers did three sample

groups:

young people, older people with untreated skin, and older people who had already received BBL treatments.

And then, they mapped the DNA activity. Then, they had a 10-year follow-up and the molecular study was the wow factor because it was clinically proven that patients treated over the nine to wait, over 9 to 10 years looked at patients treated over 9 to 10 years and, at the end of a decade, they judged the patient patients to look younger than they did when they started the study 10 years prior.

Crazy.

Whitney: So, they looked younger

than they did when they started the program.

Amy: Does it tighten also?

Whitney: Yes, it it there yes, it does. It tightens,

Amy: That's what I need.

Whitney: it it removes the unevenness of your skin. It encourages collagen. It's all of the things.

Amy: Oh, my god, I want to go. Did you have to wait to get an appointment, or?

Whitney: No, dude. I I called them and and like got in 2 days later. I

I had to say, "I'll see any of the

Amy: Technicians?

Whitney: technicians."

Amy: Who was your tech-

Whitney: Oh, shoot. I can't remember. I'll tell you when I get home. There was only three people and one of them is the main doctor, and then there's a nurse practitioner and then somebody else. And I think I was with the nurse practitioner.

Amy: That's okay.

Okay.

Okay, okay.

Whitney: I'll tell you.

But, yeah, it was awesome. And if you aren't afraid, you can do the MOXI. That's the deal, the January deal that they've got going on right now,

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: which, by the time this comes out, it won't be January anymore, so.

Amy: That's right, but they'll have a new February.

Whitney: They'll have another They'll have another one. And there were other places that are doing the, you know. But this, I think Maui Medspa was the only one that had the BBL Heroic,

Amy: Interesting.

Whitney: the latest technology.

Amy: Interesting.

Whitney: So,

I I was really excited by all of this.

Amy: I haven't done anything like that in such a long time. So, I'm actually going on Friday this week to consult about a facelift, so.

Whitney: Oh.

Oh, that's right. That's right. You'll have to come back and let us know.

Amy: So, we'll see. We'll see. I'll let you know. I'm I I don't know.

Whitney: I I cannot I'm sure he's going to say you're not there yet. I mean, like

I've tried to tell people I want to do that, too, and they're like, "Wait until you're in your 60s."

Amy: Really?

Whitney: And I'm like, "Why not do it now? Because by the time I'm in my 60s,

I won't care as m- Like, I want to look good right now. I want to look younger now."

Amy: Right, and and I think you just bounce back really quick when you're a little younger.

Whitney: That's true.

Amy: Yeah. I don't know. My mom did it at 50, so I guess I kind of got it in my head that I would too, and uh but Justin's petrified of it, so And he does have to look at me, so I don't know.

Whitney: It is very scary to elect uh you know what? I have a friend that's that's going in tomorrow, actually,

Amy: Really?

Whitney: to get one of those lower face like it's not a full facelift. It's the lower part and the neck.

Amy: Pony Ponytail.

And neck, mm-hmm.

Whitney: And then, she's getting a chin something, too.

Amy: Ooh, what's

Whitney: So, yeah.

Amy: that?

Whitney: I know. So, she's

Amy: Oh, boy.

Whitney: she's going to be

Amy: Well, I hope she I hope it goes good. Yeah.

Whitney: Yeah, I'll let you know. S- She seems to think she's going to be able to like be back at work in 2 weeks.

Amy: That's what they say. Yeah.

Whitney: So, who knows?

Amy: I have a friend who did the lower. She didn't do her neck. She just did the lower, but then she did her lips.

Whitney: Oh, yeah.

Amy: And they you can get a lip lift like this, you know, under your nose. And so, they lift like that. But they actually stitched all around her entire lips and like like extended her lips like that.

Whitney: What?

Oh, my gosh.

Amy: Fucking.

Whitney: She had to look so crazy going through recovery.

Amy: She showed me the picture right after, but then I saw her like weeks later and she was fine.

Whitney: But I'm confused. So, it's pushing It's just showing more of your under lip, like a lip flip?

Amy: Uh yeah, I guess I guess it's like a lip flip. But yeah, they basically imagine cutting all around the edge of your lips and then ex- just pulling it out a little bit, yeah.

Whitney: Oh, my gosh, that just sounds so painful.

Oh, wow.

Amy: It was wild.

Whitney: That is wild. I don't I don't know. There's something about elective surgery and going under, especially like I've said before, redheads don't take to anesthesia like other people. There's just something in our genetics or something and

Amy: Yeah.

So, it's more dangerous for you?

Whitney: It just doesn't take. Like, yeah, maybe, because you have to do more and more and more of it. It's really the fear of pain and death.

Amy: Have you had surgery before?

Whitney: Only my C-sections.

Amy: Did they have to put you under for that?

Whitney: Well, they give you a um spinal

Amy: So, you weren't like

knocked out.

Whitney: block.

No, no, no, no, no.

Amy: That's it?

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah, but I it took a while for it to like take and

Amy: Dang.

Whitney: But I mean, I had to do it for that. It was like, do you want your baby or do you want to die and not have your baby? I had to have the C-section. Otherwise, I wouldn't

Amy: No, you had to.

Whitney: I had to, for my babies. But yeah, the elective is scary, so.

I don't know. I would love to do it. It's It's the reason I didn't do the MOXI thing, cuz I don't like to feel pain.

Yeah.

Whitney: And I don't want to go through the downtime. So, I don't know. There are a couple of people that aren't good The The These lasers, these types of lasers only work on lighter skin tones. Darker skin tones, they it doesn't work as well.

Amy: Really? Okay. Okay.

Whitney: So, the Heroic version is safer than other models, but it's not for us.

Amy: A lot of A lot of lasers are like that. Like, like even Justin was talking about hair removal, and I was like, "You can't do it cuz he's blonde." Right? So, it has to have the contrast.

Whitney: Right. Yeah, you can't.

Yes, exactly. There had if the if that you higher risk of hyperpigmen-

Amy: Mm-hmm.

Whitney: hyperpigment-

Amy: Hyperpigmentation.

Whitney: Yes, why

hyperpigmentation.

Amy: I don't know.

Whitney: Why? I don't know.

Anyway, yeah, the light targets the melanin, so if you're darker skin, then you're going to get burned easier.

It's rarely one and done. Most Most patients need three to four sessions to see a full transformation.

Amy: Okay.

Whitney: And it won't fix deep deep wrinkles or heavy scarring. Like I asked her, could my son come in and do this after he finishes Accutane for any scarring? And she was like, the CO2 would be way better. CO2 laser, but that's literally stripping like five, six layers of your skin off.

Amy: Yeah, that's intense.

Whitney: I mean, that is intense.

Amy: I've seen people who've had it done.

Whitney: But the Halo, too. Dude, you did the Halo.

Amy: It's tough.

I did.

Whitney: And that's intense.

Amy: It was awful.

Whitney: You would never do it again?

Amy: I don't think so. I mean like, it was awful. I went home and I just stood with my face in the freezer. Like, I just stood there and couldn't couldn't get enough. I was in a lot of pain.

Whitney: Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Amy: Yeah, it was rough.

Whitney: Yeah, that's that was me. I After my chemical peel, I literally It was around January when it used to be cold in Austin in January. Hasn't been. And I had all the windows in the car rolled down and the AC blasting, all the air coming in from outside, and I was still crying.

And I was like, "Why did I do this?"

Anyway, I'm excited. I'm

Amy: But was it worth it in the long run?

Whitney: Well, you know what's sad is I don't remember.

So, apparently not.

Probably, because I do look younger than

my age because I've done things over the years. So, I'm sure it made a difference. But, to me, I'd rather do this BBL thing

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: and not not be crying and standing in the freezer.

Amy: No.

No.

Whitney: Just so people can kind of get a rough estimate of what this costs. Like I was saying, I got a deal. My My lady gave me a deal, but for full face typically, a single session is anywhere from $275 to $400.

Amy: Okay.

I don't think that's bad. That's not bad.

Whitney: Depending on where you go.

Yeah.

Amy: That's not bad.

Whitney: And then lots of places will offer a package because they really do think it works best if you do it more than once. That's for a full face. Face and neck, $325 to $500. Face, neck, and chest, $425 to $600, depending on where you go. So,

Amy: I want to do it.

Whitney: and then you can do your hands. You you know, look, I I could do my whole body and be a completely new person.

Amy: Don't. I like your freckles.

Whitney: I like my freckles too, but I do need to probably do my arms once or twice cuz if I'm doing this area and then I've just got these freckled arms.

Amy: Yeah, do it, cuz

Whitney: and then I do this.

Amy: and then and then yeah. And then that, if you add that movement in. Yeah, I know I'm getting a few spots on my arms and I want to get rid of those, too, so.

Whitney: Yeah, and and she told me that we're going to do a like a FaceTime check-in next week,

Amy: Wow. Nice.

Whitney: and then I can go in and get like There's this freckle right by my eye that I've got several freckles on my eye, but there's one that always just kind of bothers me cuz I keep thinking it's like eyeliner or something that I'm trying to wipe off. Is it on this side or this side?

Amy: Okay.

Whitney: This side.

Amy: On this side, this side. Yeah, I see.

Whitney: And she said once she knows how my skin handles the laser, then she could spot treat that

Amy: Cool.

Whitney: and and there are some other areas that maybe she'll spot treat. So, they were really nice and they're more reasonably priced than the other places in town and they have the the best equipment.

Amy: Woah. I'm sorry for my skepticism.

Whitney: That's okay. Hey, you have to be skeptic, and who knows?

Amy: I'm always skeptical

about everything.

Whitney: Me And And you know what else they did, which has never happened to me? The doctor came in to give me a like a medical sign off.

Like he came in and talked to me ahead of time and asked me some questions, and

Amy: That's really good, cuz a lot of places will just have a doctor that's not even in the state or like in another city or something like that.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah. It's just for on paper, they have a medical overseer, yeah. Yeah, he came in and asked me some questions, which I was like, "That's weird. I've I've had

I've had plenty of lasers. Nobody's ever asked me." So.

Amy: That's awesome.

I like that.

Whitney: It was a little bit of a drive. But,

Amy: That's okay. That's right.

Whitney: that's all right.

Also,

So, there you go.

Amy: I can't wait to see how it looks next week.

Whitney: BBL Heroic, or whatever.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: I'll I'll Well, I'll see you next week and we'll see. My face by then should be

Amy: Glowing. Oh, I'm jealous. I want to go get something. I feel like I'm a little dull.

Whitney: Yeah.

And then now that I know that it's going to be changing my skin cells on the,

you know, cellular level, that's what I'm really excited about.

Amy: Oh, yeah. I've been reading this book called Upgrade by Blake Crouch. And he wrote Dark Matter and Recursion, if anyone wants to read a good book. Read Recursion.

Whitney: I need to read Dark Matter. You talked about it before.

Amy: Recursion, though, is like my favorite.

Whitney: Oh, really?

Amy: Oh, my god.

Whitney: Well, what's that about? I don't even know what recursion means.

Amy: It's It's means like going back around. It means like cycles. If something is recurring.

Whitney: Okay.

Oh, right. Duh.

Amy: Yeah, it's about I don't want to give it away too much, but it's about basically people start suffering from something called forgotten uh false memory syndrome. And so people start all of a sudden will be like, "Wait a minute, why why am I here? This is my life. But I swear I remember having a kid and a husband." And like, remember something completely different, and people can't figure out what's wrong. People start killing themselves. They're like killing themselves. They're like

Whitney: Ooh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, gosh.

Does it have a happy ending?

Amy: Oh, yeah, yeah. It has a great ending. And but people they don't know what's wrong. They think it's related to Alzheimer's or something like that. And so this detective starts to like really look into it, and he's puzzled because he sees someone who has it. And then, it's kind of got another storyline and then they come together. And there's a woman who's trying to kind of cure Alzheimer's, but by preserving memories, but she ends up inventing time travel.

Whitney: Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Oh.

Amy: She invents time travel.

Whitney: Ooh.

Amy: It's It's really weird sounding. It is fucking great. But anyway, that's not the point. The point is I'm reading his other book, Upgrade,

Whitney: I like it.

Amy: and it's about

Whitney: Yes, you're reading all of his books.

Amy: I I know. I'm on a kick. I like I like his writing.

Whitney: But it's all fiction.

Amy: Yes, but you learn while you're reading. That's That's the fascinating part. Dark Matter is about parallel

Whitney: Yeah. Okay.

Amy: universes.

Whitney: Yeah, I want to read that for sure.

Amy: Watch the show.

Whitney: Oh, right, right.

Amy: It's so good. The show's just as good, and they're about to do season two, and he is running season two. So, because like the book ends where the season ends, but I kind of liked the show better cuz they had more characters and a little more going on.

Whitney: Okay.

Oh.

Sure.

Okay, and he's involved.

Amy: He's involved with season two, so I can't imagine what they're going to do.

Whitney: And his name again?

Amy: Blake Crouch.

Whitney: Okay. And so, your book that you're now reading

Amy: I know, I I do like a deep dive, but.

is Upgrade. And in Upgrade, they're like getting DNA and cellular upgrades.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: And I'm like

Whitney: Ooh, it's a little creepy. Like when you say it like that, DNA upgrades, that's like, "Ugh."

Amy: Oh, yeah.

That one's actually in the book it things go haywire. It's been outlawed. There's gene editing is outlawed in the United States and like And there's like a World Council like that that

Yeah.

Whitney: Yeah, it's at some point, it's like you're playing God. Even even like the being able to select the gender of your baby. Like that that was something wild to me. I'm like, "Ooh, okay." But I mean, also, cool. But also, are are we going to have too many boys and or too many girls or

Amy: Probably. Everybody chooses a boy.

Whitney: Let's just let nature take care of some of that.

Amy: I know. And yeah, in the book like Okay, I'll just tell you a little bit. But in the book, his mother tries to just do good for this one like area in China that is having some locusts or something like that, they're having some some animal

Whitney: Mm-hmm.

Infestation.

Amy: or bug that is She tries to help the field be resistant to this one bug, and she accidentally it goes haywire, it spreads,

Whitney: Yeah.

Right.

Amy: and this genetic thing spreads. It ends up killing 200 million people, causing a worldwide famine that the world never The whole world. It It It wrecks our environment, like it does all this damage.

Whitney: Oh, god.

Right, well, it's a very delicate ecosystem, I feel like, and that's why if we like That's why we're worried about the bees, you know?

Amy: Right.

Whitney: It's like if you're killing all of these things or using the the pesticides and stuff to kill certain things, it's messing with the cycle.

Amy: Right.

Right.

Yeah.

Whitney: So, it's a very But none of it's your face getting younger. Listen, I will mess up that cycle. Yeah, as long as it's just It's just in me and it's not doing anything to anybody else.

Amy: That's right. That's right. That's right.

Whitney: So, all right, well.

That is super fascinating. That was a very specific one and I liked it.

Amy: Yes.

Whitney: Yeah, I mean we could have gone on and on about all the different lasers, but why not just focus on

Amy: Yeah, why not? No, I need to Otherwise, it's so overwhelming. I can't.

Whitney: and it's the only one that is proven to do something deeper than just the surface-level skin.

Amy: No, I'm sold. I want to go get one. Like, I want to basically go tomorrow.

Whitney: Yeah, all right. Tell her Whitney sent you.

Amy: I know, I will. I will. Awesome. Awesome, thank you. Okay, great. Well, if you want to know about something specific, then send us a topic idea. We're always open to it. It's anythingbutmidpodcast@gmail, anythingbutmidpodcast@gmail. Or you can DM us on our Instagram @anythingbutmid. That's What'd I forget?

Whitney: I think that's it. And just always remember that even though we're giving all this information at the end of the day, you're going to do exactly what you want. Do what you want.

Amy: That's right.

Bye.

Whitney: Bye.