Ok, so I met with three dentists total and all of them 1) recommended Invisalign (anywhere from 10 to 18 months of treatment) AND 2) strongly advised against veneers/bonding etc. The experts insist that I have great, healthy teeth, so no knowledgeable/legit specialist would shave down strong, healthy teeth and compromise the enamel for something as impermanent as veneers. Also, I didn’t know this, but veneers are super fragile– they aren’t even supposed to touch other teeth at the bite line. It’s all an illusion! So fine then. The professionals win. Interestingly, the cost of treatment ranged from under $4k to nearly $8k!! Yup, just like with home construction projects, the range runs the gamut. WTF? Ultimately, this means I’m going to wait until I get a job with better dental coverage before proceeding. I mean, my teeth bug me but they don’t bug me THAT much. I’d much rather go on an international trip for that amount of money… Then again, I guess if I really wanted to bring the costs down while also being an early adopter, I could always try the mail-order clear braces program called SmileDirectClub. Who the fuck knew such a thing existed? I mean, every person I tell shakes his/her head, but what can I say, I’m intrigued.

As for my skin, it’s been a few days since I tried the Banish dermaroller. It’s still early yet, but my skin did appear smoother the next day (my esthetician says it prob just appears smoother bc the skin is actually all inflamed and puffed up from being stabbed all over the place…). I’m hopeful though, bc conceptually, microneedling just makes sense to me. And if you’re wondering, yes, I did draw some blood. It def was NOT the most comfortable process, but fuck man, I have a high threshold for pain, esp when it comes to the promise of better skin. Bubbey totally called it when he got home: he said, even if the rolling didn’t initially draw blood, sure enough, I would just apply more pressure, believing “no pain, no gain.” True dat. Dude knows me like no other. Of course, since then, I’ve been itching to dermaroll again (just to make sure I cover every. square. inch.), but for the longer needles, the recommendation is once a week max or once every two weeks. Just this once, I’m gonna follow the rules and practice some self restraint. But shit man, it is killing me not to roll that meat tenderizer all over my face again! Resurfacing my damn nose just cannot come soon enough!!