Describing herself as “the ultimate perfectionist” we talk to Dr. Sheila C. Barbarino about her decision to bring her California brand of care to Texas… and get her advice on how we can all look better and feel more confident in 2023.
Tell us about you and your family, and how you manage that elusive thing – work-life balance.
My son and my husband are my everything, but my patients are an extension of my family and my social circle. I'm so happy I have my patients. Some ladies have their tennis friends and their ladies’ luncheons, but I work all the time, so I turn to my amazing patients for my support, advice on life, child rearing, and to make me laugh.
You must love your work!
I wear many hats professionally. I am not only a doctor/surgeon by day, but I am also past president of the American Board of Facial Cosmetic Surgery and past president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. Additionally, I teach and train other physicians and surgeons all over the world on how to inject, how to perform laser treatments and how to operate and perform all things that are impactful aesthetic procedures. I just won the best surgical outcome by The Aesthetic Guide which I was blown away by. For fun, I perform clinical research on everything that's cutting-edge aesthetics. That's what I love about what I do. Aesthetic procedures and surgery are constantly evolving every day with better outcomes with less downtime. It's very exciting to be the first to use, test and try everything going on in this extremely advanced field of medicine.
What tips do you have for our readers on starting out 2023 looking their best?
Fundamentally, my biggest tip is to start taking care of yourself. Have a great resurfacing laser to get rid of the years of bad skincare and sun exposure and start the year with a refreshed canvas. Come in to have some neuromodulators (Botox, Dysport, Xeomin or Daxxify) to get rid of your forehead lines and your dreaded "eleven.” These lines make you look more tired and angry than you are… and there was a study published that actually showed patients who received neuromodulators are less depressed than their counterparts who did not! Oftentimes patients think if they have some filler, threads or surgery they will look "overdone" or "that they had something" but nothing could be farther from the truth. If work is done well, no one should know that you had a "tweakment". I've seen a ton of bad "work" around Austin and it's terrible. It scares people into thinking if they have aesthetic treatments they'll look crazy. No! You should look refreshed, well rested, and like you've lost 10 pounds when you've had correctly injected fillers and neuromodulators. You should always look like the best version of you, not what I like to refer to as "marshmallow filler face". No one wants to look like that and you never have to.
Outside of tweakments, what can our readers do for their complexion?
Use medical grade skincare and wear sunscreen. Yes, you've heard it a million times, but it's important. Use an antioxidant every day to combat free radicals from pollution, ultraviolet light, and bad genetics that harm your skin. Use a retinol or a glycolic acid-based product at bedtime. I practice what's called skin cycling. Which is when I use retinol one night to exfoliate and stimulate collagen etc. and the next night, I use a glycolic acid-based product (I love my glycolic overnight) that does the same through a different pathway and isn't as aggressive on my sensitive skin. Take care of your skin, it's going to be with you for a long time!
Finally, what advice would you give our readers on how to boost their self-confidence?
When you look your best, you feel your best and when you're not worried about how you look and you feel good you can take better care of those you love, contribute to your community more, and recharge your batteries. Self-care is important. As a working mother I am guilty of being too busy to think about myself, but it's important and looking and feeling your best is self-care. No one can do it for you. It's actually very empowering to say I'm going to give everyone else 99% of me, but I'm saving that 1% to make myself feel good and look good.
Barbarino Surgical Arts
Cosmetic & Reconstructive Surgery
6836 Bee Caves Road, Suite I-180, Austin, TX 78746
Office Number: (512) 732-7001
Follow Dr Barbarino on Instagram: Barbarinosurgicalarts