Our face is the first thing we present to the world, so why not make it as beautiful as it can be? Dr. Baljeet Purewal of Fresh Face & Eye is here to help you do just that.
“We always ask our patients what motivated them to come in,” she says. “We listen carefully to understand what’s bothering them.”
Dr. Purewal is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in oculoplastic surgery, and the eyes and face are the focus of her practice. “With the eyelids, millimeters matter, so I'm used to working with very delicate, very intricate anatomy. It makes sense to do one specific type of surgery and be an expert at that.”
The most common surgery she performs is on the upper and lower lids. There may be extra skin on the upper that causes the skin to droop down and make people’s eyes feel heavy, or cause them to squint. For the lower lids, it's usually puffiness. “I often have patients tell me they’ve had a great night’s sleep, but when they go into work the next day, people ask if they’ve had a rough night. When we take that puffiness away, they look happier and more alert.”
“I’ve always had heavy eyelids and as I’ve aged I felt they became heavier,” says Lisa Calicchio, one of her patients. “I finally decided to do something about it. I read about Dr. Purewal in this magazine, and the way she articulated how she works with her patients to achieve their goals caught my attention. She is realistic and doesn’t over-promise, so expectations are managed. The procedure was exactly as Dr. Purewal explained it would be.”
All surgeries take place in the office, which is located in a beautiful house in Chatham. “I wanted something warm and inviting and less of a sterile feeling,” says Dr. Purewal. “With the other offices I looked at, my patients would have had to take an elevator or be around other people. This space is very private, clean, and comfortable and has an element of luxury.”
This attention to detail doesn’t end when the surgery is over and the patient walks out the door. After surgery, Dr. Purewal calls patients to find out how they’re feeling. The office then follows up with text messages with those who would rather communicate that way. “People usually have some questions or just want to know that we're thinking about them,” she says.
“Dr. Purewal and her staff would check in with me daily, and I would text pictures of myself each day for a few weeks after the surgery so Dr. Purewal could monitor the healing and provide additional advice if needed,” says Lisa. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the procedure and the excellent care the entire staff provided.”
In addition to being trained in oculoplastic surgery, Dr. Purewal also completed two fellowships. “One was reconstructive and one was cosmetic, so the cosmetic fellowship allows me to also provide high-quality, minimally invasive procedures all over the face. We combine different treatments to get a rejuvenated look without changing people's anatomy.”
For example, she explains, Botox can help lift the brows and smooth out the forehead. Fillers can help camouflage puffiness in the lower lids and fill hollows, while lasers can help with the texture of the skin and give a nice even tone and a hydrated appearance. Other procedures include Ultherapy, which lifts and tightens the skin, as well as broadband light photorejuvenation, which treats dark spots and other pigmentation and brings out overall skin luminosity.
“You can really turn back the clock with all of those things and it's very subtle,” says Dr. Purewal. “If patients aren’t sure what they want done, we can create a plan and my staff and I commit to seeing them through the process.”
Taking great care of our skin makes us feel good. “When I see patients being proactive about what's bothering them or just taking care of themselves and how they look, I can literally see their mood elevate throughout the process.”
Adds Lisa, “While the surgery is considered cosmetic for most and thus an out-of-pocket expense, the confidence boost and increase in positivity they will experience makes it worth it.”
Although Fresh Face & Eye opened in 2019, Dr. Purewal has been practicing for over 15 years. “This is a boutique practice, and I believe the whole process should be fun and relaxing, while also effective. Our procedures are carefully selected and we've tested them on ourselves. We don't do anything that we don't believe in.”
To find out more about Dr. Purewal and what Fresh Face & Eye can offer you, go to https://freshfaceandeye.com/.
