Melissa Gorden, RN
Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist (CANS)
I’m Melissa! I'm a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience, injecting since 2010.
I’m also a recovering beauty product junkie and melanoma survivor who loves the skin I’m in. I want you to love the skin you’re in too!
It’s never too late to start looking and feeling better.
My Experience
I was fortunate enough to join a plastic surgery team early in my career, and even though I went on to work in all surgical specialties, I've always had a soft spot for plastic and reconstructive surgery. I loved how it dealt with the entirebody. A typical day included a facelift, a mastectomy for cancer followed by immediate breast reconstruction, creating an ear out of a rib for a child's missing ear—or—in one case (the longest case I ever scrubbed, at 19 hours), a gunshot wound to the face! For years, I was exposed to the use of lasers and botulinum toxin for medical use (aka: Botox, Dysport.)
My Personal Connection
As a teenager, I had a period of cystic acne and required an excision with a scalpel on my face. Although the scar was small, it remained a bluish/purple color for a long time and it really bothered me. People often thought I had ink on my face and would try to wipe it off. I did not have the knowledge of how a laser could help then—and maybe my dermatologist did not either because it was never mentioned—but I started learning about skincare and experimenting with topicals such as retinoic acid, Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA), and Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA), and was able to improve the scar and my skin. It was such a relief to get that mark off my face!
Then in my early 20’s, I had a malignant melanoma surgically removed. That's when I started to understand the importance of SPF (ahem...sunscreen), though foolishly I dabbled in tanning for a while. Over time I started to see how remarkable protecting my skin from the sun was! I could see I was aging more slowly than those who did not wear SPF.
Adding to my story was the incidental discovery of yet another distinct bluish/purple mark on my body. This time it was a burst superficial blood vessel on my leg. Again, people thought I had ink on me. I tried to cover it with makeup and for a long time avoided showing my legs.
Finally, I had a laser treatment that obliterated the spot in about 1 minute! How silly was I to have waited so long to get that treatment?
