Why We Started Combining These Two Treatments
September 4, 2025
Your skin will thank you!
In this article, you'll discover:
- The medical reasoning behind combining structural repair and surface refinement in a single session instead of months apart
- How timing these treatments together creates synergistic results that neither could achieve alone
- What happened when the first patient tried the combination - and why her results exceeded expectations from either treatment individually
- Why treating aging skin as both a medical and surface issue simultaneously addresses the complete aging process rather than just symptoms
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"My skin feels firmer, but I still look tired," she said. "All these brown spots and rough patches make me look older than I feel."
At the same time, I had another patient, Lisa, who'd been getting CoolPeel laser treatments
to address her sun damage and texture issues. The laser was beautiful for refining her skin surface - clearing up age spots, shrinking pores, smoothing out years of accumulated damage. But she kept saying her skin still felt "loose" and lacked that internal firmness.
Two women, two different treatments, both getting partial results.
That's when it clicked for me. We were treating aging skin like it was either a surface problem or a structural problem, when really it's both happening simultaneously.
Think about it - by the time you're in your forties, you're dealing with collagen loss that's been happening for twenty years. That creates the sagging, the loss of firmness, the way your skin stops bouncing back. But you're also dealing with decades of cumulative sun damage, enlarged pores, uneven texture, and pigmentation changes.
Most providers make you choose. Get the Vivace for structure, then come back in six months for laser resurfacing. Or do the surface work first, then address the deeper issues later. But your skin doesn't age in separate layers - why would we treat it that way?
Here's what I realized: if I could combine both treatments in the same session, we could address the complete aging process instead of just pieces of it.
The timing actually makes this combination more powerful than either treatment alone. When we do the Vivace first, we're putting your skin into active repair mode. Your fibroblasts are waking up, collagen production is being stimulated, your skin is primed for healing.
Then we immediately follow with the CoolPeel while your skin is in this activated state. The laser removes all that damaged surface tissue that would interfere with optimal healing, creating the perfect environment for the new collagen to develop properly.
Instead of two separate healing processes competing for your skin's resources, they work together synergistically.
Janet was our first patient to try the combination. She was honestly a little nervous about doing both treatments in one session, but she trusted the science behind it.
Six weeks later, she looked like a different person. Not just the firmness we'd been building with Vivace, and not just the surface refinement from CoolPeel. Her skin had this depth and luminosity that happens when structure and surface are both optimized.
"People keep asking what I'm doing differently," she told me. "But I can't even explain it because my skin just looks... healthy."
That's exactly what we're after. Not obviously "worked on" skin, just skin that's functioning the way it's supposed to function.
The treatment itself takes about an hour. The Vivace creates warmth and gentle stimulation as the radiofrequency energy wakes up your collagen production. Then the CoolPeel feels like tiny snaps as it removes damaged surface layers with precision.
You walk out looking like you spent a perfect day at the beach - slightly pink but glowing. By the next morning, it settles into natural radiance that keeps improving for months as your new collagen develops.
What excites me most about this combination is how it addresses the reality of aging skin instead of just treating symptoms. We're rebuilding structure while simultaneously optimizing surface quality in a single session.
One session, complete transformation, lasting results. This is the future of evidence-based skin care.
Meet the Author
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Sabrina Falquier started crying at a medical conference in Napa. Not because something went wrong, but because something finally felt right. After years of seeing 18 patients a day in 15-minute slots, checking all the boxes of a successful medical career while feeling like something was missing, she found herself at Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives—a collaboration between Harvard School of Public Health and the Culinary Institute of America. The keynote speaker started talking, and tears came. One shoulder whispered all the possibilities. The other shoulder reminded her of all the reasons she couldn't pursue them. By day two and a half, she realized something that changed everything: her current employer was just that—her current employer. Not her destiny. Now triple board-certified in internal medicine, culinary medicine, and lifestyle medicine, Sabrina has built a career teaching medical students, consulting with community organizations like Olivewood Gardens, and showing people that the most powerful medicine might already be sitting in their pantry. This conversation wanders through the deeply personal terrain of leaving the medical highway for the frontage road, the science behind why plants matter so much, and the quiet courage it takes to listen when something inside you says "there has to be more than this." Key Moments & Takeaways 00:00 - 07:03 | The Conference That Changed Everything Sabrina shares the moment she knew she had to leave traditional primary care. Spoiler: it involved crying at a medical conference and realizing her employer wasn't her destiny. 07:03 - 15:22 | What Actually Is Culinary Medicine The definition that matters: using food and nutrition to prevent and treat disease through hands-on learning. Medical students cooking in kitchens. Communities learning that canned tomatoes still count. Evidence-based nutrition that doesn't require a Whole Foods budget. 1 5:22 - 24:36 | The Plant Kingdom Revolution Why plants matter beyond fiber and nutrients. Phytochemicals, polyphenols, and the compounds that actually make your cells work better. The science behind eating the rainbow (and no, Skittles don't count). 24:36 - 32:15 | Teaching the Next Generation Medical students learning to cook. Teenagers at Olivewood Gardens discovering that healthy food can taste incredible. The ripple effect of planting seeds with future doctors who will actually talk about food with their patients. 32:15 - 40:48 | Making It Work in Real Life The pantry strategy when you haven't been to the grocery store. Why frozen and canned vegetables are completely legitimate. How to think about food when your schedule is chaotic and your budget is real. 40:48 - 49:07 | Rancho La Puerta & What's Next Sabrina's work at the iconic wellness resort in Tecate, Mexico. Teaching in their kitchen. Her husband rediscovering his humanity there during the pandemic. The place where boot camp and hammocks coexist. 49:07 - 54:25 | Following the Pull The scary, beautiful reality of going off the linear path. No regrets. Financial instability sometimes. The practice of saying yes to mission-aligned opportunities and no to everything else. An invitation to listen to what's calling you next. Resources Mentioned Sensación Salud Website: https://www.sensationssalud.com/ Instagram: @sensationssalud Dr. Sabrina Falquier's Podcasts Culinary Medicine Recipe Olivewood Gardens and Learning CenterRancho La Puerta (Tecate, Mexico) - April 2025 dates available The Kitchenistas of National City documentary Culinary Medicine Resources American College of Lifestyle
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