When I called Brava to place my order it took 5 minutes or less. They personally know Dr. Khouri so it was a smooth transaction. The Brava coach e-mailed me instructions on how to use the Brava and asked me to arrange a phone conversation with her after getting acquainted with the components to discuss the fine tuning of the dome application.
I love getting packages delivered! After making sure nothing was missing I watched the 20 minute introduction video. Here’s a picture of what I received.
The First Night Using Brava
I put on the domes while watching the video to make sure I did it right. I kept pausing and rewinding until I had the domes on with the tubing and sportbox. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a single step. When I went to bed I felt pretty confident that I had put on everything correctly, by myself. I had not spoken to anyone. In the middle of the night I woke up bothered by the little plastic edge of the domes digging into my skin. Although I tried tugging at it would curl back inward. Since I thought I had done everything right I ignored it and went back to sleep.
Mistakes!
When I took the Brava off in the morning, after 8 hours, I had red marks around my breasts but nothing alarming. My skin itched a bit so I washed my skin using only the Brava skin cleanser, warm water, and a towel like the video shows you. Since I noticed I still had bits of the gel ring stuck on my skin I washed it again. This time I really rubbed it to get it all off. Then I applied the Brava skin lotion. After an hour or so, when most of the red marks had gone away, I noticed a tiny line of blisters going down the middle of my chest around the top of my right breast, directly where the outer gel ring had landed.
Also I noticed a small line, almost a cut, where the plastic edge had been digging into my skin around my left breast. This is what had woke me up in the middle of the night. But it was hardly nothing compared to the tiny blisters on my right breast. Yet I had not felt any discomfort or indication of blisters developing around my right breast during the night.
I’m not the type to overreact and I have a pretty high tolerance level so at first I didn’t think much of the tiny line of blisters. They were, after all, TINY. But I thought maybe I should call the Brava coach just to see what she suggested.
Here’s the list of what I did wrong:
- I didn’t meet the two domes in the middle of my chest. I had a gap, about 1/4 of an inch wide, in the middle of my chest between the two domes. They were suppose to touch each other. This is important because the stretching of the skin is most important closer to your cleavage area. This is where most women are missing fullness and therefore, you want to make sure it is properly stretched and prepared for the lipofilling. Also putting them closer together could have prevented some of the irritation in the middle of the chest. And it allows you to achieve better pressure because the outer part of the domes aren’t hanging out so much.
- I didn’t flare out the gel ring as well as I should have. This is hard the first couple of nights because the domes are new and the new plastic wants to curl in. But the Brava coach suggested using my finger nails to separate the little plastic edge that curls in and attaches itself to the gel. It works.
- I should only have used the Brava for 6 hours the first night to see how my body and skin reacted. The suggested time on the instructions is between 6-8 hours the first night. Went I put the Brava on, my goal was to keep it the full eight hours. But after the discomfort I had in the middle of the night I should have removed it after just six hours.
- I rubbed my skin too hard when I re-washed it. The friction could have irritated my skin and caused some of the blisters. Oops.
- I forgot to dry clean my sportbox. When I got home I immediately went to complete this step but it wouldn’t turn on. I thought I had damaged it but when I called Darlene Haire, the Brava coach, we discovered that…
- I inserted the batteries into the sportbox incorrectly. Make sure you look at the label on the sportbox! Thank goodness I didn’t damage it.
The Learning Curve
Although I want the best results it cannot be at the expense of my skin. I have to take it slower and I definitely need more guidance. I’m pretty good at following directions and I like to figure things out on my own. But the application of the Brava involves a lot of small details that I wouldn’t have figured out had I not talked to the Brava coach. That’s what they’re there for.
I had to skip the 2nd night and not wear the Brava at all to let my skin heal. Great. That’s what I get for trying to be an over-achiever.
The Brava coached suggested that I buy a few items to help my particular skin issues:
- J&J Baby Shampoo to wash my skin with BEFORE putting on the Brava. No more using the Brava skin cleanser.
- Aveeno Body Wash for Extremely Dry Skin to wash my skin with AFTER I removed the Brava. It provides more hydration to my skin.
- Aveeno Body Lotion for Extremely Dry Skin to apply to my skin AFTER removing the Brava. And I should apply it at least twice daily to stay well hydrated.
- 2nd Skin Gel Pads to help soothe the blisters. I used these during the day and over night (since I was not using the Brava the 2nd night).
- Tegaderm Film/Tape, which is a type of multi-day surgical tape. This I had to put on the 3rd night, right before putting on the Brava, and it stayed on after I removed the Brava. It attaches to your skin and acts as a barrier between the domes and your skin so that the blisters don’t come in contact with the Brava. It protects the blistering skin while still allowing the correct pressure and suction to be achieved.
Ending My First Week of Skin Expansion using Brava
The next four nights of Brava wear were great. I wore it for 6 hours the first night and increased it by one hour every night. The Tegaderm tape came off after two nights. My blisters dried out and became tiny scabs so I put on another strip of Tegaderm to continue protecting my skin, which stayed on two more nights.
I established my daily routine of preparing my skin, putting on the Brava, washing my skin and domes after removing them, dry-cleaning the sportbox, and leaving everything ready to start all over again. I had a follow up call with my Brava coach on the 5th night of wear. The feedback I got was great. And we scheduled to talk again before I started the Cycling process on the 7th night. That was my next challenge. Wait until you hear about those mistakes!
Dr. Khouri’s advice about the Brava issues I’ve had is the same as that of the Brava coach, Darlene. I feel confident that with their help I will achieve the maximum expansion with the least amount of issues.
Jackie
P.S. Make sure you’re subscribed if you want to hear about my Cycling experience. 
The drive to Dr. Khouri’s office is gorgeous. The island of Key Biscayne is so clean and his office building is very modern. It really stands out from the other buildings. It gives a state-of-the-art feel.
