Ok so I’ve started day 3 of my laser hair removal research, and have found this news clip via youtube which does an ‘undercover’ type expose on American Laser Center, and the 20 out of 75 THOUSAND treatments it has done in the US. It points out that dark spots or pigmentation are indeed a possibility and that at the time of treatment, clients sign a consent form acknowledging this. I’m thinking that perhaps the people who are going through the process aren’t made aware of this or perhaps simply didn’t do their research and are just sold on the immediate effects. Another issue is that the American Laser Centers actually do not have an actual doctor on location (they are remotely available via telephone) so the safety concerns are also an issue. Anyway, watch for yourself, then feel free to discuss

Technorati Tags american laser center, kim kardashian hair removal, laser hair removal

So I recently went in to Dr. Marks for a consultation about Laser Hair Removal, and left thinking that it was a bit too expensive at the moment for what I’m wanting to get done - My face, which was quoted at approx. 150 PER SESSION and needing 6 sessions, with a price break at 5 sessions, which ended up coming to like around $850 bucks, I was warned also that during the summer months, that the laser actually leaves your skin in a fragile/exposed state for discolorations due to the sun. That’s two strikes. THEN I caught a clip of Kimora Lee going for Laser treatment and complaining of the pain (and she had a camera in there so you know she was trying to look cute while in pain)…so I’m thinking that is 3 strikes.

Then Brianette sent me this flyer:

And I would be lyin’ if I didn’t say that it didn’t catch my attention…say word? I could maybe tolerate a few painful sessions and keep the cost under a C-note to rid of my waxable mustache (say it isn’t so!) …you know? Plus Staci said it doesn’t hurt…

I’ll keep you all posted on what I decide…I might just give them a call after the July 4th holiday and see what google says about the skin pigmentation issue. Oh yea, and I will just pretend that I never saw the Kimora Lee clip where she said it hurt.

Technorati Tags consultation, dark spots, didn, Dr.-Marks, hair, hair-removal, Kimora, kimora lee simmons getting laser, Laser, laser hair removal, Lee, pain, PER SESSION, Removal, Skin, Staci, summer, sunspots, upper lip

Ok chicas - I just got an interesting email regarding the whole teeth whitening phenom that is taking over our society…check it out - here is a recap:

“From what I can see tooth whitening evolved faster then the research needed to establish safety and effectiveness.  Each product line pushed for their own bias studies, and educators who’s facilities get discounts on bleaching products if not gratis.

The only resource I trust for non-bias studies is Clinical Review (CR), formally Clinical Research Associates (CRA).  They have a history of good dependable work.

What is needed right now is for people to write to the California Dental Board and tell them their stories.  Demand for guidelines that secure safe parameters for the dental office and the patient.”

Write to:
dentalboard@dca.ca.gov

Ok so there you go. Drop an email to that address box so that your voice can be heard, and remember that if no one speaks, then nothing gets done in your favor.

Technorati Tags Clinical, effectiveness, Everything Else, product, research, safety, teeth bleaching, teeth whitening, tooth, White, zoom2

Check out the video stream on MyFOX Los Angeles Video Feed #2 at 10:15AM Pacific Time.

Dr. Rey (aka Dr. 90210) will be answering your questions and reading your comments in a live video stream on myfoxla.com.

Got a question or comment?

All you have to do is drop a line to: justask@fox11.com.

Check out the video stream on MyFOX Los Angeles Video Feed #2 at 10:15AM Pacific Time.

Technorati Tags celebrity spa, cosmetic-surgery, dr 90210, dr rey, plastic-surgery

Ok so I had a couple of leg vein consultations last week. The first one was a laser vein cosmetic center that also specializes in botox, juvederm & lipozap/mesotherapy similar to what Dr. Marks offers (minus the laser vein treatment). They made me wait about an hour, then had a sales consultant come in and tell me that the consultation is free, however, the ultrasound is $500 per leg which is required  upfront, and then the laser treatment itself is $2800 per leg. After he explained that while I do indeed have insurance, and a PPO to be exact, they said that they will ‘bill my insurance’ as a courtesy, but that they still required full payment prior to the procedure. Being that I am pretty desperate to get this done because I REALLY do want to have nice legs for the summer season, I went ahead and booked my appointment. The doctor tried to get me to rush and come in within a week, but something just told me to wait it out…he had that used car salesman thing about him - the ‘you should book now because if you wait another day, you wont get an appointment in until june.”. I figured that it would probably take me until june to gather an extra $3500 around to get this vein treated anyway, so I said that june was sounding ok to me. But I booked my ultrasound for the following week.

On the way home, I got to thinking…why on earth would my insurance not pay for this?? Its actually preventative treatment, and not totally cosmetic. I mean sure, it’s ugly, but more importantly than that, I surely don’t want to form some sort of circulatory issue as a result of this…and my foot does get numb at times…

So I decided to call the toll free number on the back of my insurance card and was told that they do in fact cover the procedure, I just had to 1. go to a doctor within their network, and 2. submit a request for authorization from the vascular surgeon who would be performing the op. So after around 5 phone calls to various vascular surgeons in the valley, I finally found one who does specialize in preventative care. I booked an appointment, paid my $40 co-pay and right away he issued an ultrasound on both of my legs to make sure there was no clotting or immediate risk. I walked out an hour later with 2 ultrasounds done, 1 request for laser vein removal and now I wait for authorization from BlueCross which now calls themselves Anthem.

I hope they cover it! But if they don’t, then at least I saved money on the ultrasound, and that makes me feel somewhat accomplished at the end of the day! I should know something within a couple of weeks I hope…wish me luck!

Technorati Tags Dr.-Marks, insurance, Laser, laser vein center, leg, procedure, Removal, schlerotherapy, treatment, ultrasound, varicose vein removal, Vein, vericose-veins

Great…now my mom has yet another reason to get on my ass.

When I was in college, I got my tongue pierced and out of the blue I started receiving ‘anonymous’ newspaper and magazine clippings about how toxic tongue rings are and yada yada with yellow post-it-notes saying “Because I love you, mi hija”. Nothing bad happened from getting my tongue ring, although I do feel bad for the few that got horrible infections and loss of whatever.

Now…Newsweek has a new article out that is making it’s rounds all over the place stating that Botox injected into lab rats is showing that the solution can travel into your brain. Here is a rundown of the article:

• Botox can indeed travel from the facial muscles to the brain in lab animals
• Allergen (manufacturer of botox) thinks older studies of Botox not seeping into the brain are more credible. Allergen stated that the Italian research injected Botox directly into the brain, but they did not, Botox was injected into facial muscles and ended up in the brain.
  
• 28 people have died from medicinal Botox injections. 1,437 have reported adverse reactions from cosmetic injections.
• the FDA has launched a safety review of Botox and it’s cousin Myobloc.
  
• Allergen is currently under FDA investigation for promoting non-FDA approved use of Botox for headaches. They are cooperating fully.
• Botox and Myobloc carry labels warning of possible adverse reactions such as drooping eyelids as well as others. Most of the Botox related deaths have been related to those receiving them for medical reasons such as spasm disorders.
  

The bottom line? The FDA’s Katz says that people getting Botox for cosmetic reasons should “make their own personal best judgment about this” and “be aware that there’s the potential for” the neurotoxin to spread.

So there you have it. A simple breakdown for the botox prone, to debate and combat those loved ones in your life that are going to run rampant with this new study and try to ruin your day…like my mom. lol.

Technorati Tags Allergen, anti-aging, botox, FDA, Myobloc

Ok so I just finished swelling down from my 2008 wrinkle filler injections - this time with the latest and greatest, Juvederm. Last year, I had 2 treatments of Restalyn, on my face paranthesis, the corners of my mouth and on my upper lip (1 thread) but I had a couple of super minor problems - the first being a tiny lump that formed on the underside of my top lip, which to me wasn’t a super big deal because it wasn’t visible and didn’t hurt. It ended up dissolving about a year later. The other problem was that my side face filler was kind of visible under my skin - kind of like i had a baby slug under my skin -omg-gross, but it wasn’t really gross, it was just kind of weird. I’ll post a photo later to show you what I’m talking about.

ANYway, I went to Dr. Marks again to get this year’s filler upper - same places - nasal folds, lip crease, upper lip (2 threads this time) but this time with Juvederm - which has a waaaay more smooth look. No under-skin slugs, smooth injection sites, but the downfall (tiny actually) is that my lip bruised up at the injection site so I had to cover it up for a couple of days. And after the 3rd day the swelling goes down and the injections end up looking way more natural. I may have to go get the corners of my mouth retouched but other than that, I’m pretty happy and actually prefer Juvederm over Restalyn. And of course, Dr. Marks did a fabulous job with absolutely no pain whatsoever so I was a happy camper. Am a happy camper I mean.

The procedure will run you approximately $500 bucks for about a year of plumpness.

Technorati Tags anti-aging, botox, Dr.-Marks, fillers, juvederm, restalyn, wrinkle fillers, wrinkle treatments

It’s January, and in my mid-30’s life that means taking a trip to my favorite medi-doc Dr Marks to get some touch up schlerotherapy for spider vein & varicose vein removal. Since I’m only a few months away from goal weight with Jenny Craig, I want to make sure my legs are looking fab for this summer!

Schlerotherapy doesn’t really hurt - Dr Marks injects the vein with a tiny needle with solution that collapses the vein, but after the injection (which you totally can’t feel), your leg cramps up kind of like a charlie horse. Unfortunately I’ve got a pretty resistant varicose that just won’t totally go away, so on my next checkup appt, I might have to get a referral for a more evasive method for getting rid of it, but best believe, it’s going to get got…somehow or another - I AM GOING TO BE FLY THIS SUMMER. Doggonit.

Technorati Tags Dr.-Marks, jenny-craig, laser treatment, schlerotherapy, varicose vein removal, vein-removal

Haters are alive and at em in the valley ya’ll! I got a “concerned’ call from someone who got Botox injections from Dr. Marks Cosmetic Center (and looked amazing btw) because she had a “friend” who got her eyebrows done in the valley who told her that Dr. Marks uses knock off botox from mexico.

Umm whatever. I’ve seen the boxes, I’ve been there when they book the Botox appointments making sure that everyone comes in within minutes of each other to make sure that the product is fresh when it’s injected, but you know me, I have to dig for the truth.  I immediately called Erika who is the good doctor’s right hand and was totally assured that their product is from Allergan and that she can totally show me whatever it is I have concerns about. I’ve actually sat in the waiting room with the Allergan rep many times so I’m not the one who needs assurance, but it would make for a great knowledge base for all of you readers.

Anyway, if you want to look amazing, you can make an appointment with Dr. Marks too and get some botox by clicking here.  Tell him that SylviaG from Spa-View.com sent you!!

Technorati Tags , botox, Dr.-Marks

this post doesn’t have any photos because basically my face is swollen like the michelin man. but it wasn’t as painful this time, maybe because I took a couple of advils before I went in to Dr Marks to get my mesotherapy on my face/neck/chin. If you remember from my first fat face before and after pics, there was not much of a difference, and the good Dr. Marks says that you really won’t see any difference until the completion of session 4, so I booked session 3 for the first week of december and am hoping to be in to get the last session before Xmas, but we will see. The holidays always seem to be very inconsiderate on my schedule needs. As soon as the swelling goes down from my fat face I will post pics.

Technorati Tags Dr.-Marks, fat-face, Medi-Spa, mesotherapy-for-double-chins

Perez posted a blog on his site saying that Britney went alllll the way to Las Vegas to get some LipoDissolve done -

“This is not the first time Brit Brit has visited the LipoDissolve Center. She was caught there in April for PCDC treatments - injections of a soybean derivative into the body’s fatty areas. The procedure is said to dissolve fat cells in a matter of weeks.”

source: PerezHilton.com

I wonder if she read the reviews at RealSelf.com? With a 59% of the reviewers saying it doesn’t work and is super expensive, why not go the MesoTherapy route? It works and is way way cheaper and not as painful. I dunno… just an opinion.

Technorati Tags injectables, lipodissolve, liposuction, Medi-Spa, mesotherapy

I absolutely love botox. Dr Marks in Canoga Park does mine, and I only have to get it every 9-10 months or so. He has fabulous bedside manner and is a great shooter, with perfect results every time. pain is minimal and the only precaution really is to not put any makeup or use any type of lotions for up to a day after.

It takes me around 7 days to see the results but boy oh boy is it worth it!!

Dr. Marks is at the Valley View Cosmetic Center in Canoga Park, CA - he is soooo good!

Technorati Tags Dr.-Marks, injectables, lipo, Medi-Spa, meso, Spa-reView, VVMConline.com

I just found this site called Realself.com that has a bunch of the latest and greatest cosmetic procedures with reviews, commentaries and specialists to answer user questions & inquiries…sounds informative!

Technorati Tags botox, cosmetic-surgery, enhancements, fillers, Medi-Spa, mesotherapy, plastic-surgery

ok so apparantly I was under the impression that LipoDissolve, Mesotherapy and LipoZap and Fig were all the same procedure but with different branding, and even though they all are injected in the attempt to dissolve fat cells, apparently they differ alot. The official treatment name that I get from Dr. Marks is “mesotherapy’ which are done 3-4 weeks apart and don’t penetrate that deep, hence the minimal bruising and what not. I’m doing more research so I will keep you posted with what I find.

Technorati Tags Medi-Spa

Ok so Dr. Marks had to go out of town so he postponed my second mesotherapy / lipodissolve treatment that I am undergoing for my double chin until mid-november. I had O take a pic of my side profile before the first treatment so that I could document the actual results, and the second is 2 weeks later. I’m not seeing too much of a difference yet, but then again I’ve had two people tell me that my face looks thinner, so I guess maybe its more obvious in the whole view rather than the side profile. I will take full front pics too- for comparison shots. Dr. Marks suggests 3-4 sessions to get the best results, spread over a series of 2 week intervals.

Technorati Tags anti-aging, cosmetic-proceedures, Dr.-Marks, injectables, Medi-Spa, medi-spas, mesotherapy, Spa Treatments