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Botox is Sooooo 2008! Reloxin is IN!

Karen made sure that we got this new & tasty tidbit! And you know I’m excited…cheaper? Lasts longer?? Sign me up homie! Read all about the New Botox called Reloxin on MSNBC by clicking here.

“Within the next few months, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve Reloxin as an injectable treatment for wrinkles. Made from the same neurotoxin as Botox, Reloxin is said to act more quickly and may last longer than Botox, according to a report filed on Thursday for TODAY by Michelle Kosinski of NBC News.

The bottom line for consumers, according to Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC�s chief medical editor, is that Reloxin will probably be priced lower than Botox.”

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Blingy Botox Shirts No More

Well, I was super jealous of the nursing staff at the Valley View Cosmetic Center sporting cute baby tee’s with rhinestone studded BOTOX spelled out across the front, but after reading this article, I guess all that and the free pens, notepads and maybe even the generous free samples of certain meds are going the way of the buffalo. Poof and you’re gone.

It’s funny how each year, society’s trends reflect the economy…remember when we were wondering if the 24K Gold facial was effective? Now it’s all about honey or mayonaise, and which one is on sale at the local grocery store. LOL!!!

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Faux-Tox @ Skinsation Sunset Strip

Is Dr. David Cary Hansen from Skinsation on the Sunset Strip your dermatologist?? If so, you might want to check out this article, or if you live in the LA area, just turn on your local news.

“Hansen, who was arrested early Thursday, is accused of purchasing at least a dozen vials of Botulinum Type A from a company in Arizona in 2003 and 2004. The vials were marked “For Research Purposes Only,” according to prosecutors.” from LATimes.com

I would offer some sort of suggestion or something at this point, but with the economy going south, products being made in China and with who knows what, it’s kind of hard to tell what is going where. I really don’t know what to say. I’ve got friends who have been going to Dr. Hansen for botox with no bad results, I’ve got friends who have heard Dr. Marks uses faux-tox, I’ve got friends who have the BOMB breast augmentations from Dr. Jan Adams, and I have a friend who got scammed from NeoSkin. What is one to do? Hope for the best, I suppose. I mean it’s not like Dr. Hansen was offering bootleg botox at the nail shop, or a tire center – AND he is a medical doctor, a dermatologist at that! Want even more validation? Skinsation was even nominated for a MyFoxLA Hotlist!! Rick Dickert and Jillian wouldn’t send us to a shady Botox injector would they??? It’s a sad day when Good Day LA features back alley botox shops.

I’ve heard of cosmetic dental centers buying their Zoom! Teeth whitening machines off of ebay to offset the cost of the competition (remember when a Zoom! treatment used to cost $700 and now it’s less than $200) and I’ve heard of massage therapists being treated like sweat shop workers and double booking at Burke Williams in Sherman Oaks.

Again, I don’t really have any advice to offer at this point – I mean, do you just say forgetaboutit and just not go? Perhaps.

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Nu Vela Esthetica

So I posted my blog about botox with Dr. D, but I wanted to do a separate entry for the actual facility itself : Nu Vela Esthetica. Seriously, when you walk in, it is just as chic as it can be, with gorgeous woodworking and serene furnishings, but what I loved about the whole experience was that the proceedures are actually CHEAPER than if you go to a ghetto strip-mall cosmetic shop. Botox runs for $10 per unit, compared to Dr. Mark’s $13 per unit.

The spa offers all the current cutting edge treatments from mesotherapy/lipo injections to all the fillers, leg vein removal, photofacials and anything/everything else any top of the line medi-spa has. One proceedure that has piqued my interest in a MAJOR way is the dermafilling of the hollows under the eyes. I am super looking forward to having rejuvenated eyes. LIKE YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

Here are some quick info links on the site that I found interesting & useful:
Before & After gallery
Service Listing & Proceedure Listings
Dr. D discusses what a chemical peel is

Located in Porter Ranch, you can save your trip to Beverly Hills and keep it local, while staying fabulous PLUS save on gas!

Dr. Raffi Dishakjian
Nu Vela Esthetica � 11200 Corbin Ave., Ste. 104 � Porter Ranch, CA 91326 � 818-832-4500

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Nu Vela Esthetica for Botox

I decided it was time to move onto a more specialized botox centre, and I had a nice experience with Dr. D. at Nu Vela Esthetica a couple of weeks ago, but here is a timeline of what is happening thusfar.

1. The front receptionist is super helpful. I scheduled a consultation and went in for a first appointment for my botox. Dr. D was informative and nice, so I went ahead and scheduled my appointment. He told me more info than Dr. Marks had, he did tell me that I should plan to not work out, because sweat might move around the injection, to not use anything on my face, sit upright for at least 6 hours (no lounging on the couch) and to not wash my face. The face washing part I already knew, and I assumed that meant no makeup either, but I didn’t know about the no couch-lounging or sweating.

2. A week later, I woke up with a brand new face. I mean, dude I was smooth as before I hit puberty; you can check out my facebook profile pic, since it’s my favorite smooth forehead pic in over a decade. I was smitten with Dr. D.! He used 50 ml in my upper face, usually Dr. Marks used around 300. It didn’t hurt any less, and it was about $500 for the total job.

3. It’s been 10 days, and today I am having a teeny tiny issue. I feel like my forehead is sliding down a bit – like my eyelids are lower than they usually are. I’ve been obsessing over this, and if it doesn’t perk back up by tuesday, I’m going to go see Dr. D. and see what’s up. I’ve been taking hourly photos on my new blackberry storm to see if the low-lid issue is getting worse/better/no-movement and I’m also wondering if maybe I’m freaking out too early and should just give it a few more days? I remember having 2 week botox issues last time too, so maybe I just need to chill out and let it ‘sit’.

I’ll update again tomorrow, it’s getting late.

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Doing Away with Diet Coke

I’m making it official – I am off Diet Coke. Or diet soda in general. I’m just not digging the whole chemical influx. I’d rather keep my carcinogens to a minimum, like occassional botox. LOL!

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B Gets Botox’d

I’m trying to edit my little beauty clips & put them online on youtube – I’ve finally managed to stop lurking and open up a spa-view channel. yay! Here’s me & B taking a trip to see our beloved Dr. Marks for a teeny tiny bit of botox.

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It’s Botox, Bitches!

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.

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Juvederm vs Restalyn…Let’s get ready to rumble!

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.

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The Real Housewives of Orange County

OMG are you as psyched about Laurie’s wedding as I am? I can’t wait!!!! I hope they don’t give complimentary botox to all the guests – you know how they’ve been overkilling the botox footage!

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