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.
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:
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.
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.
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!
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!! 
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!
I’ve said this before, and I will say it again…nothing is better than botox if it comes in topical form. period. However, I have been fortunate enough to come across a full size bottle of Strivectin theramal deep wrinkle serum and am going to give it a full test run. I am a religious botox believer and get mine done every 8 - 9 months for preventative measures and really don’t feel that anything could be ‘better’ but for the bottom part of my face (i.e. corners of the mouth, nose folds & under eye creasing and of COURSE, my cleavage crow’s feet) are fair game and ready for some deep wrinkle treatment.
It’s kind of complicated too - you have to prep your face and then dab on the wrinkle serum. and wait until it gets ‘tacky’ to the touch. Then you have to have a wet hot towel to put over the face/neck to kind of ’seal’ the serum for 30 seconds. And you have to do that twice a day for a month and then 2-3 times per week to keep up the results.
It runs around $153 per bottle from Sephora which will probably last about a month, and is way time consuming - compared to a series of botox which will run you around $200 and lasts for 6-9 months depending on your skintype AND you don’t have to do anything at all. So even with my test run about to begin today, I can pretty much say right from the get-go that Strivectin is NOT better than botox, but it still has a shot at the cleavage wrinkles…stay tuned!
My last LipoZap scheduled treatment with Dr Marks pissed me off. I got measured and I had gained an inch all over. ugh. granted, we had gone on a girl’s weekend to temecula for wine tasting, pechanga for gambling & drinks and then to the glen ivy hot springs so I’m sure I splurged a bit on the diet plan then, but dude 1 inch? And so I got mad and said I didn’t want to do it anymore because the pain wasn’t worth eventually gaining back the weight. So I booked an appointment for botox instead. 3 weeks later, I am shopping for fall clothes, and hotdamn I lost a whole pant size!!! I haven’t been a size 16 since college and el nino! So when I go back to my appointment with Dr. Marks I’m going to grovel and praise the lipozap for it’s painful effectiveness. It does work…but on me, it takes a few weeks to drain the stuff out. I am going to book an appointment to get my underneck gobble done next with the fat-shot. Keep ya’ll posted!
Check out Dr Mark’s before and after gallery on his super nice website and be sure to tell him that sylvia from Spa-View sent you!!
Botox is my favorite poison to date. Look at how smooth my face is - this phonepic was snapped right after my first injection - right above my eyebrows (on the outer edges) and right in the middle of my brows in the furrow area. I also got a tiny shot around my crows feet. Dr. Marks just put a smidge of botox - not the full amount (whatever that may be…) and it totally didn’t hurt. Smooth sailing ahead mate!
probably not. But then again, I’ve never tried StriVectin…yet. I have my first week of using it starting tonight - so I shall keep ye posted.
I have decided to write a continuous editoral for all of us chick-as and the few gay men who are fans of spa-view to bring awareness of treatments that are NOT ok to indulge in prior to a big event. I have had SO many friends & family who have endured unnecessary spa-trauma before big events and so with great joy, I bring you this forthecoming list:
1. NEVER wax your eyebrows or lip before a big event. Especially if you are not a frequent waxer. Two very close friends of mine have had traumatic experiences with the whole burn/bald wax sessions - and yes, one was a wedding. DRAMA! Best bet? Get your eyebrows waxed/shaped about a week before your event, then the night before your big day clean up any stray hairs with tweezers. It also helps alot to tweeze right after a shower when the steam has softened the hair follicles.
2. NEVER get a facial. Usually after getting a facial, your pores are all open and exfoliated/extracted which leads to redness and breakouts. It’s best to get a facial around 4 times per year and make sure you don’t have anything to do for at least 2 weeks to let your skin heal.
3. NEVER get an herbal wrap - usually the herbal wraps will help your body cleanse itself by removing toxins - which means lots of time on the toilet for the next 24-48 hours. Trust me - it’s not sexy!
4. Don’t get a deep tissue massage up to 4 days prior to needing to show skin. If you bruise easily, your body might have a potential to bruise after a good deep tissue massage. To relax before a big event, go for reflexology (way boring) or a good ol’ fashioned swedish massage - you can’t go wrong with that!
5. Botox - omg. this is probably the MOST important. First of all, it’s important to know how botox works - it really can be your best defense in looking fabulous after 35, but it can also be your worst enemy if not handled properly. I should totally do a whole section on botox alone - but for now, just know that it takes almost a week for it to ‘kick in’ - so the days after your treatment you kind of have a weird stretching feeling and red marks from the injections which might swell minorly in some people (I have super minor swelling)…and it also takes about a week or two to ’settle down’ and get that ‘a HA!” look off your brows. Best advice I can give is to get it done on major down times during the year - a month prior to the holidays and a month prior to summer. More on Botox later. For now, just know it’s not something you should do before a bit event.
ok. I am sure this is going to be a recurring topic, as we live, learn and make mistakes all in the name of beauty.
