Cosmetic treatments blog posts and news

6 Free Tricks For Whiter Teeth

Hate your stained teeth but professional teeth whitening is too expensive? Or maybe you've tried teeth whitening and it didn't work out as planned. Here are 6 ways to give your smile a brighter appearance without bleaching:

1. Say no to yellow or orange lipstick

Older woman with white teeth

Darker colored lipsticks make your teeth look whiter, but they also make you look older so choose your lipstick colors wisely. Red lipsticks and those with cool blue tones will make your teeth look whiter.

Stay away from yellow and orange toned lipsticks that make your teeth look yellow. Pale, frosted shades tend to make your teeth look dull as do matte finishes. bright white outfit

2. Avoid bright white clothes

A bright white shirt or dress will only accentuate your less-than-white teeth. Try wearing off-white or cream and always choose colors that are a shade lighter than your teeth.

3. Go bronze

Golden and darker skin tones make your teeth look whiter. Instead of heading to the beach or tanning salon, try a bronzing lotion on your face.

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The Botox Breast Lift

Until now, Botox has been relegated to the forehead and sweat glands.

Apparently, a Botox Breast Lift is ideal for those small-breasted ladies with slouchy shoulders. The effect of the Botox breast lift may, however, be a perceived change and not an actual one. The procedure, which originated in Mexico has only been tried on a small number of women in Canada, but not in the United States. No clinical trials have taken place yet.

The idea here is to use Botox injections to numb the pectoral muscles, which as the theory goes, allows the shoulders to relax backward and women to stand up straighter thereby lifting the chest and improving the appearance of the bustline. In other words, it’s a temporary lift. It does not change the size or shape of the breasts–just makes them seem perkier.

While Botox is approved by the FDA for certain procedures, namely temporarily eliminating facial wrinkles, this is not one of them. Some US doctors dismiss it as gibberish and say it’s just a gimmick that makes no sense anatomically.

Patient says she's "perkier" after the Botox breast lift - Botox Breast Lift photos

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Décolloté Skin Care

skin resurfacing alternatives No, it’s not a fancy name for a piece of jewelry. It’s that delicate area just above and between the breasts, but below the neck. Younger women don’t usually pay attention to this area, but older women (I’m referring to the 35+ crowd here) certainly do.

A few days ago I asked a friend what bothered her about her skin. She surprised me with an answer that in retrospect is probably a fairly common one for women in their 40s--and older. Her décolloté. She didn’t exactly call it that but it sounds better than that saggy skin on my chest, doesn’t it?

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Anti-Aging Surgery Puts Fat Back!

Fat grafting is a type of plastic surgery Cosmetic surgery irony. . . I recently learned of the anti-aging surgery technique called "fat grafting" when I discovered Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Richard Ellenbogen's website. So many are obsessed with removing fat, but this procedure achieves some staggering results by replacing fat in the face. Pretty amazing before and afters . . .

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Gold Thread Cosmetic Surgery Hype

Gold thread surgery back from the dead? Did you know that cosmetic surgery was conducted on Cleopatra? The gold threads procedure has returned from the age of antiquities and is now gaining popularity in Europe and Asia. Since the spring of 2004, over 400 women in Japan have had gold threads inserted into their faces to reduce wrinkles.

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Latest On Liposuction: Ultrasound Process That "Melts" Fat

Liposuction techniques are making plastic surgery less invasive and painful, according to doctors Never heard of the plastic surgery procedure called liposelection? Neither had I before I saw a story about liposelection on NBC.

Appears that this new fat removal method reduces trauma to surrounding tissue, allowing for rapid recovery (days, not weeks often encountered by traditional liposuction patients).

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VelaSmooth: Does It Work For Cellulite?

Velasmooth treatment is used to reduce appearance of cellulite. Does it work? We're always on the hunt for information about the latest cosmetic procedure technology or treatments.Our latest discovery was a product that has received FDA approval called VelaSmooth. The electrical device uses heat and massage to address fat deposits such as cellulite.

If this cracks the code and works to remove cellulite, we're looking at a multi-billion dollar product.

Update April 2009: Velasmooth and Velashape are not looking like billion dollar products. RealSelf.com readers have mixed opinions about the efficacy of these cellulite treatments. Ratings for these treatments currently show:

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Plastic Surgery Statistics: ASAPS '04 Reporting

I've had a few questions about plastic surgery procedure "popularity". The best source I've run across is American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) which offers plastic surgery statistics each year.

Of the approximately 11.9 million procedures performed in 2004 (in just the US, please note), here's a summary by invasive and non-invasive procedure: