RealSelf blog posts and news

New: Cosmetic Treament Video Reviews

Video reviews have arrived!

A first for the RealSelf.com community, cosmetic procedure reviews in video format were posted by two members as of yesterday.

Here is the lasik video review ("Zap my eyeballs into 20/20") and another lasik review ("a lasik story"). 

Even if you don't want to go on video, please join thousands who've already shared experiences ranging from Botox to a facial to zoom teeth whitening.

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Salad Daze: A Definition Of Exceeding Expectations

"One of the most popular marketing clichés today is that a winning company is one that consistently exceeds customer expectations. Meeting customer expectations will only satisfy customers; exceeding their expectations will delight them. Customers who are delighted with a supplier have a much higher probability of remaining a customer"  Philip Kotler, Kotler on Marketing

Few things demonstrate exceeding expectations the way April's lunch did today.  A $3.50 salad grows into 2 lunches.

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Gifting The Health And Beauty Reporter

Sending a gift to a member of the press for positive coverage has never crossed my mind.  The ethics of gift giving seem quite clear: unbiased journalists would never accept a gift.

Yet, according to a PR "tip" I received today from an established beauty PR firm, perhaps I should be mailing truffles to Rhonda Rundle who covered RealSelf.com in last week's WSJ story about cellulite treatments.

The PR firm offered a PR Tip: The Importance of a Gift

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On The Mind Of RealSelf.com Members

What do RealSelfers care about, think about, share? I decided to dump a bunch of feedback from outreach to our members, and created a cool text cloud (courtesy of Wordle) that captures it brilliantly

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Are There Virtues In Self-promoting Spam?

Commenting on RealSelf.com has picked up steam every since we launched a feature that let's users get notification of new postings via email.  Commenting has increased 3-fold since the change.  I love features that actually drive engagement.

Not all comments fly.  We don't allow personal attacks and personal email address postings.  We block spam.  But is it a knee jerk reaction to take down self-promoting spam?

Case in point is the message, below.  Bria is pushing a cosmetic procedure called hydrogel that's controversial in both form and means of distribution.

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RealSelf And Lifestyle Lift Reach Settlement

Today the U.S. District Court in Eastern Michigan signed off on the settlement reached on the lawsuit by Lifestyle Lift against RealSelf.com as well as the counterclaim made by RealSelf.com.

Both parties reached mutually acceptable terms and I'm excited to get full attention back to helping consumers share their stories related to Was it worth it ("WiWi"). 

Have you undergone any cosmetic treatment, ranging from Lasik to teeth whitening to cosmetic surgery? 

Please share your WiWi with others.

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Share Your Cosmetic Treatment Experience, Was It Worth It?

At RealSelf.com we call it WiWi, shorthand for "was it worth it". 

Thousands of RealSelf.com readers have shared their WiWi stories with the community on everything ranging from skin care products to Botox injections to cosmetic surgery and lasik.

We'd love your help.

If you, or someone you know has undergone any type of cosmetic treatment or cosmetic procedure, please help others by describing and rating the experience.  Experiences with lasik, breast implants, teeth whitening, Restylane...all are of significant interest to people who are considering these treatments.

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RealSelf.com Named Best Doctor Recommended Health Website

Today we were listed by Real Simple Magazine as a top health website. 

Honored to have RealSelf.com on a list that includes:

• mayoclinic
• healthfinder.gov
• cancer.org
• medlineplus.gov
• webmd

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Featured On ABC 20/20: RealSelf.com Members Speak Out

RealSelf.com members are featured in the investigative news program ABC 20/20, 'Lunchtime Lipo' Draws Concern from Doctors

The 20/20 story centers on the controversial and hotly debated cosmetic treatment called Lipodissolve (referred to as "Lunchtime lipo").

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How Much Does Botox Cost? Check The Map

Back when I worked for Expedia.com, I spent a lot of time working on delivering great prices to travelers for their vacation.  Our vacation packages deals delivered savings due to the fact each trip component (hotel, air, car) was lumped together into a total price.  This opacity enabled hoteliers to often deeply discount their hotel room rates for package buyers.  And since no one could turn around and call the front desk and ask for the Expedia Vacation Packages hotel rate, hotels loved it as a revenue management tool.  Pricing opacity was good for consumers who got great savings.

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