Do Not Trust Vanity Costmetics!!!

What to say? I've been lurking on realself bbl section for a long time. After researching several doctors from California to across the state I've finally decided on Cortes (for now, unless I get any indication he is not the doc for me). He is pricey but I feel good about his skills and I like the fact that the surgery is done in a hospital.

I scheduled my surgery for the 11th of June. His receptionist was very nice, very helpful. I felt a little rushed by the other person I spoke to (not the receptionist). I understand he is getting quite busy but coming from out of state I really need to know and feel comfortable with the details and I would have appreciated not feeling rushed and be able to ask all the questions I need. I got a little worried about whether I was making the right choice as the staff reflects the doctor imo, hopefully it's just because Cortes is getting so popular they are probably overwhelmed with calls. I still don't know the address of my pre-op. I will have to call back, try to catch them when they are not so busy.

Other than that I am very impressed with Cortes's recent work and I enjoy watching his videos. I have read through the reviews, his patients seems to have gotten a good impression of him and it seems he is known for having a good bedside manner. Hopefully he is the right doctor for me. I'm feeling him 75 percent, waiting for a sign or some indication that he is indeed the right choice. Unfortunately because I am out of state I cannot have an in person consultation which I feel would help me determine better. Skill, artistic, good heart/communication/care towards patients is all vital and equally important imo.

Before deciding on Cortes I did consider Duran and Vanity either Fisher or Hasan. Maybe someone can help me? I'm curious if they use a different technique for fat transfer than Cortes? I watched Dr. Cortes videos, he seems to inject the fat in multiple layers. I wonder if the other docs do the same?

Still not 100% sure of my decision. I wish I had that feeling like I know for sure Dr. Cortes is the one. Based on my logical mind I feel he does an amazing job creating hips and that hourglass. Is he the best at creating hourglass? I'm hearing this. I need to do more research. I wish RealSelf had a thumbnail search option, would make it so much easier to find reviews with before and after pics and keep track of the ones I've already seen.

I am still researching other doctors. I wish I could find someone in California to be honest but I haven't seen many California doctor who are consistent in their results.

I don't want to say anything bad about Cortes. I love what I've seen so far and what I've heard about his bedside manner. I hope it's all true. But I was talking to my friend today. I told my friend I really need to make up my mind because I've already put a 500.00 deposit and another 2000.00 deposit is due soon. I believe both deposits are nonrefundable. I know for certain the 500.00 deposit is non refundable. My friend was shocked, they just yelled at me and said hell no you're not paying 2500.00 to make someone who is already well off richer and then not even be able to get your money back for no services. It just kind of hit home. The price of my bbl already went up 1000.00 because I didn't lock in the price and I have to pay a 2500.00 non refundable deposit? I love Cortes, I really hate to say anything negative but yeah I think that is a little excessive compared to other doctors policies.

I'm going to keep my mind open and pray about it. Maybe Cortes is the right choice, maybe he is the best? Maybe there is another doctor who is a better choice for me and I will just know it's right inside. Doing research... Any recommendations for doctors in California whose work is comparable to Cortes, Duran or the doctors in Florida?

I'm also still trying to find out how Duran processes and injects the fat, her technique? I want to make sure my fat is going to stay!

Looking for surgery buddy for Dominican Republic mid July or into August. Someone similar to me who is easy to get along with, low drama, supportive. Maybe share recovery room? I have never left the States, really nervous about travelling alone. I am from California/Bay Area. Please inbox me if this sounds like you.

Ugh, changed my mind again. i feel like the results are more consistent coming out of Florida doctors. Is anyone going to Florida for bbl in September or October? Any California girls going? Message me. Thanks.

I'm having the hardest time deciding who to go with. I don't completely have confidence in any of the California doctors. I was considering Fisher in Miami? Now I'm waffling again wondering if I should stay in California for convenience? I was brought to tears today by the confusion, I just want to get this surgery over with but I want it done right. Each doctor has plus and minuses. I figure that the difference in price is around 2000.00 after adding up all expenses and air fare. Do any of you ladies have an opinion? Anyone from California want to chime in? At the moment I'm considering these three:

Bruno: Very nice, lovely staff. Isn't run like a surgery factory, attention and care available for each patient. Uses pure filtered fat and seems very sterile and clean. When he is more aggressive with the lipo his results are amazing and natural at the same time. However there are quite a few realself girls who did not feel he delivered.

Hughes: aggressive lipo, staff a little pushy, seems to have a lot of patients. Most of his patients gave him good reviews.

Fisher: Reasonably priced. Excellent credentials. Seems to have predictable work. Save money. Vanity- sales oriented, staff not always honest and tons of patients?

Anyone else?

I am soo soo confused. I really want to stay in CA if I can but I need to feel confident that the results will be delivered?

Feeling a bit nauseas.. im staying at a recovery hous, because i was nauseas ive been laying on my back. Does anyone know if this is ok? I cant really stand to lay on my tummy right now.

Campos gave me lots of hips actually i hope they go down a littlt. Does anyone know how much of it is swelling the first we week?

Just letting u ladies know who are considering bbl it not easy. First night my boody n lipo sites are aching n it hard to get comfy also nausea. Hope it gets lots better the next few days.

Sorry i would write more but im so tired. What u ladies think? Camos said the dent would be hard to fix, its still there.

Feeling very heavy and swollen in the fat graft sites. Not really sure if it's normal. Just feel very very heavy and swollen. I've been sleeping on my back, no energy to focus on laying on my tummy right now. Very emotional too lots of tears and wondering why I did this cuz the recovery is so hard. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon.

Recovery is really tough for me. The laying on my tummy is the hardest part, my neck is sore, I get numb, can't sleep so uncomfortable. However, Campos fixed my body and I'm absolutely amazed. I'm only worried and regretful because I have slept and sat on my butt quite a bit, it was too hard for me with the nausea and discomfort. I hope I get to keep the beautiful shape and fat that Campos put in. I had lipo before from another surgeon that gave me a really unattractive shape, Campos was able to give me curves again. I also have a scar on my belly which due to Campos amazing liposuction skills is now flush against the skin and less noticeable rather than obvious and bumpy as it was before. I didn't even ask for an improvement in the appearance of my scar, it just shows me that Dr. Campos is extremely skilled. I showed Dr. Campos my wish pics, really curvy hourglass, he said he could do 60% but I feel he more than delivered. I look really curvy now and I love the shape he gave me. I hope it stays this beautiful as I heal. There are some areas of dimpling on my lower butt which I wish could have been corrected (Dr. Campos was honest and said that it would be difficult to correct) but overall the shape he gave me is really amazing, no round two for me (this recovery is too rough). He listened to me and was always polite and open to communication. I love his humble yet confident, extremely skilled nature.

I started at 204lbs went up to 207lbs after surgery now I am down to 195lbs so not all of the weight I lost was water/swelling weight?!? I'm really scared to lose volume! Has this happened to anyone else? I ate pizza, seems I shouldn't be losing weight. Also, I wonder if excessive showering could negatively impact the graft? I take like 2-3 showers a day because it eases my discomfort. It's been really cold too so I've had the heater on but then I wondered if the warmth could burn fat cells? Does anyone know? Thanks!

UGH, I'm a little annoyed. I wish Dr. Campos had provided and prepared me with post op instructions after surgery. I can't complain about his work, he's highly skilled but I wish he had instructed me that I should never lay on my booty. The first two weeks I laid on my back quite a bit and sat on my booty and now I am so regretting it. The nurse where I stayed had a tt with bbl before so she told me it's okay to lay on the booty. Has anyone else done this, laid on your booty the first two weeks p/o and did the fat survive? I grew to love my results and now I'm so sad to see it get smaller and afraid to lose it all.

They assured me that I would get a full refund no matter what if I did not go through with surgery or it was cancelled for any reason which is the only reason why I scheduled surgery with them. When I got to Miami Dr. Fisher said that he did not think he could give me results I would be happy with and he did not want to do my surgery. I was told by Claudia that I would receive a full refund since I did not get any lab work. I paid over 1700 in flight fees as well. Claudia told me to contact Nicole? at the refund department who would process my refund no problem. I called Nicole who told me that i was owed a full refund since I didn't get any labs done but their bank account was frozen so all I needed to do was contact my bank and I would get my full refund that way. This has been a huge nightmare. My bank account is now over drawn from their transaction and I cannot pay my bills this month and had already scheduled credit card payments before I saw that my account is overdrawn. I called Vanity today to find out what is going on and Claudia Puentes lied, she said she never said any of this to me or spoke to me about it at all which is a complete lie. I feel these are very evil people who will say anything to get your money. Be careful. It is not safe. I'm in so much distress over this. I'm recovering from bbl with another surgeonso I am not working consistently and now my account is overdrawn due to Vanities lies and I cannot pay my bills. They don't care. If anyone knows what I can do please let me know. I want to file a report against them.

Claudia Puentes told me that I needed to contact Nicole? at the refund department, that she would process my refund no problem. I called Nicole who said that since I did not get labs done at Vanity I don't owe anything but their back account had been closed and she did not have access to the funds to give me the refund. She stated that all I needed to do was contact my bank because they could access the funds to the frozen account and that I would get 100% of my money back that way. She said they would not dispute it. So I file a dispute with my bank and Vanity challenged the dispute. Now my bank account is overdrawn by over 1500.00 and I have lost the money I had in my account to pay my bills as well. I called yesterday, Claudia lied and said she never spoke to me about any refund. She was very very nasty when speaking to her and careless about the fact that this has put me into financial strain that I cannot pay my bills. She also lied and said that since I had a consultation with Dr. Fisher there are fees for that, etc... which I was assured all consultations are FREE and that my money was 100% refundable no matter what from the beginning otherwise I would have never dealt with them. I've also been told that out of town patients are extended a refund under any circumstances that they cancel the surgery or it is cancelled. The way I feel is that from the beginning dealing with Vanity has been like dealing with a parasitic monster. Lie after lie, nothing but stress and dealing with people who hussle you and only want money above all else. I paid over 1700 in flight and had to pay extra to change my flight after Dr. Fisher said he didn't think he could give me results and didn't want to do my surgery. From what I have heard their recovery house is a joke, I heard there is no phone there and the girls are left alone most of the time. People who have traveled know that cell phones don't always work when you travel and I can only imagine how dangerous this is. Since recovering from bbl myself I know exactly how hard it is on the body and you need lots of help in the first few days, imo they are proving a dangerous environment to their patients. I don't care how cheap they are or whether Dr. Fisher is "popular" right now, it is not worth dealing with these people. Seriously, I feel like I have encountered some of the lowest parasites of society and if there is such a thing as karma these people have some serious bad energy coming their way.