Mira Kaga, MD

We’ve all been there. One day we wake up and look in the mirror and wonder why we look so tired. Or why we need 3 gallons of pedialyte, 28 hours of solid sleep in a dark room, & a prayer just to recover after a night out, when in your 20s you’d drink 3x as much & still be up and at a yoga class at 7am the next day. As you get older, we need a little bit more TLC, including your skin. After 30, you might experience more dryness and irritation than you ever did before, not to mention strange spots that seem to pop up from nowhere. These are all perfectly normal things that we have to look forward to as we age. 

Your skin cell turnover rate slows down as early as your 20s. So by the time you hit your 30s, your new cells aren’t visible until every 28-35 days whereas they once turned over every 14 days or so when we were children. This factor alone can visibly make our skin look less radiant due to the fact that we have a greater number of dead skin cells that have accumulated and are just sitting on top of our skin. Luckily for us there are a number of things that we can do to get back that youthful glow we all are chasing. The difficult part is trying to decipher what treatments are most beneficial for our specific concerns without spending our whole life savings. 

Let me break it down a little...For the sake of this metaphor, let’s think of Dermalinfusions as “going to the gym” & laser treatments the same as “going on a strict diet”. A strict diet will give you more immediate visible results & help you shed those LBS you’re looking to lose the fastest. But the day you decide that you’re tired of the carb-less, sugar-less, icecream-less way of life & you kick your diet to the curb- and go on bread bowl binges and sprinkle hulls- the weight that you lost on your diet won’t all pile on at once, but it will inevitably come back. But if you start going to the gym along with your diet, you’re going to see longer lasting results and an overall boost in your health because you’re maintaining the overall state that you’re in. 

SO- you can spend a little bit more money & get faster, more immediate results (lasers, resurfacing, etc.) but if you don’t maintain it, than what did you spend all that money for? Dermalinfusions are not only great at addressing minor skin concerns but they are also a great way to maintain your overall skin health- all while being super affordable. A Dermalinfusion is an advanced skin-resurfacing treatment that combines exfoliation, extraction, and infusion of condition-specific serums to improve skin health, function and appearance and will address all of the concerns you’re currently experiencing. 

In the world of Aesthetics, it will always be my professional opinion to walk before you can run, so this would be a great first baby-step for you. I also highly recommend making a consultation appointment with a licensed professional who can assess and address your skin concerns in person to be able to provide you with a treatment plan you feel comfortable with.

Most people who decide to take the plunge and get their lips done- whether it’s because you don’t love the shape of what ya mama gave ya, or you’ve lost some of that youthful volume that you’ve always loved- often times don’t realize that those Kylie Jenner lips weren’t created overnight. All of those pouty lips that you see in the magazines or pop up on your phone as you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed weren’t created from one trip to their favorite injector. Often times, it takes a trip or two to the doctor to work up to the volume you’re looking for after the swelling has subsided. Minor to medium swelling, bruising, and lumps are completely normal post-lip augmentation. Some patients swell or bruise more than others just purely based on their body’s natural response, that doesn’t mean that their lips won’t be just as perfect as the others. It’s important to touch base with the doctor you went to and if you’re still experiencing any of these symptoms more than 2 weeks after the visit, to make a follow-up appointment to be seen by the doctor so that they can see what’s going on in person. From your picture, what you’re experiencing looks absolutely normal but if you’re experiencing pain, call your doctor and let them know about your discomfort.

If you’re looking to improve your pore size and increase the elasticity of your skin, Laser Genesis is definitely a great non-invasive treatment option for you. Essentially, the Excel V laser activates collagen remodeling which improves minor fine lines and wrinkles and helps create a more even, glowy skin tone. I encourage all of my patients to purchase a series of 6 treatments to achieve optimal results. Laser Genesis does result in minor facial contouring, not by actually eliminating fat cells but by increasing the elasticity of the skin, resulting in a tighter, lifted, taut end result.

Some things were made for each other. Like peanut butter and jelly or tequila and lime. Or more importantly, dermaplaning and facial treatments. Dermaplaning should be, in my opinion, always strongly recommended to do prior to facials or chemical peels. Here’s why: would you get in the shower with your clothes on? How clean is your skin really going to be if you’re in shower sudsing up your sweatshirt? Your skin might get wet but that’s about it. All of the product is going to be on your sweatshirt, unable to penetrate through to your actual skin. Same thing goes for having a facial or chemical peel without dermaplaning beforehand. Think of the layer of dry, dead skin cells and vellus hair as your sweatshirt. That layer is going to decrease the effectiveness of your facial. Just like how you wouldn’t shower with a sweatshirt on and expect to have squeaky clean skin afterwards, you can’t expect to see optimal results after a facial if you haven’t dermaplaned beforehand. By manually exfoliating that dead layer of skin pre-facial, you’re allowing all of the essential products and serums to penetrate directly into the skin giving you optimal results faster and in fewer treatments.

There are a lot of misconceptions about dermaplaning. From re-growing thicker facial hair to it being painful, everyone has heard some old wives tale in one form or another about what happens when a woman shaves her face. Dermaplaning is simply the manual exfoliation of dead skin cells and any superficial, vellus facial hair. Essentially, you're killing 2 birds with one stone. You're getting rid of both factors that make your skin appear dull, aged, and can even cause breakouts due to clogged pores and hair follicles. Which is why this type of manual exfoliation is essential to maintaining an even, healthy glow. It's a win win. Dermaplaning has absolutely no downtime and is completely safe for all skin types, all ages, and is even safe to do during your pregnancy. We recommend waiting 21 days between treatments so that you're not over exfoliating, which could cause some sensitivity. Besides the obvious pros of dermaplaning, by manually exfoliating you're actually speeding up your cell turnover rate which is what we all want! Our cell turnover rate slows down with age, which is why all babies have that perfect, smooth, glowing skin. As babies, our cell turnover rate or cell renewal factor (CRF) is incredibly fast and then naturally as we age, paired with environmental factors that we're exposed to (i.e.- sun, pollution, choosing tequila instead of water) our CRF dramatically decreases causing those dreaded little things we call wrinkles. Ever wonder why men always seem to show visible signs of age (unfairly) slower than us women? It's because they've been manually exfoliating, aka shaving, their face since they hit puberty, which in turn has increased their cell turnover rate. 

Let's address one of the biggest myths about dermaplaning- "But I'll have more and thicker facial hair back when it grows back in." MYTH. Dermaplaning doesn't speed up or cause more hair follicles to grow than you had pre-dermaplaning. Once your hair begins to grow back it might feel different because the hair was cut straight across, but it's actually the same texture as before and grows at the same speed. It also just might seem thicker because the hair was bluntly cut by the razor versus having a natural point to it. Some women actually feel that their hair grows in less.

Let's recap! 

-Glowing, soft, smooth, glowing, even skin

-Slows down signs of aging by speeding up your cell turnover rate. 

-Good for all ages and skin types

-No downtime 

In other words, call and make an appointment today. You won't regret it.

Hello! Thank you for your question and sharing your details. First, truSculpt 3D and laser-assisted liposuction are different treatments -- truSculpt 3D is a radiofrequency-based non-invasive body sculpting procedure, while laser lipo is a fat-removing surgery. Both can be very effective; I will say that truSculpt offers the benefit of eliminating the need for recovery time, which is often very attractive for clients like you who have been through surgeries recently. That being said, truSculpt 3D should not be thought of as a weight loss solution -- it is most often recommended for stubborn fat deposits that have not responded to diet and exercise. I would suggest pairing truSculpt 3D with a medically managed weight loss plan; truSculpt can give you a headstart and a motivation boost, while your diet and exercise regimen can ensure that you lose all the weight you hope to shed. You should schedule a consultation with a board-certified physician or plastic surgeon who provides truSculpt 3D treatments -- they will be able to help you more fully understand what a treatment like truSculpt will be able to accomplish for your particular needs. Good luck!

Hello, and thanks for your post! As with any Botox injection, you will start to see it take effect within a few days after your injection. It can take a week or two for it to fully settle; generally, the results you see at the 10-day mark will be at full potency. The exact amount of time varies based on your body’s reaction and the amount of Botox injected. You can talk to your Botox provider for more specific information; I recommend seeking a board-certified physician or plastic surgeon to ensure you are in experienced hands. Best of luck!

Hello! Thanks for your question. The PRP or vampire face lift does restore some volume loss and in the long run actually helps your skin produce more of its own collagen, thus helping to fill out your face and lift your skin. Whether the PRP facelift will give you the results you want will really depend on the extent and position of your volume loss. You should schedule an in-person consultation with a board-certified physician, dermatologist or plastic surgeon -- their evaluation will help you understand what a PRP facelift will be able to accomplish for your specific concerns. Good luck!

Hello, and thank you for your question! Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) works with your skin’s natural restoration processes to rebuild volume and remove damaged skin cells. Vampire facials rely solely on PRP, so your results can take a few weeks (up to three months) to become fully visible as your skin adjusts and renews itself. You will not necessarily need multiple treatments to see these results, but many clients choose to have regularly scheduled vampire facials every few months to continue keeping their skin at its healthiest. If you take care of your skin following a PRP facial, your results can last quite some time -- they will not “wear off” the same way that a temporary treatment like Botox will.

Vampire facelifts combine PRP with dermal fillers to lift and rejuvenate hollow or sagging skin. These results are typically noticeable right away as the fillers give your face more immediate volume, and your skin will continue to improve over the course of a few months as the PRP takes effect. However, dermal fillers are temporary and do wear off after about a year. If you take good care of your skin, the PRP can keep your facial volume looking its best for up to 24 months after your vampire facelift. Again, many clients choose to undergo another vampire facelift after these results wear off, but you will not need more than one PRP treatment to see your initial effects. I hope this helps! 

Hello, and thanks for your post! This is a great question because these two procedures can seem very similar: they both use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to rejuvenate the skin. However, they each focus on improving different concerns. The vampire facelift involves injecting PRP directly into hollow or sagging areas of the face to restore volume. The vampire facial, on the other hand, applies PRP to the upper layers of your skin, correcting concerns like acne scarring, dark spots and fine lines. They are both highly effective for the right client, so your choice really depends on your concerns -- if you want to bring a youthful plumpness back to your face, the facelift might be a better fit; if you are hoping to achieve a brighter, smoother complexion, the facial might be more effective. These procedures can also be easily combined and performed simultaneously if you want the benefits of both. You should schedule an in-person consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist to better determine which will give you the results you want. Best of luck!