Illuminate Plastic Surgery of Palo Alto & San Jose

I am almost 2 weeks post op my surgery with Dr B. I got liposuction on my arms, armpits, abdomen, back, flanks and had fat transfer to the butt. Dr B and his staff have been great and I am loving the results so far! I stalked this site when I was choosing a surgeon so I figured I would help contribute to the reviews that I counted on when making my decision.

I had 360 lipo and bbl done by Dr B, after completely heal now I can say that I love my result! Dr B and his team are amazing, I feel very comfortable throughout the entire time of surgery. I trusted him 100%. I love how natural my results are. Everything just perfect. Pictures speaks it all. Now I have abs and hips. I can wear slim clothing again. I gained weight a few years ago so I was only buying loose clothes to cover my belly, but not anymore, now I need a whole new wardrobe:) Thank you very much Dr B!

Updated on 11 Jan 2025:
Here is my updated 11 months post surgery result picture. Looks like I probably will need one more Lipo done down the road. Saving my money for that currently. 17500 for the surgery, plus about 2000 I spent on lymphatic Drainage massage post surgery, I am saving another $20,000 for next liposuction surgery. They will be a long journey but I want to achieve my goal soon.

Dr. B is hands down the best choice I could have made when moving forward with procedure. He and his staff were so comforting, caring, assuring and kind through the day of and the weeks following my BBL with VASER lipo. He set my expectations at the perfect level from the get go and to be honest, the results were even better than I expected. He truly changed my life. I plan to return to Illuminate for any other procedure I need in the future.

As someone that exercises religiously and eats clean, I just couldn't get rid of stubborn body fat that crept up on me in my mid-40s. I even tried fasting and eating one meal a day, exercising 2 hours per day, and nothing in my midsection budged. One consult with Dr. Boudrealt changed my life for the better! Initially, I wanted Smart Lipo, but Dr. Boudreault said I would get the best results with Tumescent liposuction, which I elected to get knowing I would have to go under full anesthesia.
Leading up to the procedure, the Doctor and his expert and kind staff gave me everything I needed to prepare, including a bodysuit to wear after the procedure. I loved that Dr. Boudreault is a skilled plastic surgeon, not just a dermatologist. On the day of the procedure, I obviously did not experience any pain because of full anesthesia, but I have to admit when I got home the pain level was quite high. I had to take the pain pills-- there was no way around it to sleep through the night and be able to get up out of my bed or chair without intense pain. The first week was the worst because I had to have a drain attached to my body to drain out the excess blood and liquid. It is very uncomfortable, but sooo necessary to reduce swelling the right way. The bodysuit helped with overall comfort, I needed that extra snugness around my middle. With each week the pain subsided more and more. By one month I still felt uncomfortable, but substantially better. By two months I felt amazing. I resumed walking 2 days after the procedure, and lightweight training after two weeks. His practice also offers lymphatic massage after the procedure to further help decrease the swelling, which was great. I booked about 3 sessions, once a week, and I thought it was great to advance healing. Considering the initial pain, would I do it again? Hell yes! My abs are not only flat but sculpted! I love how I look in a swimsuit, in my clothes, and even get compliments from strangers at the gym on my physique. I realized, no matter how hard I worked before, genetics and aging would block me from achieving the results that I wanted--and there is no shame in getting a little help to increase the quality of my life. I no longer obsess about my tire in the middle of my body, I have newfound confidence, and I don't have to kill myself in the gym anymore like I used to! Of course, I still eat clean and exercise, but now, I have something to show for it instead of hitting the same wall over and over again. I thank Dr. Bourdreault for his skilled hands and wonderful staff to change my life for the better!

I came to Dr. B for a very conservative lip lift. I'm a big advocate for plastic surgery, even for small changes. My philosophy for surgery is to invest the money towards a permanent solution and a relatively little chunk of time for recovery, because it saves me more money and more days spent in the long run for non-surgical treatments, years of maintenance, and too many missed photo opportunities (kidding, but not kidding!!). Surgery gives me the real change I'm looking for. After my lip lift with Dr. B, I now love waking up and seeing the new enhanced me in the mirror, rather than reverting to makeup and feeling bummed about my "flaws". My upper lip used to cover a lot of my upper teeth and caused an awkward smile. I am in love with my lip lift - the subtle change in my upper lip shows my upper teeth more when I smile and makes me look years younger. No need for lip filler anymore either since it balances out the fullness of my lower lip - more money saved! Because of a more conservative lip lift approach, people are noticing an overall improvement in my look but can't tell I had anything done, because I still look like myself! Recovery went by pretty quickly, was able to wear makeup over the scar after one week, and the scar is nearly gone already after 3 weeks. I encourage anyone with an elongated upper lip to get this done, because this subtle change does wonders to the face (and smile!). Thank you, Dr. B, for giving me the natural-looking change I wanted. I'll post pictures soon!

On a follow up visit to Dr. Boudreault regarding the breast implants that he had removed just a few months earlier, I asked him for his opinion on a couple of other things. First, I wanted to know what I could do about my back fat, but he explained to me that what I thought was back fat was just back skin, and lots of it. He pinched three excess inches of skin and while doing so recommended an upper body lift.

At first it sort of scared me, but then I felt like anything to get rid of all of the skin overhang on my bra line would be worth it, so I signed on. The next thing we discussed were my enormous cheeks, those on my face. They had been overfilled at one point and although the time I had had them filled was four years earlier, the filler never dissolved--so he recommended dissolving the filler, but cautioned that doing so could lead to other issues, such as the skin being loose and droopy, but I was willing to take that risk as well.

We dissolved the filler and then what was suspected would happen, happened, and it was clear to me that I would get a face- and neck-lift, as well as a fat transfer (optional). All of the procedures combined would take about six hours. I decided to go for it all because I trusted Dr. B. and I wanted to begin my 60's with a fresh new look. The procedure came and went, and then there were a few weeks in which I took it very easy, especially with there being stitches.

Now it has been a little over four months post surgery, and the swelling is almost gone, which is right on target since it takes about six month for everything to settle completely. I really like what I see; it is very natural. You would never even know I had cosmetic surgery unless you lifted my hair and looked behind my ears. It is still early, and there is still pinkness back there, but that is disappearing and you won't be able to see any scars at all within a year's time.

(I will feel very confident wearing ponytails again). The fat transfer also helped my final result, especially since the old filler had caused a lot of stretching over time, and when it was dissolved, I discovered just how much my natural volume had depleted due to aging. And finally, the upper back lift. I will never regret having this done. I love to wear t-shirts now and all of my tops fit better than ever. You can't even see my bra line, period.

It just gives me so much confidence because wearing tops is now seamless. As far as the scar goes, I don't even think about it. In about a year or so, it is going to be faded to a thin white line and that I can live with. In terms of exercising following the surgery, I was careful not to overdo it for the first six weeks, but now I am back to yoga and weight lifting without any restrictions. All in all, if you are looking for an exceptional cosmetic surgeon, you don't need to look any further. A very happy patient!

I love my lips . Super painless they used dental pain blocker method were my entire mph was numb & I didn't feel a thing Amen to that I'm such a baby with pain. Molly sure nailed my lips goals she is super sweet. I bruise so easily like just my genetics totally expected little bruising.

After having my baby I became very insecure of my body. During this time, I came across many different options and doctors in order to get a BBL. I stumbled upon Dr. Boudreault's office and it wasn’t until after my visit that I knew I was in the right hands. Everyone in the office is very nice and friendly. I am not going to lie, when I went in, I was a bit scared because it is a really big decision and let me say it has been the best decision I’ve made. I got my BBL done on April of 2019 with Dr. Boudreault ux and I am beyond happy with my results. He's very informative and answered all my questions throughly. Gerri is also awesome! She communicates well throughout the whole process before and after! Due to the fact that I was petite and thin, Dr. Boudreault was super honest with me and explained to me realistic expectations. He made me feel comfortable and really wants to give you the best results possible. I could not have chosen a better surgeon than him. I highly recommend to anyone considering getting a bbl or any procedure. He is seriously the best!

Updated on 19 Jan 2020:
Here are some pictures of before and after my bbl.

Updated on 19 Jan 2020:


Updated on 24 Jan 2020:
I wish I had more pictures of my before... but this is the only one I could find. But it looks amazing and natural

Dr. B is amazing! Where do I began?! I had a BBL, power assisted lipo, Renuvion skin tightening and hernia repair. I also went back for filler injections. He has an artistic eye and has all the qualities a plastic surgeon should have. He is direct and realistic about results. He’s confident in his opinion because he knows what will and won’t look good. So many times doctors try to appease their patients even though in the end, they are the experts and know what will look good and natural. Sometimes it’s a communication issue or the patient not really being able to visualize what the doctor is describing. I love that he’s honest about what he thinks will look good and isn’t afraid to stand behind it. He’s excellent at what he does and so educated about symmetry and proportions when it comes to face and body. Amazing!! I’ve already recommended him to a bunch of my friends. Thank you for everything Dr. B!!! I love my results!

Updated on 10 Jan 2020:
I forgot to mention I’m a pretty thin patient. I’m about 120 lbs with some stubborn lower abdomen fat. I had one baby and ended up getting a hernia from pregnancy. My skin was saggy and stretched. Not so severe that it was noticeable but enough for me to notice a big difference. I had no idea I had a hernia and then a different doctor told me. The same doctor told me I didn’t need to fix it. I saw Dr. B and he said I should fix it and he wouldn’t be able to safely perform lipo with it. I saw a gastroenterologist to get another opinion from someone that specializes in hernia repair and everything Dr. B said was accurate. Therefore I had him do everything! I didn’t want to have 2 surgeries so when he said he could fix my hernia too, I was ecstatic. I decided to do the BBL only because they say fat is like liquid gold and I figured, why waste it. I’m pretty thin so I won’t really have another opportunity to harvest the fat amount I was going to take out. We were both on the same page aesthetically and I loved that he understood what I meant.

Dr. Boudreault is amazing. I am a 30 year old African American. Athlete build but with a pudgy, protruding belly and inner thighs were rubbing too much. Dr. Boudreault did liposuction of the lower and upper abdomen, flanks and inner thighs. Three months later and I love my results. I love new body. He put the incisions in hidden places like crease of the buttocks so I did not have much if any scarring just a lil bruising and a change of pigmentation in those areas but that's normal. I would definitely go back to him for any future procedures I may need. The price was ok. Not inexpensive but not exceedingly inexpensive either. My Mom loves my results and plans to go to him for abdominal lipo as well. Five stars from me. Great, Friendly staff. Dr. Boudreault is also very nice, friendly, young and relatable. He explains things simply and breaks it down for you in simple analogies.