Cosmetic News from Medicetics

Medicetics is one of the first UK clinics to use a brand new lash-lengthening prescription product to give natural lashes a new fullness and length.
Proven in clinical trials to stimulate eyelashes to grow longer, darker and thicker, doubling their fullness within 16 weeks, the new lash product has been widely tested in the States with clinical trials on 2000 subjects and over one million prescriptions to date.

Available through qualified doctors only, the active ingredient is an FDA approved drug called Bimatropost, which is marketed in the States as Latisse.

The active ingredient is painted on to the base of the upper lashes on a nightly basis, stimulating the hair follicles and prolonging their growth phase, with significant results within three months.

The effects of the product generally last two months after stopping use with lashes gradually returning to their previous state after that.

“This product will appeal to anyone who suffers from thinning eyelashes, which typically occurs with age, but can also used by anyone to achieve a thicker, fuller lash,” says Medicetics’ Dr Vicky Dondos who is currently prescribing the treatment.

The average results are eyelashes that are 25% longer, 106% thicker and 18% darker

To book a session call: (0)20 7402 2033 or click here

PRICE: Three-month prescription costs £270, from Medicetics.

Medicetics, 37 Connaught St, London, W2 2AZ.

Anyone who read the recent Daily Mail feature (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2133583l) about exfoliating medi-facials that ‘wreck your looks’ could be forgiven for feeling alarmed. After all, who would want to risk the thin ‘blackened’ skin model Sophie Anderton complained of following a long-term addiction to ‘super-facials’ like microdermabrasion and glycolic acid peels?

However there is no need to panic. Used sensibly, as part of a prescribed progamme, these facials are not only safe, but can also give your skin a great boost. “These treatments are designed to support the skin, remove dead surface skin cells and stimulate collagen production to ‘plump’ up the new skin coming through,” says Medicetics’ Dr Vicky Dondos. “Yet, as with all treatments, you can definitely too have too much of a good thing.”

Problems arise when women become hooked, returning for treatment as often as once a week. Or if they are suffering from rosacea or burst blood vessels, which can worsen. Anderton was left with paper-thin skin which meant that when she exposed herself to the sun, she developed dark brown pigment blotches all over her face, which took months of intensive treatment with specialist creams to reverse.

“Depending on the harshness of the treatment, misuse of MDAs and peels certainly may remove more layers of dead cells than appropriate, potentially increasing skin sensitivity. Indeed, they may even exacerbate oil gland activity, thereby increasing oil gland production, the opposite of what many clients want to achieve,” says Dr Dondos. Treatments should always be prescribed according to an individual’s skin type, but as a rule, intense facials shouldn’t be repeated more than once every six weeks in the long term. “You need to give the skin a rest with a ‘fallow’ recovery period. The skin can’t cope with continuous aggravation,” says Dr Dondos.

“However, I think it’s important to point out that in expert hands, these peels can actually RESTRUCTURE an abnormal stratum corneum, re-arranging a thick scaled, uneven pattern of cells into a healthy, normal (young) thin, compact, basket-weave structure. This is essential for strong barrier function. As this weakens, as part of the normal ageing process, more water is allowed to escape, leading to dehydration and sometimes irritation, redness and acne, as toxins penetrate more easily.”

Easy Living magazine’s April 2012 Anti-Aging Special on Fillers, Botox and Lasers featuring the coverline: “Read this and you’ll never need a facelift” is a useful guide for anyone wishing to learn more about this area.

The six-page article, by leading beauty journalist Leah Hardy, features quotes from Medicetics’ Dr Geoff Mullan explaining the use of Botox and fillers.

Concluding that filler used in the cheeks can give a sculpted look and lift skin to remove nose-to-mouth lines, Dr Mullan warns: “It’s important not to use too much or to place filler too near the nose, on the inner cheek, which looks hamsterish.”

Dr Mullan was also asked about the use of Botox in the jaw area. He responded saying: “I use Botox to relax the jaw muscles on people who grind their teeth. They can end up with a square face – Botox gives them a defined oval look.”

The feature warns readers “never to try anything permanent,” when it comes to fillers and warns that over-filling can stretch skin, so that it sags more in future, endorsing ‘the less can be more’ ethos.

Hardy concludes that, in her opinion, Botox is safe saying: “It has been used for decades on small children with cerebral palsy.” Noting that after consistently using the treatment herself, her brows had been deprogrammed from frowning.

When it comes to choosing a clinic Hardy says: “This business is full of people with very peculiar faces. Before you book in with a practitioner, take a hard look at their face. Do they look good? Normal? Natural? If not run a mile.”

“Shocking.” That’s the verdict on the Cameron Diaz’s ‘mask of surgery’ as snapped in the current issue of Grazia magazine. In fact, it’s most likely that Diaz’s unnatural look is a result of poor aesthetic procedures. Most notably fillers.

“It has been placed to close to the middle of her face – it’s a really old way of doing fillers,” says Dr Mullan, who has many A-List clients himself.

Dr Mullan, who is the UK’s official trainer in Voluma, a softer  and therefore more natural looking filler, says  rather than filling the apples of the cheeks, a more natural look can be attained by using Voluma on the cheekbone.

He also cautions against over-filing the area and checking the results while smiling, rather than when the face is at rest.

“The face might look OK in pout pose but when you smile that’s when you see the pillow effect,” says Dr Mullan. “As is often the case: less is more.”

The internet is buzzing with the news that Moscow’s macho Russian leader Vladimir Putin looks unnaturally young for his 59 years.

Not only that, rumor has it that Russia’s ‘skating, fishing, skiing, diving, judo-throwing man for all seasons’ has Botox to thank for his line-free appearance, with Kathy Lally pondering the rumors in the Washington Post.

Speculation began last year when the former president was seen on TV with what appeared to be a bruise on his cheekbone below his left eye.

And when, last week, Putin announced that he would be taking back the presidency in the next election, in March next year, his face was all over the press and the blogs went crazy. One blogger comparing him to Michael Jackson.

Putin’s spokespeople have denied any such tampering, but the level of speculation shows something of Botox’s recent image about-face.

The once-girly wrinkle smoother, is no longer considered the quick-fix solution solely for ladies who lunch, being as likely to be used by both men and women for professional reasons.

In the current economic crisis, much importance is placed on looking stress-free, in control and full of youthful vigor.

Certainly at Medicetics we’ve seen a marked increase in male clients, who are using Botox for professional reasons, not just the aesthetic boost.  Or maybe they just don’t want to admit to straightforward vanity?

Either way, Botox just got a shot of testosterone.