Cosmetic News from Medicetics

The Beauty Pages – independent beauty and fashion magazine – shares experience on mole removal treatment at Medicetics.

“Whether you want a mole removed because you feel self-conscious or because you are worried about it – London-based clinic Medicetics is the place to head. The simple, safe, and surprisingly quick procedure is carried out by an experienced doctor – and whether the mole is on your face or body, the clinic promises an excellent cosmetic result and no scarring.

After a quick consultation with Dr Geoffrey Mullan, whose warm, relaxed manner instantly put me at ease, I was lead into the surgery (which makes it sound far more daunting than it was) and asked to hop onto the bed. The only pain I felt throughout the whole procedure came next, as a local anaesthetic was injected into the area to be treated. Within 60 seconds, I was told that the mole had been removed – and I hadn’t felt a thing! Dr Mullan had used a laser to remove it and the procedure was completed in matter of seconds.

I am absolutely thrilled with the result and wish I had found out about the procedure earlier. ”

To read the whole review, please visit The-Beauty_Pages review.

Article from “Dr Feelgood” in the London newspaper “The Independent”.

In theory: With time-poor consumers demanding real beauty results in double-quick time, here come the “medi-spas”, staffed by qualified doctors performing a host of cutting-edge treatments. The lunchtime peel is a mild chemical exfoliation using glycolic or salicylic acid to remove damaged skin and stimulate underlying collagen regeneration refining pores and reducing lines and blemishes. In practice: There’s something about being given a beauty treatment by a proper doctor — ahem, I mean a fellow doctor – that makes one feel in safe hands. After a thorough skin examination, Dr Dondos (www.medicetics.com) started me on a relatively low 30 per cent concentration of glycolic acid (still far stronger than the usual 5 per cent offered by regular salons). And all Dr F experienced was a mild tingle, which, she was pleased to learn, indicates a strong skin barrier.

Observations: Immediately after the peel, Dr Feelgood’s face was a few shades short of tomato, but that faded within a matter of minutes, and just a few hours later she could see and feel a marked improvement in her skin, which was softer and clearer. In the following days her skin flaked and peeled as predicted, but anyone worrying about Samantha’s post-peel hell in Sex and the City has nothing to fear.

Analysis: Having acid painted on one’s face is never likely to be a pleasurable way to pass five minutes but this is an almost painless way to baby-soft skin. It’s expensive – particularly since it should be done on a fairly regular basis – but the immediate improvement makes it feel less frivolous than most facials. Prescription: If your skin is blemished, mildly scarred or just plain dull, this could make a big difference. Results far outweigh the standard salon facials.

Further experiments: For a similarly scientific home-care skin regime, Dr Dondos recommends the much-lauded Epionce range (www.epionce.co.uk). Dr F is a fan of Ren’s Glycolactic Skin Renewal Mask (£28, www.renskincare.com). Click to read the original article which is now on “The Independent Website”

Jasmine Gardner

If you thought the only use for Botox was helping Hollywood stars perfect their Ice Queen expressions, it turns out you’re wrong.

In fact, jabbing doses of the stuff into your armpits can also stop you sweating — and rumour has it that all the celebs are signing up in a bid to prevent them staining their Versace dresses with sweat on the red carpet.

Doctors have actually known about Botox’s anti-sweat properties, and have been using it to treat patients who suffer with excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), for years.

But now Botox for sweat has hit ­London’s medi-spas and cosmetic ­procedure clinics, making it easily ­available to all of us — for a fee. Hyperhidrosis is a condition in which you sweat far more than you should or is necessary to keep the body cool. According to the NHS, it affects about three per cent of the population of ­England and can begin at any age. ­Usually it is focused in a specific area, often the hands, feet, face or armpits, and sufferers are unable to control sweat levels even by wearing the lightest clothes or the strongest antiperspirants. It can be hugely embarrassing and ­distressing and until now has been ­difficult to treat successfully.

Now, I don’t have hyperhidrosis — I can get through the day without even breaking a sweat. I can wear red, grey or purple without having to worry. But I’m also not one of those girls who can spend 30 minutes on the treadmill in the gym to end up with only a glistening brow. When I work out, my clothes get positively soggy and give me a work deadline or stick me on the Tube during rush hour and the droplets start to form.

What’s more, I’m certainly not immune to those dreaded summer days when, after choosing the wrong clothes for the unpredictable weather, I have to glue my arms to my sides for hours on end, unless I want to expose my underarm puddles to the whole of London.

So the prospect of being sweat-free for the summer had a definite appeal. But until now I had relished my ability to be able to frown upon Botox. So it’s lucky, then, that it was going to be injected into my armpits and not my forehead. I ­figured that if the celebs are getting it to stop the sweat, I would welcome it with open, dry underarms.

The treatment

I arrived at Medicetics for my Botox and sat down in Dr Mullan’s consultation room, joyful about my sweat-free ­summer ahead. That’s when I ­discovered I’d be having 15 injections in each armpit. Joy turned to terror.

Yes, you see Botox works by blocking the receptors that carry messages from the nerve to the sweat gland and it has to be injected all over the area that sweats. But Dr Mullan quickly allayed my fears. First, the injections are superficial, just under the skin to target the sweat glands and not into the muscle (as they would be for wrinkles); ­secondly, the solution is twice as dilute as the stuff used in the forehead — and even that is a minute amount compared with what is used in hospital medicine.

As it turns out, a little bit of “breakthrough sweating” is normal. Botox in the armpits should reduce sweating by 85-90 per cent, so there can still be a little dampness now and again if, like me, you are wearing no antiperspirant at all. Just to be sure, Dr Mullan gives me a few booster shots in my right armpit. I haven’t sweated since.

Alice Hart-Davis

There’s an email doing the rounds offering “a revolutionary new way to stay healthy and young-looking in the office”.

It sounds good, so you click through to a website called computertan.com, which announces a technological breakthrough that transforms the electrical impulses in your PC screen into “factor-free UV rays” so that you can tan while you work.

Wishful thinking? Too scary for words? It’s a hoax, of course, cunningly devised by the Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity to raise awareness of the dangers of tanning, but just for a minute it sounded plausible.

No, computer screens don’t emit anything as harmful as ultraviolet rays but it’s clear that spending too much time in front of a screen in the office takes its toll on our skin as well as our general joie de vivre. Here’s what you can do about it.

The problem – dehydrated skin

Air con and central heating both remove moisture from the air, and dry air will in turn do its best to remove moisture from your skin. The problem – congested skin

“It’s dry, it’s dull, it affects men as much as women, and it makes you look older than you are,” says cosmetic practitioner Dr Vicky Dondos. “It’s the end result of office life.

“Air con doesn’t help but nor do stress, anxiety, infrequent meals, bad nutrition, flying, burning the candle at both ends … The net result is a build-up of dead cells on the skin, which can make it look dull and greyish.”

The solution

Medical-grade microdermabrasion, a mechanical form of exfoliation, works a treat on this, swiftly removing those dead outer skin cells so that the skin regains its glow and treatment products penetrate more deeply afterwards.

“It’s very effective,” says Dr Dondos, “and popular with men because it’s less touchy-feely than a facial. It’s quick, too – you can be in and out in half an hour.

Click here for more information on medical microdermabrasion.

Click here to find how to book an appointment. Dr Vicky Dondos, Medicetics, 37 Connaught Street, W2 (020 7402 2033, www.medicetics.com). Microdermabrasion, from £65.

Click here to read the full article on the Evening Standard Website

In the States the average working woman is as likely to have a dermatologist on their speed dial as a doctor. While we Brits only grumble about the state of our skin, in America they actually do something about it.

On a trip to New York last weekend to interview Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field, I was struck by the sheer number of impossibly luminous, expensive-looking complexions running around Manhattan – it didn’t matter that their outfits were from Macy’s, their skin was pure Fifth Avenue.

Thankfully, that results-driven mentality is seeping over here too. Non-surgical medi-spas that bridge the gap between mudpacks and full-on facelifts, are cropping up on high streets up and down the country. I went to meet Dr Geoffrey Mullan co-founder of Medicetics, an aesthetic surgeon who believes that cosmetic procedures are just another part of a healthy lifestyle, like a yoga class or eating five-a-day. I was blown away by how easy he made tackling persistent skin problems sound.

I have always accepted that the acne which flares up on my jawline was as much a part of me as brown hair and freckles, but apparently that isn’t so. After nearly 20 years in the business and over 700 surgical procedures there is nothing this man doesn’t know about skin. He made removing my acne scarring sound like a walk in the park and showed me pictures of a 17-year-old acne sufferer who for the first time in his life no longer had angry active spots.

For the first time in my life I felt I had found a doctor who understood just how debilitating skin problems can be, as well as convincing me that a flawless face really is within all of our reach. Yes it is expensive, treatments start from £95 for a medi-facial, but I do believe that beautiful skin is the hottest accessory you can ever own, and I work in fashion so that’s saying something.

020 7402 2033

www.medicetics.com

Sun damage will get the best of us however the level of damage varies enormously depending on:

Secret weapon: Prepping sun damaged skin with microdermabrasion before IPL treatment allows better penetration and improved results.