About Face

Look More Vibrant and Awake With These Celebrity Tips

Recently Yahoo! Shine caught up with Lucy Hale – she is one of the stars of ABC Family’s hit show, Pretty Little Liars - to get her tips on how to look awake even when you aren’t feeling so energetic. Living in Los Angeles, we all have fast paced full schedules which usually does not give us much time to rest.  I found her tips to be pretty helpful, and decided to share some tips of my own for looking less tired!

Cover up dark circles.  Being tired causes your skin to react in ways that it normally doesn’t.  For example, the delicate area under your eyes can get drier than normal, causing you to look even more tired. This is because the skin thins as it become more dry, and the dark, purplish muscle underneath shows through.  Make sure you moisturize the area before you apply your concealer to get more even coverage.  Also, you will have more wrinkles in that area when you are tired, so apply a primer so that your makeup will stay put longer and not cake into the wrinkles. 

Put away the tweezers. Thicker brows are in!  Not only are fuller brows now the trend, but if you have thicker, softly arched brows, it can make your eyelids look higher so that you seem more alert.  Stronger eyebrows also can draw attention away from your tired eyes.  Did too much tweezing in your younger years?  My trick is to not only just use Latisse for my lashes, but after applying some to my lashes, I use a little to touch up my brows as well! (Latisse is a prescription product; contact your facial plastic surgeon for more details.)

Add some color to your lips!  When you are tired, your eyes are usually the most obvious indicator.  You want to add a bold color to your lips so that it distracts from your eyes and also wakes up your entire face!  Need a little help in the lip department for fuller lips?  A commonly used lip filler is Juvederm, and in the hands of a board certified facial plastic surgeon, you will have natural looking fuller lips in less than an hour!

What tips and tricks do you find helpful for looking awake? Share your comments below!

Easy Tips to Erase Aging

The other day, a cashier asked my age as I was purchasing NyQuil (who knew you had to be over 21 to buy NyQuil?). My mind went blank and I stuttered for a few moments as I stumbled towards an answer. This led to the thought that it would be nice if you could be the age you felt inside. You want to look your best at your age, and to do that, you have to take care of yourself first. With that in mind, try these tips to pamper yourself and start looking younger!

Manage your time and stress level. Make sure you are getting plenty of sleep every night and drinking plenty of water. When I look haggard, I usually haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep or am extremely stressed...or both! Stress truly does make you look (and feel) older! Manage your stress levels with exercise, meditation, reading, or any hobby you find enjoyable and diverting. Adequate sleep is also a big factor, so set a bedtime and keep it - you will be more productive if you are well rested.

Enhance what you have. Looking the best that you can does not mean trying to look like someone else. You truly want to augment and highlight the features you already have. Make your lashes stand out with Latisse, brighten up your skin with Lytera, revitalize your lips and regain that plump pout again with fillers such as Juvederm and Belotero. There are so many fast, easy options available to smooth fine lines, reduce wrinkles, and even out your skin tone. Make sure you look your best!

Finally, prevent additional aging. Wear sunscreen daily, as it can reduce as much as 25% of skin aging. Using Botox before brow lines or crow’s feet become too prominent or, worse still, permanent can help delay the tell-tale signs of aging.

Let’s all get “carded” when we stock up on NyQuil. Look like you feel, and feel great!

Not All Botox is Created Equal

Almost everyone has a strong impression about the minimally invasive injectables and cosmetic procedures that are available today. Unfortunately, misconceptions about aesthetic procedures abound. Many people believe that almost all plastic surgery results in an “overdone” appearance, but the opposite is actually true. For example, over 2.6 million people received Botox last year in the United States alone, and 1.6 million received some type of facial filler.

The Most Popular Cosmetic Procedures in 2012

Each year, around this time, the most popular plastic surgery procedures are totaled.  Usually the most popular procedures such as Botox, breast implants, or rhinoplasties, continue to stay high in demand.  However, there are some unexpected new increases in other procedures as well!  Read more to see what plastic surgery procedures have been increasing in popularity.

Plump It Up

With the recent summer blockbusters such as The Hunger Games and The Avengers breaking records at the box office, a lot of attention has been paid to the stars of these movies. After all, who hasn’t noticed Jennifer Lawrence's beauty and Scarlett Johansson’s plump luscious lips? According to Marie Claire, Scarlett Johansson’s lips are one of the most requested looks received by plastic surgeons. Many people desire a fuller, sexier pout – it not only adds to your attractiveness, but also radiates youthfulness. So what can you do to get a celeb-worthy pout?

A Meditation on Medi-Spas

Medical spas, also known as “Medspas” or “Medi-Spas,” seem to offer the ideal combination of relaxing comfort with cosmetic medical procedures. When set up and maintained appropriately, under the supervision of a qualified health care professional, they certainly can provide a safe, pampered environment for aesthetic medicine. And because the combination of comfort and care seems right to anyone with common sense, medical spas have proliferated in recent years.

 

It's Never Too Late to Look Younger

Women begin worrying about wrinkle prevention in their twenties and older women are trying to stop (or at least slow!) the aging process. Many ask themselves, how can I look younger? There isn’t a specific age to start taking preventative actions on the aging process, but a good defense is always the best offense. Millions of men and women use anti-aging products as a part of their everyday skin regimens to minimize fine lines and wrinkles; however, many of us don’t see the improvement we want. Some of us hesitate going under the knife for long lasting younger looking skin. With advances in skincare, there are many nonsurgical enhancements and rejuvenation options that may work better than just slathering on skincare products full of anti-aging ingredients. There are options at every price, and many of them focus on preventing unwanted skin concerns before they get worse.

Thinking about Cosmetic Surgery? Don't Make These Mistakes!

Even though the economy has been suffering, the number of people receiving cosmetic or plastic surgery has increased and is still on the rise.  Knowing about these plastic surgery mistakes that no one talks about is more important than ever. So if you are considering or have decided to go forward with a cosmetic procedure, you will want to know about these mistakes which can leave you with less than desirable results!

Black Market Plastic Surgery Can Be Harmful to Your Health

In the rough and tumble of today’s tough economy, all of us are always looking for ways to save money. However, when it comes to choosing cosmetic procedures, which are medical treatments, trying to pay less in the black market can lead to disastrous consequences. Bad plastic surgeries or aesthetic treatments are occurring more frequently, and these may be performed by unqualified and fraudulent individuals seeking to capitalize on unsuspecting folks. In fact, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is launching a public safety campaign to help educate the masses. 

A Quick and Easy Way to Erase Facial Lines and Add Volume

From fuller lips to jaw contouring, a brief session with your facial plastic surgeon can achieve the cosmetic goals you want! Read here to find out the many uses of Botox and fillers injectables.             

Fuller Lips in Just Seconds a Day!

When Angelina Jolie first debuted her voluptuous lips on the big screen, many women began seeking to enhance and augment their lips. Different lip shapes, like many things, have become fashion trends, and are subject to passing fads. What is popular today, unfortunately (or fortunately) may not be tomorrow. Five years ago, Angelina’s lips were the paragon of “lip fashion,” but since then they have fallen a bit out of favor, and the more subtle and natural appearing lip enhancement has become en vogue.

Surgical Lip Augmentation

For some people, lip augmentation should be permanent, and surgery or implantation of permanent fillers is appropriate. As dermal fillers have improved over time, however, these options are no longer as popular as they once were.

One reason that I often favor long lasting temporary solutions (dermal fillers such as Juvederm or Restylane and occasionally Perlane) is that the lips change over time. As we age, the lips undergo multiple transformations in shape, size, and definition. Lip enhancement that is aesthetic and attractive at 25 years of age may appear odd at 45 and ungainly at 55.

Another reason is changes in our concepts of beauty. We may prefer a particular look this year, but favor a different contour and shape to our lips the next. Since surgery may be irreversible and permanent implants are more likely to leave altered anatomy and scar tissue behind even if removed, younger patients may desire a less permanent change.

However, these surgeries can produce fantastic results. When appropriate, implants of alloderm, dermal fat, Gore-tex, and even newer products still being researched can produce a pretty pout to the lips and are long lasting. Synthetic implants can often be removed without significant difficulty; fat grafts can occasionally be trickier to remove, depending on a host of factors.

Lip Enhancement in the Office

Lip enhancement usually focuses on augmenting the lips. As such, I have already presented options you can try at home without ever visiting a facial plastic surgeon. However, these "over the counter" choices have limits. They require constant, repeated application so that their ingredients can irritate the lips and make them swell. The addition of lip liner and lipstick will aid in visual enhancement of lips. However, the inherent limitations of these methods (short acting, very temporary, not always effective for every pair of lips) leave many wanting more. Therefore, I'll describe safe, simple, in-office procedures that can produce amazing results.

Many of my patients who see me for lip enhancement are primarily focused on their upper lips. As we age, the effects of thinning, flattening, and loss of border definition are particularly noticable on the upper lip, which is curved in a so-called "Cupid's Bow." The vertical wrinkles that can form, especially in those who smoke, also contribute to sad, tired, and old appearance.

Therefore, the principal goal of lip enhancement is to refresh the lips by providing excellent definition and appropriate, proportionate fullness. This, in turn, means that both the upper and lower lip must be treated together so as to provide a vibrant, natural look. Our eyes and minds are hard-wired to notice assymmetries and disproportionate objects in the face, and therefore lip enhancement, except in very specific circumstances, is a subtle, nuanced art.

Plump Lips Part I - Do It Yourself

Not every woman who visits my office wants lip enhancement. Sometimes, it's the men. But many women do, and are simply afraid of what it might involve. Usually, after discussing all the available options, they realize that a simple, 15-minute procedure in the office can augment the appearance of their lips. But in order to fully understand the options available, I always try to paint a complete picture.

What does that entail? First of all, listening. Once my patients have had the opportunity to tell me just what bothers them about their lips, I provide options and a recommendation. I try to explain what they can do at home, what nonsurgical options I have available, as well as what surgery can accomplish. Most of the time, those who visit me are interested in what I can provide, but for those of you doing research on the topic, you should have the opportunity to know what you can do at home, too.