Dr. Lorrie Klein’s Blog

These are tough economic times.  But we still want to feel good about ourselves and to look our best.  While many of my patients can still afford to do whatever they want to do for themselves, I have many patients who would love to do more for themselves than they can currently afford.  Luckily there are still many great cosmetic procedures you can do as a second choice treatment.  You can always put the first choice, best treatment on your “wish list” for the future.

Here are some common cosmetic treatments and their less expensive alternatives:

Instead of a:

Nose Job - get a filler nose job with Radiesse or Artefill (it takes just 10 minute and looks good immediately)

Face Lift - get a Liquid Face Lift or Fraxel CO2 re:pair laser treatment

Botox Crow’s Feet or Frown Lines - just get a Botox Brow Lift

Photo-Facial (IPL) for texture and brown spots- get a series of medical microdermabrasions

Microdermabrasion- get a series of light glycolic peels

Light Peels - use physician-strength skin care products

Vivite Complete Skin Care System - use Vivite Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30

Obagi Nu-derm System- use Vivite Vibrance with Obagi C-clarifying serum

Fraxel CO2 re:pair Laser - get a series of Fraxel re:store laser treatments

Fraxel re:store Laser - get a series of Photo-Facials (IPL) 

Juvederm lip plumping - get a half size syringe and just outline and define your lips 

Juvederm/Radiesse/Artefill treatment for wrinkles - get a smaller size syringe and treat the most important areas 

Laser Hair Removal on legs - just laser your underarms or bikini areas for now

Eyelashes Extensions - use Lumigan at home (it’s also better than extensions since it grows your own eyelashes)

Any comments from my readers and patients?

I am heading off to Santa Barbara for the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery Annual Meeting this weekend so this week’s article will be very brief.  I just wanted to share with you some great before and after photos of my Liquid Face Lift.  Dr. Klein’s Liquid Face Lift™ is a comprehensive treatment incoroporating various fillers such as Radiesse and Juvederm, with or without Botox, to give your face a naturally younger look.  Read more about it here.

We are pleased to announce that Julie R. has won our Ugly Bettie Contest.  Julie’s hard work of raising a family for 20 years plus multiple stressful events in her life had begun to show on her face.  She is preparing to go out into the workforce again after being a stay-at-home mom for many years and needed our help.  Julie is a beautiful woman who could use some tuning up to bring back a more youthful look.  We chose Julie because we saw in her an amazing transformation waiting to take place and for her heart-felt story. 

After my consultation with Julie we decided to treat her to a series of photo-facial treatments  (IPL, or Intense Pulsed Light), a Liquid Face Lift consisting of Radiesse wrinkle treatments and cheek enhancements, Juvederm injections to define her lips and Botox to treat her frown lines and crows feet.  She also received a Vivite Skin Care System of skin care products to start her at-home skin rejuvenation.  Julie’s transformation should be complete sometime in November.  We’ll share her before and after photos with all of you then.