Seven beauty treatments for your future Oscars moment
This awards season is over, but there are still plenty of weddings, anniversaries, date nights and birthdays to get glammed up for.
Lucky for you, L.A. is the land of new beauty treatments. Here are several facials and procedures, some used by Lizzo, Kim Kardashian West and Gina Rodriguez, that anyone can try for her or his own red-carpet moment.
For the record:
11:10 a.m. Feb. 12, 2020An earlier version of this story said that Rumer Willis and her sister Tallulah had been to the AuraSpa in Beverly Hills. It’s sisters Scout and Tallulah Willis who have been to the center.
Allumera
What it does: Allumera is a light-activated cream that mitigates the amount of oil production in the skin, reduces the size of pores and lightly resurfaces fine lines around the eyes and mouth. The cream is applied on a clean face and allowed to soak for an hour. The patient is then exposed to intense light.
“Their skin feels so smooth afterward,” said Jennifer Hollander, a nurse practitioner who works with plastic surgeon Dr. Ben Talei at the Beverly Hills Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery. She also oversees the center’s adjacent AuraSpa, where celebrity siblings Scout and Tallulah Willis have gone to enhance their glow.
Ideal use: Allumera is an option for people who seek to repair damaged skin but don’t want to take time off for surgery or more aggressive procedures.
Recommended timing: Hollander suggests that patients use Allumera two days before an event.
Recovery: “It’s a no-downtime, event-ready procedure,” Hollander said.
Price: $550 per treatment and an additional $250 to use AuraSpa’s hyperbaric oxygen chamber for aiding cell rejuvenation
To make an appointment: Beverly Hills Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery, 465 N. Roxbury Drive, Suite 750, Beverly Hills, (310) 288-0641, beverlyhillscenter.com
Exilis Ultra 360
What it does: Combining radio frequency and ultrasound technology, Exilis Ultra 360 is a laser that can tighten skin and muscles all over the body. Simultaneously, it kills unwanted body fat and stimulates the growth of collagen in skin.
Ideal use: Kardashian West revealed her secret to contouring her cheekbones when she posted an Instagram Story of the Exilis laser wand tracing the curves of her face last year. Exilis can be used under eyes and on the décolletage and neck. Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon Dr. Deepak Dugar said that when used on arms and triceps, it helps “to give a more firm contour.”
Recommended timing: Dugar said most of his celebrity patients opt for six to eight sessions of Exilis, each separated by a week. Clients usually start the series of treatments one to two months before awards season, he said.
Recovery: Although the laser is hot, it’s swirled on the skin quickly enough so that patients don’t feel pain. There’s no need to take time off for the non-invasive treatment.
Price: $600 to $1,000 per session
To make an appointment: Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Center and Scarless Med Spa, 414 N. Camden Drive, Suite 801, Beverly Hills, (310) 276-1703, scarlessnose.com
Here’s a look at the best and worst dressed on the Oscars 2020 red carpet.
FaceGym’s Red Carpet Ready Workout
What it does: Founded by Inge Theron, the cousin of Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, London-based FaceGym applies the concept of exercising to some 40 facial muscles through manipulating, knuckling and massaging deep tissue.
In addition to Lizzo, other celebrity fans of these facial workouts include model Irina Shayk, actress Sienna Miller and reality TV personality Sofia Richie. As the most advanced treatment at its 3-month-old location in West Hollywood, the non-invasive Red Carpet Ready Workout combines deep cleaning with high-pressure oxygen, radio frequency, electrical stimulation and a cold blast of hyaluronic acid pressurized with carbon dioxide.
Ideal use: The facial mimics a temporary face-lift, resulting in sculpted cheekbones and glowing skin without surgery, painful extractions and extreme exfoliation.
Recommended timing: If the treatment is done the day before an event, the skin has time to absorb the serum and plump up.
Recovery: As with any new workout, the facial muscles can feel a little tender afterward. There is no bruising, however.
Price: $350 for a 90-minute session
To make an appointment: As an awards-season special, FaceGym is offering the Red Carpet Ready Workout until Feb. 13. Its regular menu features the Radio Frequency Workout, which includes the heat from the radio frequency and a massage with the handheld electrical stimulation wand ($285 for 70 minutes).
FaceGym at 1 Hotel West Hollywood, 8490 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (424) 281-1887, usa.facegym.com
Fractora Forma
What it does: Fractora Forma, available at Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Center and Scarless Med Spa, uses a laser to tighten and resurface skin. Because the procedure penetrates deep under the skin, it can treat the top layer of fat as well.
Ideal use: Dugar said he recommends Fractora Forma “for tightening the skin and tackling stubborn pockets of fat that are not easy to get rid of with traditional exercise.” The laser can target any area on the body, including the stomach and hips.
Recommended timing: Dugar said celebrities who use Fractora Forma generally do six to eight sessions, spread out a week apart. A good start time is one to two months before awards season, he said.
Recovery: Treatments last anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the area.
Price: $600 to $1,000 per session
To make an appointment: Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Center and Scarless Med Spa, 414 N. Camden Drive, Suite 801, Beverly Hills, (310) 276-1703, scarlessnose.com
Microchanneling
What it does: At her namesake skin-care studio in Beverly Hills, Gina Marí uses microchanneling to create thousands of tiny perforations in the skin’s outer layer. These pathways allow for a deeper infusion of high-grade ingredients such as copper peptides, hyaluronic acid and antioxidants.
Ideal use: Microchanneling supports the development of healthy collagen and elastin while also improving skin’s tone, clarity and texture. Adding LED light therapy to brighten the skin helps counteract damage from the sun, aging and acne.
Recommended timing: Microchanneling can be done the day before an event.
Recovery: “There is literally zero downtime and the results are stunning,” said Marí, who’s worked with actresses such as Rodriguez of “Diary of a Future President.”
Price: $375 for the combined appointment of microchanneling and LED light therapy
To make an appointment: Gina Marí Skincare, 9350 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 204, Beverly Hills, (310) 276-7601, ginamari.com
MicroTox
What it does: Botox has a bad rep for making faces look frozen. An alternative is MicroTox, which is dubbed Baby Botox at Beverly Hills Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery. “While it doesn’t paralyze the underlying muscles that give you expression, [MicroTox] works in a superficial way to give you a shrink-wrap effect on the skin,” Hollander said. “Let’s say I use it on the brow area. [Patients] literally get a mini brow lift.”
Ideal use: MicroTox can be a solution for people who desire to alleviate hooded eyelids, tighten crepe-like skin and slim a nose or jawline. It also takes less time than some other skin resurfacing treatments.
Recommended timing: Hollander said she would inject MicroTox three days before a big event.
Recovery: Requiring only one session, MicroTox works within an hour after injection and lasts as long as Botox, or up to four months.
Price: $400 to $1,000 based on the amount used
To make an appointment: Beverly Hills Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery, 465 N. Roxbury Drive, Suite 750, Beverly Hills, (310) 288-0641, beverlyhillscenter.com
Eco fashion was among the big style statements and trends at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday in Hollywood.
The Yoliglo Experience
What it does: “Getting the glow before walking the red carpet is essential,” said facialist Yolanda Mata. “If you have on a lot of makeup and your skin is not hydrated and polished, it’s not going to look good.”
Taking a holistic approach to skin care, Mata offers tea and antioxidant-packed snacks like blueberries before the start of the 90-minute Yoliglo Experience. The Tatcha brand ambassador also uses an array of Tatcha skin care to gently exfoliate, hydrate, massage and de-puff the skin.
At the very end, Mata does acupressure on the face with 24-karat gold-leafed sticks that have a thermal core. “They hold heat or they hold cold,” she said. “Sometimes I do [the acupressure] cold if you have a lot puffiness under the eyes. The warmth is also good to de-stress, and I push them in the temples.”
Ideal use: Teaming with a lot of celebrity makeup artists, Mata optimizes the facial to get clients camera-ready.
Recommended timing: The Yoliglo Experience is best right before a client needs to put on makeup. “You want to prepare the skin like a canvas,” she said.
Recovery: None is necessary.
Price: $350 for a facial at Mata’s location; $650 for a house call
To make an appointment: Send a direct message on Instagram to @yoliglo or email yomata9@yahoo.com.
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