Latisse for Beautiful Lashes!

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Latisse Eyelash Treatment FAQ

What is Latisse?

Latisse is an FDA approved eyelash treatment developed  by Allergan, the trusted maker of Botox and Juvederm..

Latisse’s unique power to grow eyelashes comes from the active ingredient bimatoprost. Although the precise workings of bimatoprost on the eyelashes are currently not known, researchers believe that it stimulates more hairs into the active growth phase (anagen) and increases the duration of this phase resulting in fuller and longer eyelashes.

How often do I apply Latisse Eyelash Solution?

Apply Latisse one time per day. It is recommended that you do this as a part of your nighttime routine. If you forget a day, don’t worry and just start up again the next night. However, do not compensate for missed eyelash treatments by applying more solution. After the initial 16 week treatment, many Latisse users opt to apply every other day or a few times per week.

How long does it take to see results with Latisse eyelash treatment?

Most people begin to see results after 8 weeks of using Latisse. Full results generally take 12-16 weeks.

What happens if I stop using Latisse eyelash treatment?

The eyelashes will eventually return to their previous condition over the coming weeks or months.

Are there any potential risks or side effects from using Latisse?

Possible side effects of Latisse include darkening of the eyelid skin in areas treated which may be reversible, increased brown pigmentation in the colored part of the eye which is likely permanent, eye irritation, dryness of the eyes, and redness of the eyelids.

Can I still wear mascara while using Latisse?

Yes, you may continue to use mascara while using Latisse eyelash solution. 

How much does Latisse cost? / What is the price of Latisse?

What is the difference between Latisse and Eyelash Perms or Extensions?

Latisse is a prescription solution that stimulates eyelash hairs into the active growth phase causing them to grow fuller and longer. Eyelash Extensions affix synthetic lashes to the natural ones with an adhesive thus creating greater volume and length. An Eyelash Perm uses a mild permanent solution to curl the lashes.
While supplies last, when you buy a 5 ml vial of Latisse you receive a 3 ml vial free! Offer expires July 31st or when supplies are gone.

Artefill Dermal Filler

Discover ArteFill at Sei Bella Med Spa! Artefill is the first and only FDA-approved non-resorbable injectable wrinkle filler for the natural correction of facial wrinkles. Look ten years younger for ten years longer.

Volume restoration in the facial region is the single most important procedure to add a more youthful look after the age of 40 for most people. Artefill provides volume and stimulates one’s own body to build their own collagen around the tiny microspheres. If you have previously used temporary dermal fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse and Sculptra, then you know they are eventually absorbed by the body and require frequent repeat injections to maintain correction.

ArteFill is different. The unique PMMA microspheres in ArteFill allow the body to build its own natural collagen and provide the permanent natural looking support your skin needs for long-lasting wrinkle correction and texture inprovement.

  • Long Lasting -Wrinkle correction with Artefill improves over the course of several months and stands the test of time. 90% of Artefill patients are satisfied with their long lasting wrinkle correction. ArteFill has been shown to be effective for five years or more.  
  • More Convenient - With Artefill, you won’t have to keep coming back year after year for additional treatments to maintain your wrinkle correction. 
  • Fewer Injections - Since Artefill is the long lasting solution that requires fewer injections over time, you will have less discomfort associated with repeated filler injections. Our cannula technique means less bruising , less discomfort, and the ability to correct areas that we could not reach with the traditional dermal fillers.
  • Economical and Affordable - Artefill is truly an investment in you! You will see the real value in money and time saved with Artefill over temporary injectable wrinkle fillers. 
  • Natural, Elegant Feel - Artefill is made with microsphere-enhanced collagen. Over time the collagen is absorbed and the microspheres provide the support your own skin needs for a nice, natural look and feel . 

                           Artefill Before & After

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If you aren't ready for a facelift or don't want to go under the knife, then Artefill is a very viable option with the longest lasting results of any available filler. Call us today....501-228-6237

BioTE bio-identical hormones...the doctor's personal perspective



At age 45 I went through menopause...no real warning. My monthly cycles just stopped. I contributed it to my increase in running and training for half marathons and a marathon. No hot flashes, no mood swings, no weight gain. Looking back, though, the depression I had and the trouble sleeping were my menopausal symptoms..... and they were quite significant.

Four or five years ago I stopped prescribing synthetic hormone replacement therapy. The Women's Health Initiative and subsequent studies really concerned me because of the increased incidence of breast cancer and heart disease. I wouldn't let my mom take them and I sure wasn't going to take them myself.

I had heard about bio-identical hormones and read a lot about them, but I wasn't convinced creams were a good solution, either. People just absorb them differently; there really aren't any FDA standards monitoring bioavailability or quality. After a while of applying them to the same areas over and over, you may nit absorb them as well as when you started.  Plus many bio-identical creams are compounded based on saliva tests. Although this gives you an idea of hormone levels, saliva tests can't tell you FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels nor evaluate many aspects of the endocrine system. And the entire endocrine system needs to work in harmony for us to feel normal.

I developed the motto of Health | Wellness |  Beauty for Sei Bella Med Spa so I started researching bio-identical hormone pellets as a source for hormone replacement therapy in women AND men. Bio-identical pellets have actually been around since 1939. The BioTE company has been around for almost a decade. I went to Dallas to learn more and to actually talk to patients and do some pellet insertions myself.

The whole process is actually very easy. After your consult, lab work is drawn, then when those lab results are received in the office they are plugged into a formula to calculate the correct dose of pellets for each person. Based on symptoms, these individualized doses can be further tweaked to each person's needs. The insertion of the pellets just under the skin on one side of your hip is an easy, painless 5 minute office procedure done only by me. The pellets last 4-6 months based on activity levels.

3 weeks ago I got my pellets inserted and what a difference it has made! The testosterone kicked in about three days post pelleting. What I notice most is my increased energy level and my recovery after a long run. When I wake up in the morning, I'm ready to go. No fatigue. The dog can't talk me into hitting the snooze button anymore! Training for the London Marathon, I've had to do three shorter runs during the week 4-8 miles each and then a long run on the weekends. This weekend I did 20 miles on Saturday. Although a little sore, I had no pain and felt good on Sunday. Good enough I could put in another 4 miles on Sunday. I'm not getting any complaints at home about increased libido either.

Side effects have been minimal. Since I have been without estrogen for over 2 years, I did have a little water retention. I have just taken over-the-counter Diurex and that took care of the problem. If you experience this, I can prescribe a mild diuretic for a few days, and this usually only happens with the first pelleting. I also got a blemish on a my forehead. Since I never have those, I assume it was from the estrogen. Other than those minor things, no side effects sand no downtime post pelleting!

You can read more and watch our video on the Sei Bella website at www.seibellamedspa.com. We also have informational seminars periodically. These do NOT replace a consult with me, but it is a relaxed setting to learn more and ask questions. Our next one is Monday, March 17th at 5:45 pm. We'll have snacks and drinks for you after work, so come on by! It's your first step to feeling better and being healthier!

Anne R Trussell MD
owner/physician
Sei Bella Med Spa




A good New Years Resolution.....smooth out your skin tone


Before we talk about the products pictured above, I want to remind you that there is no quick fix. Your skin tone is uneven for various reasons......hormone changes, sun damage, normal aging, rosacea or spots from old blemishes. Your skin didn't get like this overnight and it won't be fixed overnight. Even if you got laser skin resurfacing, there is a healing time sometimes up to 6 months or more. Since there is more than one reason for the unevenness, there is more than one product to treat it. If you want to keep an even tone then you have to correct, maintain and prevent!
  
Our first product, pictured at left, is the Obagi C-clarifying night cream that contains 4% hydroquinone. We have several products with 4% hydroquinone in them; this just happens to be the one I've used for years. Hydroquinone works by shutting down the production of tyrosinase which is the enzyme in melanocytes responsible for producing melanin. Melanin is responsible for freckles, brown spots from sun damage and hormone related melasma. You can't get rid of freckles because these melanocytes are genetically programmed to produce melanin, but you can lighten them. I personally think freckles are beautiful, but not everyone likes theirs. Melasma and sun damage can definitely be erased, though. 

The next product, pictured on the upper right, is tretinoin. It is available in .025%, .05%, and 0.1% strengths. Tretinoin is known by various brand names such as Refissa, Retin-A, and Renova. We carry the exact percentages in our Obagi line, often cheaper than you can buy it from the pharmacy. Tretinoin is a good treatment for acne and fine lines. It works by causing new skin cells that are forming to act normally, not as they do as they as we normally age. Tretinoin will also treat dark spots/red spots, but of a different kind and in a different way. Have you ever picked at a pimple? Yes, we all have. After it's gone there is a red or brown spot left that just won't seem to go away. This is what tretinoin is for. Former and current acne patients can benefit greatly from this treatment. I like to combine a pea sized amount of tretinoin with a pea sized amount of my Obagi C-Clarifying night cream (above). You will use less of each product and it will spread both products more evenly. This also reduces the amount of flaking you may see as your skin starts to repair itself. Tretinoin should only be used at night because applied during the day it can cause sun sensitivity and will breakdown and be useless if exposed to a lot of sunlight. 

The final product I recommend is our new PrioriMD Clinical Recovery Serum with DNA repair complex. These DNA repair enzymes work by undoing the damage to DNA strands caused by toxic free radicals. You can put it on once or twice a day. I personally like to use a squirt morning and night with my usual skin care regimen. This is an add-on product to any routine you have; PrioriMD is not a skincare system; the physician who created PrioriMD has a few prescription grade products for targeted use. Clinical Recovery serum is not greasy nor drying in anyway. It absorbs almost instantly. I can't tell I've even added it to my regimen, except that my skin feels smoother and softer and is looking much more even toned. (this of course is very important if you're not wearing makeup on the weekend and you choose to go out in public with your teenage children!)

The nice thing about all three of these products is they work well together and can be used for correction and maintenance. Prevention of further damage is dependent on wearing sunscreen, sunglasses, staying OUT of the tanning bed, drinking plenty of water, etc. That's a topic for another post, though. 

In addition to the above products, we offer IPL and facial peels as adjunct treatments, and these procedures will speed up the correction process. Ask us about IPL and facial peels and we'll tell you which ones will help and what results you can expect for your individual skin. In the meantime, make yourself a New Year's resolution to get your skin in better shape! 

Washing Your Face.......Keep it Simple!

Keep it simple and soft is my advice.....  Facial cleansers promise mild formulas that won't dry out the skin. Clarisonic brushes offer deep-clean claims but with a lighter touch. At home peels offer mild exfoliation.  I practice what I preach......pick a cleanser that works...wash once a day...at night. Wash GENTLY.....no brushes, no scrubbing, just the softest washcloth you can buy or better yet, use the palms of your hands.. Many people take that squeaky clean feeling as a sign of effectiveness, when actually it is a sign of overdrying or damage. Regardless of the problem....fine lines, acne, dark spots....people just scrub harder. Stop that!!
Most cleansing products have a surfactant, a chemical or natural compound that helps break through the surface tension of the skin. The cleanser absorbs dirt and oil and removes them during rinsing. While removing dirt and oil, the surfactant interacts with the stratum corneum, the skin's outermost layer and protective barrier—and that is where problems begin. Thus, you need to pick the right cleanser, or cleansers, and use them correctly. I use Jan Marini's Bioglycolic Wash about three times a week and the Sonya Dakar Ultraluxe Nourishing Wash the rest of the week......once a day.....at night.....no scrubbing....just my hands and only occasionally a very soft washcloth.
Face washing at night is most important. It removes dirt, grime and pollutants that have gathered on the skin during the day, as well as makeup.  As far as washing in the morning, your skin has just slept on a pillow; it is clean; it doesn't necessarily need to be washed unless your skin is extremely oily.








 Many folks, especially teens, prefer cleansers that foam or create suds. They tend to believe foam cleans better, which it doesn't. None of the face washes we sell at Sei Bella Med Spa  foam like the ones you can buy at Target. But you need the right one. Talk to me about your skin when you come in. I can ask you a series of questions, look at the services you are having and know which wash is best for you. None of them are expensive, especially since you use less than the over the counter products and 90% of you are only going to need to wash at night. 
Acne sufferers, as well as those with rosacea are likely to overcleanse, either with harsh products or rough scrubbing. Well, you can't wash pimples off your face and you sure can't wash off the redness of rosacea. That redness with rosacea is caused by superficial, fragile blood vessels. Scrubbing with a gritty wash, scrubbing with a washcloth or using a Clarisonic type brush is absolutely the worst thing you can do. It only makes the redness worse.

So the moral of the story.....save yourself some grief AND money.....let me help you pick the correct cleanser, and show you how to use it.....once a day....at night....gently....simply....

A Recent Patient's Before and After Lipo-Ex photos

T.A. is in her 40's. She has had 5 children. Although she had lost weight, she still had a lot of saggy lower abdomen. She needed volume reduction and skin tightening. Her core exercises during this eight week treatment package included 100 crunches 4 days per week as well as hula hoop and planks for 20 minutes 2 days per week. She was complinat with her 3 days per week cardio workouts and drank at least 64 oz of water everyday. Below are her before pictures, photo after one treatment to show the redness you can expect (lasts about 30 minutes), and her results after 8 treatments.



 Visit our website at www.seibellamedspa.com to read more about this noninvasive alternative to liposuction and purchase your package today. We're always glad to hear from you and answer any questions you have. Consults are free......501-228-6237