Scoopon, JumpOnIt, and Cudo. These are the catchy names of companies that offer large, time-limited discounts on services or items, enticing you to buy or try something that maybe you wouldn’t have ordinarily. And with discounts as high as 90%, sometimes these offers seem too good to refuse!

Recently, cosmetic clinics have been offering cosmetic injections on these ‘deal websites’. This rings quite a few alarm bells for me. Firstly, cosmetic injections are a regulated health service, and the advertising of them must follow strict guidelines so that the potential consumer can make an educated and informed decision on whether this product is right for them. Given the fact that payment for the procedure on these sites is required prior to a consultation with the medical practitioner, this may negatively impact on the consumers potential to make a proper decision.

Also, it begs the question, why do these clinics need to advertise in this way? With such large percentage discounts, and with the advertising company also taking a large percentage of the profits, how do these cosmetic clinics provide a proper service with such a small margin. Something’s gotta give, and it is usually the quality of the service or product. Or could they be making a loss on the deal, and trying to upsell you another product?

Either way, cosmetic clinics should be focusing on providing excellent service and products, and allowing their customers to do the (free) marketing for them if they are happy with what they have had.

Topical skin care products often contain active ingredients, such as particular vitamins, that are helpful in maintaining the natural processes that occur within the skin. Topical vitamins such as vitamin A (retinoids), and vitamin C are examples of such vitamins.

One of the hurdles in the use of these skin care ingredients is to get them to penetrate through the top layers of skin to the deeper layers, where they can make the greatest effect on the skin. By using a small electric current, it is possible to ‘push’ these ingredients into the skin much more effectively. In fact, penetration can be up to 400 times more normal application.

Galvanic iontophoresis is the technical name for this process. It involves placing the skin care product to be infused in a wet surface on the skin, and then applying a metal electrode to the skin. There is another electrode placed on another part of the body, so that a current can run. The sensation is not painful, and feels a little ‘tingly’ , but most patients report it as being quite relaxing and comfortable. The direction of the electrical current chosen depends on the charge of the particular skin care product to be infused (positive or negative). The movement of the charged particles move towards their opposite charge and away from their like charge, similar to a magnet.

The benefits of this process for the skin are that it gives it a ‘surge’ (no pun intended) of skin care products that have a rejuvenating effect on the skin, leaving it glowing and bright.

I often get asked ‘What is the difference between laser and IPL?’. Furthermore, I often find that people mistake IPL. So I thought I would blog about the difference.

Lasers have been used for several decades for the treatment of various skin conditions. Different lasers have different purposes and different wavelengths, and each is targeted to a specific skin condition. For just over 15 years now, IPL, or Intense Pulsed Light, machines were released as an alternative to laser treatments, and have become popular for skin rejuvenation and hair removal. But remember, IPL is not a laser! One of the reasons for the IPL machine’s popularity is the fact that they are cheaper to purchase than a series of lasers, but they don’t do the same job. Although, IPL is a versatile machine as it can treat multiple skin conditions and remove hair, it is never as good as a specific laser for a given job. Its like a two-in-one shampoo/conditioner – they never do as good a job as a separate shampoo and conditioner.

For more information on the difference, click on the following link;

http://www.thevictoriancosmeticinstitute.com.au/IPL-laser/

Also, Dr. Sandy Fieldhouse explains the difference between laser and IPL in the following video;

http://www.thevictoriancosmeticinstitute.com.au/videos/laser-vs-ipl/

Please note that we are open on the 13th of June (Monday) at our Templestowe clinic.

Dr. Sara Mullen and Dr. Sandy Fieldhouse will be working that day.

If you would like to make a booking, please call (03) 88500655.

Do you ever look in the mirror and lift your skin with your fingers? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could achieve this lift without surgery? Thread lifts or suture lifts are a non-surgical procedure that can provide a less costly, less invasive, and more subtle alternative to a surgical facelift.

A threadlift involves the use of a specialised thread or suture to lift the skin to a higher position. The threads are inserted just under the skin, in the direction you want them to pull back, and a number of threads are used to reposition the skin.

Although threadlifts have been around for some years now, there has been a new innovation with threads that has made them even safer and more effective, and this is the prime reason why The Victorian Cosmetic Institute is now providing this service. The new threads are called Promoitalia threads and the key difference is that they are resorbable threads. In other words, they naturally dissolve in the body over 8-12 months. However, the effect is much longer than this, as the skin holds in this new position even when the threads are gone. Older thread types are permanent, and stay under the skin for eternity!

One of the key advantages of these new resorbable threads is that if you would like to repeat the procedure, say in a couple of years or so, you are not constantly putting in threads on top of threads that will last in your skin forever. Also, say in several years time, should you wish to have a surgical facelift, the surgeon will not have to remove these permanent threads prior to performing the facelift.