The Brooklyn Papers / Greg Mango

Laser tag: At the new Dermacare medical spa in Brooklyn Heights, Dr. Oyenike Kilanko gives a patient a laser treatment.

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"Hold these rubber chickens," advises laser technician Natella Davydova of Brooklyn Heights’s new Dermacare medi-spa. "You can squeeze them if there is a little pain."

She places one soft, palm-sized chicken in each of my hands, and I dutifully grip them. The chickens have "Botox®" logos emblazoned on their sides. The fronts of the pink shirts sported by Davydova and the office aesthetician, Milena Colon, also have "Botox" spelled out in rhinestones.

But my eyes, covered with opaque protective goggles, are temporarily "Botox"-logo free. I recline in a dentist-style chair, awaiting "Laser Genesis" - a warm and tingly skin treatment that will, I’m told, recondition the collagen under my skin, smoothing pores and erasing blotchy redness. Davydova gives me a preliminary test of the laser on the back of my hand.

"I can barely feel it," I say.

"On your face, you’ll feel it," Davydova replies cheerfully. As she moves the laser beams across my cheeks, there’s a momentary sharp heat. I squeeze the chickens.

Now Davydova changes attachments and works on erasing the tiny spider veins around my nose.

"This will be a different pain," she says. There’s a burnt smell as the laser vaporizes hairs. I feel tiny sizzling pricks. It’s no worse than my cat kneading my chest with her claws. Still, thank goodness for those "Botox" chickens.

At a cost of $500 per area treated, the session lasts about 30 minutes.

Earlier, Colon treated me to microdermabrasion ($150), gently scrubbing the dead skin cells off of my face with sprays of tiny diamond chips. The tool somehow simultaneously sucks the chips back inside itself, and I imagine this sensation is similar to what a shark experiences when the sucker of a remora is cleaning its hide. It’s really not unpleasant, and Colon is perky and attentive.

In the end, my face is pink and shiny, and I feel a bit self-conscious. Colon dusts my skin with Jane Iredale therapeutic makeup, seals the powder with a special spray of Iredale’s "sealer," and I’m ready to hit the street. Twenty minutes later, when I meet my boyfriend, he doesn’t seem to notice how much more beautiful I am. I urge him to take a closer look.

"You do look better," he agrees, after scanning my face for signs of improvement. Later in the evening, after the pinkness and the makeup have both worn off, he repeats the compliment. Tiny imperfections in my skin, like spider veins and red blotches, have been reduced or erased. Dermacare’s brochures claim that I’ll look even better in a week or two. My fried collagen needs time to grow back, Davydova says.

I catch myself gazing into the mirror. I notice every remaining mark and blemish that the passing years have left on my face. The soft-focus veil of illusion has been rent aside, and now the harsh light of perfection illuminates my all-too-human visage. Can I ever again be satisfied with my old, flawed face?

To rid myself of all imperfections, I’m told, I’ll need to continue with the microdermabrasion and "Laser Genesis" treatments. I’ll also need BLU-U Light treatments for my stubborn adult acne, and some laser hair removal for that little mustache that I must continually pluck away at.

Two docs in the house

According to Dr. Ngozi Keshinro, one of the two resident physicians who are co-owners of the Brooklyn Heights Dermacare franchise, multiple treatments are recommended for most of the procedures the medi-spa offers. Each guest has a consultation with one of the doctors before starting treatment. A questionnaire is filled out that helps the doctor assess skin type, medical concerns and beauty goals.

Keshinro, a board-certified gynecologist who has specialized in women’s healthcare in Brooklyn for several years, opened the Dermacare office this past January along with her partner Dr. Oyenike Kilanko, also a gynecologist. The two MD’s, both Brooklyn residents, received specialized training from Dermacare before opening their medi-spa in Brooklyn Heights.

The facility at 122 Atlantic Ave. has a medical office ambiance, with a pleasantly decorated waiting room, four treatment rooms, a consultation room and a conference room. The two physician-owners perform all the Botox and other injection-based treatments, while trained technicians perform laser treatments and facials. The medi-spa differs from a plastic surgeon’s or dermatologist’s office in that the only concern at Dermacare is to provide non-invasive aesthetic procedures: microdermabrasion, chemical peels, acne treatments, laser skin treatment and hair removal, and injection treatments.

"There are no diseases, no pathologies treated here," says Keshinro. "And there’s no waiting." In fact, she says the doctors take the time to talk with clients; they don’t rush consultations.

Fountain of youth

But if you want to look more youthful, Dermacare offers a variety of options for tightening, lifting, smoothing and rejuvenating the skin without resorting to surgery. According to Keshinro, most customers can achieve the same effects with these treatments, at lower cost, and without the discomfort and long recovery time that surgery entails.

The facility is loaded with gadgetry. The aesthetician’s microdermabrasion instrument, says Colon, is much better than the equipment she’s used in the past.

"The crystals would sometimes go into the customer’s ears and eyes," she said. "This is a good handpiece. It won’t get in your eyes."

Next door, there’s a machine that bathes patients’ skin in blue spectrum light, a side-effect-free treatment that, according to Keshinro, kills acne-causing bacteria.

The laser treatment room is lavishly equipped.

"A plastic surgeon might offer some of these laser procedures," says Davydov, "but we have all of them."

And of course, there’s Botox.

"People love Botox," says Keshinro, of Allergan’s "Botulinum Toxin Type A." The injections of clostridium botulinum around the eyes and eyebrows erase frown lines and crows’ feet by relaxing the muscles of the face. "The botulism binds to the receptor, blocking the chemical signals that tell the muscle to contract. Your brain still sends the message to the muscle to tell it to frown." But thanks to the botulinum, no more ugly knitted brows. Ditto for crow’s feet. From now on, we may be laughing on the inside, but those unsightly eye crinkles? Banished - at least temporarily.

To smooth out deep laugh lines around the mouth, Restylane - a collagen-like material - is injected. The effects of both Restylane and Botox last about 90 days. According to Keshinro, these procedures are in great demand, and the treatments, which are priced per unit of the medication delivered, are being offered at a special introductory discount rate to attract new clientele to their Dermacare.

Keshinro and Kilanko have created a clean, well-equipped and conveniently located facility, and the medi-spa’s friendly staff combine personalized service with professionalism. (They even ran out to the curb to put quarters in my meter while I was being treated!) There certainly seems to be a market for these aesthetic medical treatments, and I can understand why. The appeal is obvious: unsightly hair, blemishes and signs of aging can instantly be remedied, with little discomfort and often no side effects or recovery time. If I was a model, or willing and able to afford the price tag of looking like one, I’d likely be a fervent convert.

As it is, I’m a humble reporter, who certainly doesn’t miss those little veins that once made my nose a cheerful shade of fuchsia.

See the Brooklyn Spa Directory for more information.

©2006 The Brooklyn Paper