"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.
