Is it just my imagination, or is old Hollywood appearing younger, younger, and younger these days?  Pick up any tabloid, and you may ask yourself “WHAT is their secret?”  Amazing genes?  Daily spa visits?  Meditation and relaxation?  Exclusive products from the Amazon or the South of France?  I discovered Hollywood's real secret to looking fresh-faced, and it's not an 'au natural' French spa treatment claiming to be the fountain of youth—it's Radiesse.

Radiesse

Call me a sucker for adventure, but I raised my hand and volunteered to investigate this one myself.  So, I visited Francis R. Palmer III, MD, FACS, Director of the Beverly Hills International Center for Aesthetic Surgery, along with a representative from BioForm Medical, the company that manufactures the revolutionary dermal filler, Radiesse.

Dr. Francis Palmer III

What is Radiesse?  Radiesse one of the most advanced dermal fillers available today.  Most popularly, it has been FDA approved to safely correct wrinkles and folds around the nose and mouth and signs of facial fat loss (lipoatrophy).  However, it has a host of other uses, such as enhancements to the jaw line and nose and assistance with vocal fold insufficiency and incontinence.

Why Radiesse?  Liken your face to a grape, which over time turns into a raisin.  The goal of Radiesse is to plump your face (the grape) to restore its full and natural youthful glow that has slowly dissipated over time.  Conversely, a traditional facelift involves invasive surgery, high cost, down time, and less result—the skin (the raisin) is pulled back, leaving the face more gaunt than plump.  Even better, Radiesse actually stimulates the skin to produce new collagen.  It has been proven to go farther and last twice as long as other fillers (a year or more), thus requiring fewer office visits and expenses.

Not only is Francis R. Palmer III, MD, FACS a world class expert in the field of plastic surgery, he has also been the Director of Facial Plastic Surgery for the University of Southern California School of Medicine for over ten years.  He is a frequent lecturer and educator on cutting-edge techniques and technology in his field.  He is also the developer of The Palmer Beauty Principles—a point system of beauty principles that guide other plastic surgeons in achieving facial beauty (you must check out www.whatsyournumber.net as this is quite fascinating), The Palmer Celebrity Facelift—a facelift that takes substantially less time to perform and less healing time than a conventional facelift, and his own line of cosmeceuticals, The Perfect Skin System—a complete skin care system for younger, radiant skin with a lifted and tightened appearance.  Dr. Palmer also hosts a blog, www.drfrancispalmer.com/blog, wherein he gives solid advice to patient questions.  Along with being the doctor to many celebrity clients, he has also been featured in countless TV programs and publications.

As an alternative to cheek implants, which carry a much greater risk, Dr. Palmer is able to tailor the Radiesse to correct any inconsistencies in the cheeks for the ultimate natural look of youth.  The advantage is that Radiesse is completely customizable, unlike implants; it can be used on what would be considered very difficult cheek implant patients.  I cannot stress enough that injections are an art—the product will only achieve the desired results if they are injected by a skilled practitioner such as Dr. Palmer.

As I sat back in my chair after a thorough consultation with Dr. Palmer, he and his staff made me completely at ease with what to expect pain-wise and time-wise from the procedure.  Strategically, Dr. Palmer marked a series of dots on each of my cheeks where he would soon make the injections to shape my cheeks in a uniform manner.  Then skillfully and quickly, he prodded each cheek multiple times with the needle.  The pain, albeit a dull ache, climaxed after about 10 minutes as the product expanded in my tissue.  Dr. Palmer then massaged my cheeks to give them the appropriate shape.  In under ten minutes, my procedure was complete with little pain and discomfort.  I immediately looked well-rested due to the volume of my cheeks. 

Being an extrovert, I went back to the office to brag about my adventure, but you may want to hide away from the rest of the world the remainder of the day with some Rocky Road and a few ice packs.  Post-procedure, I was somewhat swollen with redness at the injection sites.  I did experience some light bruising and a few slight irregularities as well, which faded within a week.  Otherwise, I was able to return to normal makeup the next day and head off to an audition as an aspiring actress.  (You should avoid applying makeup to the injection sites the day of treatment as they could become infected.)

The results were instantly obvious to me, yet indescribable to others.  No one could put their finger on it; I just looked fresher.  I call it subtly amazing as I feel brighter and invigorated.  Being an actress and a model, a youthful appearance is everything.  In fact, I heard gasps the other day at an audition when I revealed my real age.  Since I still feel 23 at heart, why not look the part?  Don’t let any of those elite celebrities fool you that they are ‘au natural’ when 30’s and 40’s are looking more like 20’s each day.  As for me, I will gladly join them in that fountain. 

For more information, please visit the following websites:
Radiesse:  www.radiesse.com
BioForm Medical:  www.bioformmedical.com
Dr. Francis R. Palmer III:  www.drfrancispalmer.com 
‘Nip This and Tuck That’ Blog:  www.drfrancispalmer.com/blog
The Perfect Skin System:  www.FrancisRBH.com
What’s Your Number?  www.whatsyournumber.net

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