The Best Dallas Medical Spa Laser and Skincare Center | EpiCentre Park Lane

Delicious Recipes for Healthy Skin

juliet — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:53:17 +0000

Ready for some recipes for Healthy Skin?

How does Papaya, Shrimp & Soba Salad sound?

Here’s why your skin and you will LOVE this salad. Vitamin C — found in foods such as oranges, pink grapefruits, red peppers, papayas, broccoli, kale, and baked potatoes — is an excellent source of antioxidants, which strengthen skin tissue and help skin repair itself. It also has properties capable of penetrating deep within the skin to provide healthier and younger-looking skin.

RECIPE:

Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces soba noodles
1/3 cup tamarind concentrate
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 papaya (about 1 pound), peeled, seeds removed, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Directions
In a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water, cook soba noodles until al dente according to package instructions; drain.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together tamarind, sugar, 2 tablespoons oil, lime juice, and cayenne. Add drained noodles, cilantro, onion, half the papaya, and all but 3 tablespoons of the peanuts; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over low. Add garlic and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove garlic chips and set aside on a paper towel. Raise heat to medium-high; add shrimp, sprinkle with coriander, salt, and pepper, and cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes.

To serve, divide noodles and shrimp evenly among four large bowls; top each serving with remaining papaya, peanuts, garlic chips, and cilantro.

Thanks Whole Living

Obagi NuDerm is back!

juliet — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:06:31 +0000

Why Mother’s Day?

juliet — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:17:16 +0000

The first North American Mother’s Day was conceptualized with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. Despite having penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic 12 years earlier, Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mother’s to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers. With the following, she called for an international Mother’s Day celebrating peace and motherhood.

Now, we believe mothers, step-mothers and mother figures should be celebrated more than just once a year but having a special day just for her, always brings smiles. And while there are plenty of gift and pampering ideas for mom, I’ve found as a mother that the best gift from my children is their hand written notes. In this techno savvy era, receiving a hand written letter happens so seldom, that they themselves have become cherished collectibles, especially from loved ones-big and small.

At EpiCentre Park Lane, we have a vast array of products and services that would surely make Mom happy but might we suggest that a hand written note, expressing your love, precedes your kind gift. We promise, she will remember it forever.

Liposonix-1 Treatment, 1 Hour, 1 Size SMALLER

juliet — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:05:47 +0000

The Next Generation of Non-Surgical Fat Reduction is here…

LIPOSONIX

by Michelle Palcic

Liposonix is THE LATEST technology for patients who want to contour their body and reduce pockets of unwanted fat without incision scars or general anesthesia.

Liposonix is part of Solta Medical, which is the same company that brings cutting edge technology like Fraxel Re:Pair CO2 and Fraxel Re:Store Dual lasers, Thermage CPT skin tightening and Clear+Brilliant fractional diode laser to the esthetic market.

Liposonix uses non-invasive, High Intensity Focused UltraSound, the same fundamental technology that allows pregnant mothers to see their unborn babies. The Liposonix device causes thermo-coagulation to a portion of the adipocytes (fat cells) and causes them to melt together without damaging any of the surrounding tissue or skin. Once this happens, a completely natural inflammatory response is triggered. The patient’s body will then process and eliminate the targeted fat cells slowly over the next 12 weeks. Clinical results on average are about 1-3 inch reduction, about one size less than before treatment.

LipSonix is safe and effective. The FDA approved Liposonix in fall of 2011 for non invasive, non surgical fat reduction. It has also been used in Canada, Europe and Japan since 2009 with great results. There is little to no downtime and treatments take about an hour.

The ideal candidate should be healthy and within an acceptable BMI. There must be about an inch of fat in the desired area. Patients with too little or too much fat may not be good candidates for this procedure. EpiCentre Park Lane’s Skin Care Professionals will be able to tell you if Liposonix is right for you in your complementary consultation.

EpiCentre Park Lane

214-887-1577

www.epicentreskincare.com

The Perfect Peel

juliet — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:50:01 +0000

By Michelle Palcic

So, you’ve tried chemical peels and love the radiant, glowing skin that is revealed afterwards. Are you ready to take it to the next level? If so, we have the peel for you. It’s called The Perfect Peel by Bella Medical. So what makes this peel different? This peel is a blend of different acids but the key difference is Glutothione.

Glutothione is the ultimate antioxidant known to prevent cellular damage from free radicals. As we age, our Glutothione levels deplete due to UV exposure, pollutants and environmental stress.

The Perfect Peel is the only peel that features Glutothione as its founding component. The peel is applied to the skin and left on for 6 hours. You will be given a post peel kit to take home. The night of your peel (day one) after cleansing your face, you will use the retinoic cloth provided. Repeat this on night 2. No moisturizers or additional products should be used during the first few days. Approximately 48 hours after the peel was applied, you will begin to peel. This exfoliation process will last about 4-5 days. Usually at one week post peel you will be back to normal.

The Perfect Peel will rejuvenate you’re your skin, looking healthier and younger. It can reduce the appearance of pore size, soften fine lines and wrinkles and even out the skin tone.

The Perfect Peel can be repeated about every 6 weeks. EpiCentre Park Lane is excited to offer you the newest in skin rejuvenation. The Perfect Peel is $250 including the post care kit.

Call EpiCentre Park Lane at 214-887-1577 to schedule your Perfect Peel today! Beautiful skin is only a few days away!

Do I really need to wash my face at night?

juliet — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:16:59 +0000

Do I really need to wash my face at night? Oh Yes.

Cleansing your face before bed is a must – leaving make up on at night is terrible for your skin.

Your skin picks up environmental debris during the day. Washing off minute dirt particles, along with makeup, every evening, gives the skin a rest from exposure to possible irritants.

It is important to use the right cleansers – gentle for sensitive skin and a salicylic based for oily, acne prone skin. You want a cleanser that cleans your skin without stripping it of all of its moisture.

The goal of washing your face is to unclog pores, dissolve dirt & makeup and remove excess oils. You may not realize it but this is also a great opportunity to slough off dead skin cells by exfoliating. Exfoliating is not usually something people include in their skin care routine BUT if you start properly exfoliating your skin now, you will notice a clear, glowing difference.

A great way to exfoliate is with a Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing System. “Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing Systems use a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to gently, yet thoroughly remove 6X more makeup and 2X more dirt and oil than cleansing with your hands alone. Cleaner skin is the first step toward healthier skin. And healthier skin is smoother, more radiant and more beautiful.”

In addition, using a gentle exfoliating scrub 1 x a week is great. SkinCeuticals MicroExfoliating Scrub and SkinMedica’s Skin Polisher are excellent –gentle and a fine scrubs– not too harsh.

Adding a retinoid at night to stimulate collagen and help exfoliate is another must. SkinMedica’s Tri-Retinol is great – cosmetically elegant without causing irritation – the Tri-Retinol ES is the stronger version for those that can tolerate it.

Just something as simple as taking a few minutes to wash your face before bed will leave your skin healthy and glowing.

CoolSculpting®

juliet — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:03:17 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Come into EpiCentre Park Lane and experience

CoolSculpting®.

Muffin top? Not any more.

Now offering 10% off of 1 cycle!

The Benefits of Chemical Peels

juliet — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:34:37 +0000

Chemical peel. Those two words sound daunting but rest assured- chemical peels can do amazing things for your skin. Chemical peels help to maintain the skin’s youthful appearance by exfoliating the top layer of skin to reveal the healthier skin below. There are several chemical peel options meant to obtain different outcomes and they come in a range of strengths.

Chemical peels are good for treating and improving the look and texture of dull skin including:

Fine lines and wrinkles
Melasma-skin discoloration caused by pregnancy (sometimes referred to as “the mask of pregnancy”) or birth control. Sun exposure worsens this condition.
Enlarged pores
Sun damage
Certain types of acne

Many patients find that a chemical peel is cost-effective and can achieve similar outcomes compared to other, more invasive procedures.

The recovery period after a chemical peel depends on the intensity of the peel: the deeper the peel, the longer the recovery period. Usually it averages a few days to two weeks.

Your skin care professional will determine which to use by evaluating your skin type and the amount of damage you have.

At EpiCentre Park Lane we are currently offering three different SkinMedica Chemical Peels at a Winter promotional rate. The three peels include:

Illuminize Peel Level 1 Regularly $120 Now $75

Vitalize Peel Level 2 Regularly $150 Now $100

Rejuvenize Peel Level 3 Regularly $200 Now $150

Each peel is designed to produce various degrees of exfoliation and rejuvenation. Let us help you decide on a peel that meets your needs and downtime.

Sunscreen in the Winter-Why you still need it!

juliet — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:06:20 +0000

An article from SkinMedica’s Beauty Talk

authored by our own Stephanie Holden, RN BSN

It’s no secret that regular use of sun protection not only exponentially decreases your risk for skin cancer,but will also keep your skin smoother, healthier and younger-looking over time. Yet one of the biggest misconceptions about sunscreen is that it isn’t necessary aside from, say, the beach or pool. When patients ask me whether they need to wear sunscreen during the winter, I always respond with an emphatic “yes.”

First, it’s important to understand the difference between UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays—the kind that penetrate the skin and promote collagen breakdown—remain just as strong throughout the winter months (and even on cloudy days), so they can still cause photodamage and an increased risk of skin cancer. This means that daily use of sunscreen is a must to protect against UVA rays.

Though UVB rays, known as the “burning rays,” tend to be stronger during the hot days of summer, they are capable of causing sunburn any time of year. In fact, the sun’s rays can be up to 80 percent stronger when reflected, and because snow causes a reflection, skiing or sledding—or even being around glass buildings in a metropolitan area—can lead to a sunburn without proper protection.

I recommend a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 for daily use and one with SPF 30 to 50 if you’ll be outdoors. I tell my patients not to be overconfident when using a high SPF and to reapply frequently, especially if the skin gets wet. Since the skin tends to be dryer in the winter (think less humidity and buildings with cranked-up heat that dries out the skin), it’s also important to moisturize regularly, drink lots of water, and invest in a humidifier to keep skin moisturized. Taking an omega-3 supplement daily is also a smart way to keep skin supple.

Windburn can also wreak havoc on already-dry winter skin, as exposure to strong, cold winds can strip the skin of its natural oils and protective moisture barrier. Look for products that contain aloe or hyaluronic acid, which draws moisture to the skin to help restore the lipid barrier.

My best advice: When it comes to sun protection, treat every day like a sunny day. Think of sunscreen as a 365-day-a-year requirement. Your skin—and your health—will thank you.

Authored by Stephanie Holden RN, BSN in Ask a Skin Care Specialist on December 20th, 2011

Stephanie has been an R.N. since 1982 with 18 years experience in plastic surgery. She was the nurse administrator of Dallas Day Surgery Center for 7 years and has worked for Dr. Jay Burns in his laser and skin care center since 2001 prior to assuming the managerial role at EpiCentre Park Lane in 2008. Stephanie is highly skilled in all aspects of skin care. She has extensive training and certifications in the use of lasers for aesthetic treatments. She is certified as an expert nurse injector by ASAPS. Stephanie is a fellow member of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, American Society of Plastic Surgery Nurses and the Society of Plastic Surgery Skin Care Specialist (SPSSCS).
She currently serves on the Board of the SPSSCS as President-Elect and will assume the role of President in 2011-2012. She is a nurse educator having provided education to other professionals thru her association with several aesthetic companies and is on the SkinMedica Advisory Board.
Stephanie is passionate about educating and helping patients achieve their very best. Her expertise lies in providing injectable therapies, Ulthera, Thermage, Fraxel Re:Store Dual and Pearl Resurfacing treatments. She strives to manage EpiCentre Park Lane in a professional, thoughtful and caring manner for her patients and staff.

For The Love of Lasers

juliet — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:12:50 +0000

Richard Fitzpatrick, M.D.; Dermatologist, GBK Cosmetic Laser Dermatology, San Diego, California; Founder, SkinMedica

I met my first laser in 1962 as a freshman at Princeton University, and as soon as I started playing with the then-brand-new argon laser in physics class, I was instantly fascinated by the fact that you could concentrate a beam of energy so perfectly. Although no one had any idea how to use this innovation at the time, I immediately saw the potential for such a device, and vowed to work with it some day.

In the late 1970s, chemical peels and dermabrasion were popular anti-aging treatments, but they were fraught with problems—the main issue being that they were so uncontrollable. I began to look at the carbon dioxide (CO2) laser and eventually developed the protocol for skin treatment, and from there much attention began to focus on laser skin resurfacing and rejuvenation. Among the innovations that stemmed from the principles associated with my work with the CO2 laser were the use of the erbium laser for skin resurfacing and the whole field of non-ablative, no-downtime laser treatments for improving texture and tightening skin. But the innovation that really started today’s laser revolution as we know it was the fractional laser. By taking original laser treatment principles and delivering the energy in pixels as opposed to all in one spot, we are now able to do things with light-based energy that we weren’t able to do before in a much safer manner.

With today’s menu of laser offerings, we can smooth surface texture, eliminate premalignant cells, address redness caused by broken capillaries, tighten skin and improve wrinkles. Since all of these skin concerns are associated with aging, combining different laser modalities can have a profound anti-aging effect.

Although lasers haven’t replaced the need for surgical procedures that eliminate excess skin (yet), the two work hand in hand to obtain optimal anti-aging outcomes. The main thing that lasers can do that surgery cannot is improve the quality of the skin, and no matter how good a surgeon is, he or she cannot reverse the damage on the surface of the skin that speaks volumes in terms of visible aging. Even more, we’ve found that laser resurfacing can actually improve the longevity of surgical results.

The beauty of laser treatment is that just about everyone is a candidate, although some skin types do require greater expertise. Someone with fair skin is an “easier” candidate since there’s minimal pigment to complicate treatment, but dark skin can respond very well in the hands of an experienced doctor.

Anti-aging results from laser treatments are long lasting, provided the patient takes the proper steps to protect their skin from further damage. With diligent use of sunscreen and skincare products, improvement can last up to 10 years. The key is using clinically tested (and proven) ingredients such as growth factors,retinol and antioxidants. Growth factors maintain results by stimulating the skin to repair the damage caused by incidental sun exposure (more than 5 minutes of sun each day incurs too much damage for the skin to repair itself naturally). Retinoids help eliminate irregular cells, keep pigment in check, and stimulate new collagen, and antioxidants shield skin from free radicals that cause aging changes. Vitamin C is an especially important antioxidant since it’s also necessary for collagen production, which is a primary way that laser treatment helps improve the appearance of the skin. In fact, laser treatments prompt the skin to produce new collagen for up to a year after the treatment is performed.

While the anti-aging benefits of laser treatment for the face are indisputable, many patients don’t realize the potential improvement they can get on other areas of the body. The neck, chest, arms and backs of the hands can see profound improvement as well, which goes a long way to “match” the rejuvenated skin on the face—and deliver an overall more youthful appearance.

Authored by Richard Fitzpatrick, M.D. in On Call on November 17th, 2011

World-renowned dermatologist and SkinMedica founder, Dr. Richard Fitzpatrick, has been a pioneer and an innovator in the use of lasers in skin rejuvenation and a leader in dermatology for over 30 years. His body of work gained him special recognition by Allure magazine as a beauty industry visionary; one of the “physicians who most influenced beauty.” After his undergraduate education at Princeton University, he went on to Emory University Medical School where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society for academic excellence. Dr. Fitzpatrick completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Southern California and attended the University of California at Los Angeles to complete his specialty training in Dermatology. He was instrumental in the development of several medical lasers and laser procedures, including laser resurfacing of the skin with the UltraPulse CO2 laser. He is the author of medical textbooks on laser surgery, as well as the author of numerous scientific articles. He lectures all over the world and has trained thousands of physicians in laser techniques.