In the second installment of our series featuring the winners of the 2023 Beauty Awards, LJC’S aesthetic nurse injector Jennifer talks us through the winning injectables that we have available at both our La Jolla and Carlsbad medical spas.
Whether you’re looking to restore volume or add contour, there are certain products designed to achieve certain goals. Find out which injectables Jennifer recommends for your specific concerns.
Hear Jennifer’s professional opinion on the following New Beauty award-winning injectables as an expert who uses them to restore patients’ confidence everyday at LJC:
- Botox
- Restylane Contour
- Restylane Kysse
- Sculptra
- Radiesse
- Upneeq eye drops
Links
- Learn more about Botox at LJC
- Learn more about the Restylane collection of dermal fillers
- Learn more about Sculptra
- Learn more about Upneeq
- Meet Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN
- Book your injectable appointment at our La Jolla or Carlsbad med spa
Please request your free consultation online or call La Jolla Cosmetic, San Diego, at (858) 788-7989 for more
Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You are listening to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast.
Monique Ramsey (00:13):
Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I’m your hostess, Monique Ramsey. Today we’re back for part two of our New Beauty Awards series where we are featuring the winners that we offer here at La Jolla Cosmetic, and there’s a lot of them. So we’ve cut it up into three parts, and today we’re talking about injectables and prescription products. So there’s so many things that are like super exciting on this list. And so today to talk about the injectables is our wonderful nurse injector. Jennifer Franz, welcome back to the podcast, Jennifer.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (00:48):
Hi. Thank you. I’m glad to be back.
Monique Ramsey (00:51):
Yeah, it’s great. So when the award for best neurotoxin for four headlines, I’m going to give everybody three guesses, , right. As to who won. So tell us the winner. Drum roll,
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (01:04):
Da da duh. Botox, right?
Monique Ramsey (01:07):
Botox, yeah.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (01:08):
Botox. The tried and true, the one that’s been around the longest, the one that probably everyone has tried, if you’ve ever tried a neurotoxin.
Monique Ramsey (01:16):
Yeah. And I th I think probably would you say like 80% of people use, I mean, if you’re using a neurotoxin, is that kind of how it breaks out with Botox support?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (01:26):
I would say so, yeah. I would say it’s predominantly Botox still to this day. Dysport would be second, even though it’s a great product, it’s just, you know, not as widely used in the United States. And then we have Xeomin, which came out a couple years after, well, I shouldn’t say a couple years, quite a while after Botox and Dysport. And then the most recent one, jeuveau um, has been around for quite a long, what, three years now? I think?
Monique Ramsey (01:55):
Three years? Yeah. I think they launched, like right before Covid started .
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (01:59):
I think that’s about right. Yeah, that’s about right.
Monique Ramsey (02:02):
So, you know, one thing great about Botox is it’s, I think, at least from a consumer point of view, is it’s really predictable. Like, I feel like you almost always consistently get a good result.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (02:14):
Yeah, yeah, I would agree. In the right hands, of course, you know, you, you do tend to get a very consistent, very predictable result with Botox. There’s different ways of dilution techniques, there’s different placements, obviously, but yeah, it’s, as a practitioner, yeah, I feel like it’s very predictable.
Monique Ramsey (02:34):
And so, you know, it’s sort of that household name that everybody knows. It’s like Kleenex, right? That nobody says soft tissue. Right. They say Kleenex, , so it’s like exactly Botox. But you know, it got the award specifically for forehead lines. And so how often do you see people using Botox? Many times a year, and then Sure. And where else mm-hmm. would they maybe use it.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (02:59):
Okay. Yeah. So Botox in most cases is something that needs to be repeated about three times a year. So it lasts up to four months. In my long practice, it’s very standard that my patients come in every three to four months and they’re consistently staying on top of their treatments. And some people wanted the second, they start seeing a little bit of that movement return. But, but in most cases, if you’re staying on that every three to four month routine, you get a really nice consistent result over time. Forehead lines is just one area that can be treated with Botox. The first FDA approval was glabella for those elevens, the lines between the brows. That’s probably the most common area. Forehead lines would be next for sure. That came along soon after that. And it’s these horizontal lines that you get when you raise your eyebrows, and it’s the, that raising of the eyebrows that makes those lines. The more you raise your eyebrows, the deeper those lines become over time. Of course, everybody’s skin type is different, but it’s a very nice treatment result when everything just looks nice and smooth. I think it’s that kind of glassy forehead that a lot of people really like.
Monique Ramsey (04:14):
. Yeah. This is, I right before the show started, I’m like, uh, Jennifer, it’s a time, it’s getting to be time. Yeah. But yeah, and one of the things that I think everybody really needs to know, it’s, I, I can’t remember how many areas it’s FDA approved for now. Like six or seven different areas. Do you remember?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (04:33):
Three in the upper face? Yeah.
Monique Ramsey (04:34):
Okay.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (04:34):
So yeah, glabella, forehead lines, frontalis, which is frontalis, and then crow’s feet or around the eyes. That was the third area. You know, that’s a good question as far as FDA approvals go.
Monique Ramsey (04:47):
Right. But then as far as like typical treatment areas that people might add on and what you and I did, so you, you did for me, the, which I’d never had before, is the, what do you call the platysmal bands, or.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (04:59):
Platysmal bands, these guys that, that kind of pop out right through here.
Monique Ramsey (05:04):
The neck cords.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (05:06):
Yeah. Those muscles, yeah. Can be nicely treated with Botox. Yep. These are all off label areas. This you can treat, um, this muscle right through here. This little depressor muscle that kind of pulls the corners of the mouth.
Monique Ramsey (05:20):
Kind of the sides of your chin, for the people who aren’t watching on, on YouTube. Right.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (05:23):
It’s, that’s right. It’s the corners of the mouth, that muscle that pulls those down. You can put it in the chin muscle, which helps to just smooth like a cottage cheese kind of chin people call it. Or that, um, like orange skin dimpling orange peel. Yeah, orange peel. Yeah. The top of the lip can give a little lip flip for a lot of people who are maybe considering filler but aren’t quite sure if they wanna go there yet. A little Botox can be put along that upper lip ridge and create a little bit of a flip, looking like more volume to the lip. It can also be nice for smokers’ lines. Gummy smiles can also be treated with Botox in a very specific muscle, jaw muscle masseters. So for people that have jaw clenching migraine headaches, it’s a very nice injection treatment along that muscle to weaken, weaken those muscles a little bit.
Monique Ramsey (06:20):
And you have a lot of experience with that. Right? Tell us about just, uh, you can just like throw it in and tell us what you, what you’ve done with Botox, sort of in a less cosmetic way.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (06:31):
Yeah. I’ve loved doing that over the years. It’s just kind of a fun little change up when you get to see someone who has migraine headaches. Not that it’s fun for them, obviously, but it’s fun to be able to help them to provide Botox for migraine headaches. It can be so life changing facial ticks or movements that are muscle related can be treated with Botox. And then you get into the whole hyperhydrosis, the excessive sweating thing. And the underarms, that’s something that I’ve done too in the past. It’s a treatment option for underarm, sweat, excessive sweating. So yeah, there are a couple things you can do with Botox.
Monique Ramsey (07:08):
A lot of things. I love it. It’s like aspirin, you know, it’s like a wonder drug .
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (07:12):
It’s, it’s probably, I, I think it’s one of the most studied medications on the market because it can be so widely used for not only cosmetic reasons, but so many medical reasons as well, things that I haven’t even mentioned. But yeah, it’s a widely used drug.
Monique Ramsey (07:29):
Good. Well, so now we’re gonna move in to the next injectable winner from New Beauty. The winner in the cheek filler category is a variation of, of a filler in the Restylane family of, of injectables, and it’s called Restylane Contour. So tell us about how this particular filler fills the cheeks, maybe better than other fillers.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (07:54):
Okay. It’s just a little bit different. All the fillers are different. They’re all so much alike, but they’re all different. It’s kind of a, a strange little fine line between each one of them. But Restylane has its own group of fillers. Juvederm has its own group of fillers, and then each filler within that grouping does something a little bit different. It really just depends on where you want to put a filler, where you’re looking for volume replacement. So each fillers ingredients are the same, just the amounts of those ingredients vary a little bit. So contour has what’s called express technology. It’s Restylane’s newest family of Restylane products. That is a very flexible filler. It has natural movement. It is known for just allowing your face to have its normal expression. So hence express technology. So for contour, what we’re trying to do is, yes, replace some volume, but we can also just make the prettiest rounded contoured cheek with this product. So we may inject it just a little bit differently than we would maybe a different cheek filler, but the technique is similar. It’s not that different, but we just, it’s all about the placement and getting this very nice rounded cheek that still has very, very nice natural movement and this beautiful contour.
Monique Ramsey (09:21):
Well, and I think that maybe sometimes when we see people who maybe have too much filler in their cheeks, is it the fact that there’s too much, or is it the fact that it’s not naturally moving with their face?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (09:35):
It can be both. Obviously, product choice is very important and you hope that your injector knows a lot about different types of fillers so that they’re choosing the right one for each patient. Because I don’t think there should be any cookie cutter treatments out there. Not everybody’s face has the same aging response or the same changes, or needs the same amount of volume replacement. You know, sometimes you have to remember what the patient looked like when they were young, and you don’t necessarily wanna give them these giant cheeks if that’s just not what their face should have. So you kind of have to look at this whole picture. But yeah, too much filler can simply just be too much filler or it can be improperly placed, or the wrong filler could be chosen as well. So it really varies based on someone who needs that volume replacement, someone who’s maybe my age and is losing volume over time and needs to have that volume replaced. Or if we’re talking about perhaps a 25 or 30 year old who just wants to have an enhanced contour for makeup reasons or photography reasons. So there’s different ways, you know, you kind of, you really have to look at someone’s face and figure out what that person needs.
Monique Ramsey (10:52):
And how long would the Restylane contour filler last for most people, I know everybody’s a little bit different.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (11:00):
Yeah, everyone’s different. And it depends on how much we’re injecting. You know, if, if your injector recommends two syringes, but someone chooses to just do one for instance, which is fine. Sometimes we do these things in stages and that works well too. But it may take a little bit to build up to that ideal result. Um, so, you know, I’d say if you’re doing a true fill to the proper amount of, of product, in most cases, you’re gonna get a good year out of it. So that’s the indication, I think is for a year. But some people might not see quite that long. Some people might feel like it lasts longer too.
Monique Ramsey (11:39):
Okay. So another winner from the Restylane family, and it’s in the category of best filler for fuller lips, is Restylane Kysse. And it’s K Y S S E, so kysse, so what causes thin lips and how does Kysse kind of maybe differ or stand out from some of the other injectables in making a good lip?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (12:06):
Right. I love this product in the lips. I think, again, well backing up, not that I think it is again, this express technology from Restylane that allows your lips to be volumized, but yet in the most flexible movement type of way, so that you can still kiss, you kiss, you can still talk, you can still move your mouth very, very naturally. And that’s what I love about it. I think some of the older generations of, um, hyaluronic acid fillers created a very stiff look to the lip, a very filled lip kind of firm looking. And personally, I prefer a, a look that’s more flexible, more natural. It maintains the pretty shape, it adds kind of a plump pillowy kind of, kind of look. So that’s why I love that filler. What causes thin lips usually is just heredity, you know, it’s just, you’re kind of just born with what, what you get is what you get. And if you’re blessed with a fullness in the lips, some people still want more fullness. If you’re blessed with thin lips, some people just want to change that. So what fillers do is they really just enhance what you have over time. Slowly adding filler can create a different look to the lips for sure. And the goal is to do it slowly and, and, you know, make that change as natural looking as possible, in my opinion.
Monique Ramsey (13:37):
Uhhuh. And if you see you, some people walking around where you’re like, why does it look like the duck lips? Or like, there’s a shelf, like a whole shelf on their upper lip. Is it that the wrong product has been used or the wrong technique, or both?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (13:55):
Yeah, I think, you know, more than it can be product if the wrong product is used, it can be too heavy or too thick of a filler that’s just too volumizing perhaps. But in most cases it’s placement and maybe also adding too much into that lip too quickly. Um, you know, you, you don’t wanna overstretch the lip because obviously, there’s only so much room, so much lip that you can fill and you can change that slowly over time. If you’re gradually adding filler, your, your lip is gonna stay more natural looking. It’s, it’s natural shape will maintain. But if you’re putting a lot filler in a small space very, very quick, then sometimes that filler will migrate, which is kind of a, you know, the term of of the year migration is when you’re oftentimes seeing that filler extend up here above the lip or down below the lips, you know, and then it just looks, it looks unnatural and, and you lose that nice definition of those lip borders. And, um, so approaching your filling technique with some grace and some time will oftentimes prevent that.
Monique Ramsey (15:09):
Now, I’ve heard a lot of people talking about reversing their filler. And tell us a little bit about instances where you might dissolve the filler that the person already has.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (15:22):
Yeah. I’ve seen patients come to me over the years who have maybe had too much filler too fast, like I was just mentioning. And they do get that migration again into these areas around the lips. That’s probably the most common thing that we see in terms of patients wanting their filler reversed or dissolved. So there is an ingredient that is just a little enzyme that dissolves hyaluronic acid fillers. So Restylane fillers, Juvederm fillers, these are all hyaluronic acid fillers. The nice thing about using these is that they are reversible. Hyaluronidase is the name of the enzyme, and it can be injected into that filler directly, whether it’s around the lips, whether it’s cheeks, wherever We want to try to eliminate that fullness or that response that someone got from filler. We just inject that hyaluronidase enzyme into that filler and it’s slowly dissolves it or quickly. And sometimes it’s quick.
Monique Ramsey (16:24):
And then is sometimes the goal to get them back to the baselines and then figure out what you, you wanna do next. Right. And how long does it take for that to, to do its magic?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (16:36):
It just kind of depends. I mean, sometimes I see almost an instantaneous result with, with hyaluronidase sometimes it’s kind of a bit of a process where, you know, if it’s, especially if it’s a patient that I didn’t inject initially with the filler, I don’t know exactly maybe what filler was used or exactly how much was used, where it was placed. So, you know, I can make my best educated guess and do, you know, do a one appointment dissolving and then I bring them back typically two weeks later and we just check up. Um, maybe need to touch it up and do a little bit again. Sometimes it’s great after one, one treatment, but yeah, we’re the, the goal then in most cases is to get back to a baseline and then we decide do we want to add filler again, just differently or better or, you know, to try to achieve whatever result we were really going for.
Monique Ramsey (17:28):
And the last question on the, on this about fillers in the lips, if somebody’s never had their lips done before and they’re pretty hesitant, but they would like a fuller lip, you know, what advice do you give them?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (17:40):
Yeah. You know, I think, I think it’s important to come in and actually talk to one of us who do lips the time. And we do have techniques that can help make a patient so much more comfortable. I think, you know, sometimes people hear from their best friends, oh, that was the worst pain I ever felt. It can hurt. It can hurt. Lips are very sensitive. So here in our office, we use a very nice strong compounded numbing cream. And we leave that on the lips for a while before we start. Then we use these distraction techniques that I think are fantastic. And you know, I just did some lips a little bit ago and this sweet gal said, I honestly hardly feel this right now. This is fantastic. She had a squeezy ball.
Monique Ramsey (18:28):
That’s a huge compliment.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (18:30):
Yeah. Yeah. She, and she did so great. She did, she had a squeezy ball in one hand. She had a little vibrating tool up along her jaw and she just laid there and we just literally breezed right through it. It was a cinch. So, you know, leading up to it, I think it’s important to avoid red wine for a day or two, avoid aspirin and ibuprofen, fish oil for a couple days. That minimizes your chance of bruising. You know, maybe take some Tylenol before you come in the office and let us know if you’re afraid. If you’re worried about pain, then you know, we’re gonna do everything we can to make you as comfortable as possible. And in most cases, I think, you know, at least for me, doing lips is a pretty quick process. If you can sit really still and, and just tough through it for, you know, 10 minutes we’re done and you’re good to go. The discomfort is typically just from the needle pokes afterwards. The lips can be tender when the numbing wears off, but the pain typically stops the second the needle poke stop.
Monique Ramsey (19:28):
That’s reassuring. Yeah. I would say, you know, that that numbing cream that you guys have compounded is the best because it really, it’s amazing a ga it’s a game changer. It really is. And you know, having my lips done way back in the day when it was collagen , there was no, there was no, you know, pain or numbing cream. There was no lidocaine in in the, in the syringe. It was just like you had to just go for it. And I would kind of, every couple years that would do it again, cuz it was too much. But now, you know, we have, I mean with the lidocaine that’s in there.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (20:02):
I was gonna say Yeah, that’s a good point as well. Fillers now all have lidocaine mixed in. It’s rare to find a filler that doesn’t have lidocaine mixed in it anymore. So not only do we have that topical numbing cream, but we also have lidocaine mixed in the filler. So the way I approach lips is I, I kind of do a little here and a little here and a little here and a little here. And I try to get that, that lidocaine into the lip first.
Monique Ramsey (20:25):
And then move around. Yeah.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (20:26):
Yeah. I try to get it in there and I think that helps make the process much more comfortable as well.
Monique Ramsey (20:32):
Okay. The next New Beauty winner mm-hmm. is one of our favorite products. And it’s something that not everybody knows about. It’s a collagen stimulating filler or a bio stimulator and it’s called Sculptra. And so tell us about, it’s kind of in a category on its own. It’s not a hyaluronic acid filler, it’s different, it’s been around for a long time and favored by a lot of experienced injectors. So tell us a little bit about it and and how people can think about it and where it would be used.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (21:06):
Right. So Sculptra, like you said, is a bio stimulator. The whole goal of Sculptra is to build collagen. So it’s a tiny little particle that we mix in sterile water and inject into the skin. And the goal there is that we’re placing it in areas that need volume. Then once that gets into the skin, it enacts or encourages a inflammatory response. And through that inflammation we get the body’s natural process. Everything’s gonna swoop in and encourage that collagen to grow. And that’s part of the natural healing process that occurs in our body. And when it’s a very specific location, then you get that volume to grow where you want it to grow. And obviously it has to be injected into the right plane of the skin, into the right location. And slowly over about six months you’re getting collagen to grow. It’s a multi-step process.
(22:05):
We typically will inject patients about every four to eight weeks. Every injector’s a little bit different there. Sometimes it’s a little sooner. Sometimes we wait a little bit longer. Again, just depends on where we’re putting it and what kind of goal we’re trying to achieve. But it’s multi-step to get the best result possible. That’s really the most important part. But I adore collagen, yes, . But um, when it comes from Sculptra, typically in the, in my last couple five, six years, I get it toward the back of my face so that it holds my skin all up in place where it belongs.
Monique Ramsey (22:43):
Okay. So you’re kind of pointing to like maybe the jaw, back by the ears.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (22:48):
Yeah. Jaws and right in front of my ears. Yes. Yeah. And the goal there is to just hold the skin up, put it where it belongs so that it’s not sliding forward
Monique Ramsey (22:58):
. So yeah, it’s like, oh, it’s that famous artist and the melt, everything’s melting. Melting.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (23:06):
Yes, yes, yes.
Monique Ramsey (23:07):
So yeah, we just wanna keep the skin.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (23:09):
Avoid melting. Yeah. ,
Monique Ramsey (23:10):
Keep the skin suspended.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (23:13):
Exactly. Mm-hmm.
Monique Ramsey (23:14):
And is there a certain kind of patient who might be a good Sculptra candidate? Is it certain age or certain issues with their face? Or what do you kind of think about who could benefit from Sculptra.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (23:29):
Yeah. I typically envision a thinner patient who benefits really nicely from Sculptra or patients who have hollowing, especially this area under the cheekbone, when that area is hollowing. Or if we need, even to add a little definition into the jaw, the temples, you can actually use sculptor and other places of the body as well. I’m sure a lot of patients have heard that it can be added into the buttocks to add volume into the buttocks to get some lift and volume and projection perhaps. So thinner patients who maybe just don’t have a lot of fat or who have aged in a way that that area is becoming kind of hollow and kind of empty and we need to build that skin back up. It’s great for improving the skin quality as well as adding volume. It’s great for lines, we can use it in most parts of the face, but by, you know, typically adding it to the cheeks or that area and the lower cheek, we can also improve the, the nasal labial lines, which are those parentheses that go around the mouth. So there’s a lot of different things we can do with it, but in most cases it’s someone who just needs volume replacement in larger areas and wants it in the most natural way possible.
Monique Ramsey (24:53):
Yeah, I think that’s the thing about it is nobody’s gonna know you had something done. It’s, you know, slow build and over time. And I think that’s also great for men because, you know, a lot of times women will like tell each other, whatever we’ve done, we don’t care. But guys sometimes keep it a secret and it seems like this would be something that would be good for them as well.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (25:18):
Yeah, I completely agree. You know, everyone’s a little bit different, but tackling this when you’re maybe 40 ish and up is a nice way to kind of think about these products because you can maintain the collagen or the, the volume that you’re losing sooner and you know, really prevent a lot of that skin laxity from occurring. So that’s the best way to think about it. I think, you know, obviously we, we can get to a point where, you know, there is maybe too much laxity in sculptors, not gonna do we what we want it to do, but, but starting early and trying to stay on top of that and just gradually replacing that as time goes is what I like to do with s Sculptra.
Monique Ramsey (26:00):
All right. So the final filler award on our list today is in the category of best filler for hand rejuvenation. And this is something that I don’t know if people think about, we all think about our face and our neck and our chest a lot of times comes in as, as a, you know, like afterthought. But like, oh yeah, if my face looks great and my chest doesn’t, that’s an issue. But your hands can give away your age. Absolutely. And so how does, well let’s first of all say who the winner is. So what is the right, the winner?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (26:31):
Yes. It’s Radiesse. And Radiesse has been around for a long time. It was one of the fillers, the very first fillers that I started working with when I started injecting back in 2009. So then it was only used for face, it didn’t have the hand indication yet, but later on that came along as a really nice product to add into the back of the hands. I know for the people that can’t see me, I’m pointing at those areas that are in between our tendons where they kind of become hollowed out with time.
Monique Ramsey (27:03):
You see more of your, your veins popping out veins.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (27:06):
Yes.
Monique Ramsey (27:07):
It’s like there’s no more cushion around it.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (27:09):
Right, exactly. And that’s exactly what it is. Our skin just loses that fatty tissue sometimes that collagen, that elastin that keeps our skin really nice and tight and does kind of add that cushion that goes away as we eat. And so putting a little bit of Radiesse into the back of the hands is really pretty. So yeah, it’s been, it’s something that I’ve done for a lot of years now and I really like the results. Sometimes we mix it with a little bit of laser treatment to the back of the hands. If we’ve got some brown spots that we can laser off, that’s, that’s an easy procedure too. And we can definitely make the hands look more youthful.
Monique Ramsey (27:47):
Now let me ask you on, with the hands in Radiesse, how long would it last? Cuz I know you, we all move our hands a lot, but I guess we don’t move the back of our hand. Yeah. But how does it, how long does it hang out there?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (28:00):
Yeah, usually a good year is pretty, pretty common. Sometimes, again, people can get it to last a little bit longer or people will notice it lasts a little bit longer than a year. But in most cases that’s pretty typical. My patients over the years, I’ve usually just come in on a yearly basis. Once we’ve got the hands to a place that they’re really satisfied with, with the look of them, then maintaining it on a yearly basis is really, is really common.
Monique Ramsey (28:29):
Okay. And last but not least, and you wouldn’t believe this one unless you’ve tried it and I’ve tried it and I forgot to actually use it today cuz I’m usually pretty, I usually pretty good about using this on days I do podcasts because I have it like a droopy eye, have one eye that’s more lazy or droopy than the other. And so there’s a eye drop called Upneeq and it one, I don’t know if it was for, I don’t, I’m not sure what the category they went for, for, maybe.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (28:57):
Yeah, I don’t remember the category either. Maybe.
Monique Ramsey (28:59):
Maybe. But what it’s for,
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:00):
In office procedure, I think.
Monique Ramsey (29:02):
It sort of opens your eye up more. And what I found is you, if I’m, of course I didn’t do it today of all the, all the days.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:12):
of course.
Monique Ramsey (29:12):
That I forget. But it really does open my eyes up better. It’s like a little automatic eye lift. It’s a drop, you pop it in, you drop it in your eyes, it starts to work within like 15 minutes and then it stays all day. It works all day. So have you tried it yet?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:29):
I have.
Monique Ramsey (29:29):
And tell me what you think.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:31):
I agree with you. I love it. I also have, it’s my left eye that um, is just a little bit droopier on the eyelid than my right eye. And I have loved this drop. I was kind of slow to jump on the Upneeq train. That’s the name of the medicine. I don’t know if we’ve mentioned it yet or not.
Monique Ramsey (29:50):
Yeah, we, I think we did. But Upneeq.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:51):
Okay, okay.
Monique Ramsey (29:52):
U P N E E Q,
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:54):
Right
Monique Ramsey (29:55):
Upneeq. Mm-hmm. .
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (29:56):
So yeah, I started using it maybe four months ago and I agree it just, it’s kind of miraculous. It not only lifts the upper eyelid a little bit, I mean we’re not talking like, you know, dramatic, dramatic.
Monique Ramsey (30:12):
Like surgery
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (30:12):
, but pretty like in the, yeah, no, not like surgery but pretty just, it makes you look more refreshed. It makes you look less tired. Kind of takes away a little bit of that puffy tired look. It makes your eyes whiter so you have a less red eye, you your eyes just look more alert. It’s a very nice response. And like you said, you do it in the morning, one drop per eye and you can have this great result for the entire day.
Monique Ramsey (30:42):
Yeah. And it like lifts the little muscle. It does something, does that muscle contract or something. So that’s how it’s like making your eye look more open and wide awake and there’s something psychological almost about it that it truly does make a difference on how you look. But it also makes you feel so, at least for me, kind of wide awake, I don’t know just cause I’m more wide awake when I use it. I don’t know. But it really does work great. And it’s, you know, some people use it every day, they swear by it, do it every day. Mm-hmm. , I use it just when I’m doing a podcast or if I’m going to an event. Like I know that I want my eyes to be even and, and normal And it’s just, it’s, and it’s a, you know, not very expensive. So I think it’s like maybe $4 or $5 per dropper.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (31:31):
So you know you can buy it in, in individual little packs. We sell it, um, I think three packs for $15.
Monique Ramsey (31:39):
Okay.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (31:39):
And in my experience, so one pack has one little ampule of the medication. I don’t use the entire thing in a day. So I can typically get two days out of my little ampule.
Monique Ramsey (31:54):
I should try that cuz I’m always like using the whole thing and then my eyes are all watery later and I’m like, was that because I used too much?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (32:02):
Probably too much.
Monique Ramsey (32:03):
Ah, okay. Yeah. I love these little beauty secrets.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (32:06):
You just need one drop per eye.
Monique Ramsey (32:08):
Okay.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (32:09):
And no, you don’t need it to be, you know, running out of your eyes then yes, you’re wasting product, so.
Monique Ramsey (32:15):
It’s going into my ear, whatever.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (32:16):
Yeah. . So yeah, one drop per eye and like I said, I typically can get two days worth out of each ampule. So you know, those three little packets could last you a week, which is, you know, fantastic for $15. Absolutely. Or you can buy a whole box. I think it’s 45 packets that come in one for $225 I think. So it’s a little bit more, but I really think you can get a good two to three months out of that box. And like you said, if you’re not using it every single day, which you really don’t need to do unless you’re, you know, presenting or speaking publicly every day or you’re on tv, you know, you would save it for the days that you need to look fabulous and refreshed. Or if you wake up kind of tired one morning you didn’t get enough sleep. You know, it just really does make you look more refreshed. But it does kind of give, change your perspective, I think, so that you just feel more refreshed as well.
Monique Ramsey (33:19):
Yeah. And what I was gonna say is I, I feel like we spend all this money on Botox, , fillers and you know, it’s like kind of the perfect little companion to the Botox that you have around your eyes and your forehead. It’s like a little instant eyelid lift. It’s not the same as an eyelid lift, but it truly does make a nice difference. And a lot of us have one eye that’s more open than the other, I think that’s pretty, that’s pretty normal. So just knowing that there’s something there, you know, and I love the fact that we sell it, you know, you can buy just three, not a whole box if, if you don’t know if you like it yet or to try it.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (33:57):
Right. Start slow. Mm-hmm.
Monique Ramsey (33:58):
Yeah. Start slow. Mm-hmm. But now it’s a prescription, is that correct?
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (34:02):
It is a prescription. So we do need to meet with our patients just once or you know, the very first time we would like to at least, at least touch base with you, lay eyes on you, whether it’s with a virtual consultation or an in-person consultation in the office, just to make sure that you are a candidate for it. There are some health issues of course that, you know, we want to check on to make sure that you’re healthy. Basically, we don’t want you to have any eye issues. For instance, before we’re, we’re prescribing an eye drop for you. It’s just similar to Latisse, it’s along that same line as Latisse or it is a prescription. So we just need to meet with you before we sell that to you and prescribe it to you.
Monique Ramsey (34:43):
So, and honestly like I’ve, I’m such a Latisse devotee, you know, I think it’s one of those things you can get your lashes done by somebody, but that takes a lot of time. And for me, I don’t have the time and so I’ll like use and, and the money, but I mean, Latisse costs something, but yeah. You know, sure. If you’re, if you’re in alley and getting all those points, you know, you’re getting points for Latisse, uh, that you purchase or your Botox helps give you rebates on Latisse or you know, it all works together. It does. But for me it’s really nice because I don’t have to think about it. I can put the little drop on my eyelid, you know, my lash line every day or every third day and just like keep my lashes looking good. And cuz as we, as we age, it’s like what happened to those lashes that I used to have. So that’s another,
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (35:32):
Those hormones fluctuate, you’re right, we lose, we lose the amount of eyelashes that we had at one point. Same with eye brows, same way. So I have had some patients who’ve had good luck putting a little bit of Latisse on their eyebrows as well.
Monique Ramsey (35:48):
Interesting. All right, well that was fun. That wasn’t it, but I don’t know how Latisse wasn’t an award winner cuz it should be. But I’ll give it my own award, right, . Yeah, for sure. But, um, so thanks everybody for listening in today on part two of our New Beauty award winners and thanks Jennifer for being with us.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (36:06):
Oh, my pleasure.
Monique Ramsey (36:07):
And lending your expertise. I learned a lot today and you know, these are all really great products and there’s also a lot of other great products that aren’t award winners that, you know, might be better for you. And that’s why, like you mentioned, having that in-person consultation where you really discuss like what is, what are the goals, what do you have now, what do we have to work with, what are we trying to get to, right? What’s your budget? And, uh, we can, you know, make all that happen.
(36:33):
So check all the show notes, we’ll have links to everything we talked about today. And then make sure that you listen for part three. Part three of our New Beauty award winners is where we’re gonna go into devices like lasers and other energy devices and what, uh, devices won awards in this. And as a reminder, you can book online with Jennifer and all of our other wonderful providers. If you go to our [email protected] or glam fam.com, either one works takes you to the same place. And if you look at the top of the website, it’ll say book online and you can book a treatment or an a consultation with Jennifer or any of our providers.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (37:14):
Hmm. Can I mention one more thing?
Monique Ramsey (37:16):
Oh absolutely.
Jennifer Franz, RN, BSN (37:17):
For new patients, we don’t wanna forget to mention that we have an amazing Botox special for our new patients. You can get 40 units of Botox for $290 and you are welcomed into our GlamFam with a one year membership, which means you’re going to get discounts on things like Upneeq and the fillers that we mentioned. So it’s a great way to get established with our practice. Um, we’d love to meet you, we’d love to give you some Botox, , give you some Upneeq, some fillers, whatever it may be. Whatever you like, whatever you need Sculptra. There’s so many options that we have, but, um,
Monique Ramsey (37:57):
I’m glad you mentioned that because yeah, and, and if you go on our website, we do have it on our specials page. So the, the 40 units for $290, it would normally be 580. So it’s half price, half price. And then getting the GlamFam membership on top of it, that’s a $120 value because that’s what it would normally cost you for that year. And then you get the discounts all year long. So that’s a wonderful, a wonderful thing. Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with saving money. I’m all for it. So anyway, thanks again, Jennifer, and we’ll let you get back to your day and see your patience. And thanks for joining us and everybody who’s listening, thank you again and stay tuned for part three of the New Beauty Award winners where we’ll talk about lasers and energy devices. So thanks everybody.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the XiMed building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to ljcmedspa.com or follow the team on Instagram @ljcsc. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis.