cosmetic fillers

After seeing my previous post on Selphyl, the nice folks at Canderm were kind enough to invite me to an event they had a few weeks ago to introduce Toronto plastic surgeons and media types to the product.  It involved a presentation with a slide show, Q&A and a live demonstration! Knowing how squeamish I am you are probably wondering why I would subject myself to this - good question!  I don't know - why do people slow down at accidents?  You know (and secretly hope) it might be gross but you just can't help but look!

The presentation was given by Dr. Anthony P. Sclafani, Director of Facial Plastic Surgery and a Surgeon Director at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and while I will admit that a lot the presentation was full of medical jargon that I didn't really understand, I got the gist of it and luckily there were lots of pictures, most of which I could actually look at!  I also really appreciated that the word plasma was substituted for the "b" word!  It was especially interesting to learn about all the places where Selphyl can be used including: full face resurfacing, skin depressions, nasolabial folds, hands, acne scars, rhinoplasties, for scar prevention and in combination with fat to prolong the durability of corrections.

The live demo was done by Dr. Trevor Born, a board certified cosmetic surgeon from Toronto who has used Selphyl quite extensively on his patients and had lots of insight on it's use and results.  Fortunately I was sitting far enough back that I couldn't see too clearly but as far as I could tell, the patient didn't look too traumatized!

Overall I have to say I am pretty impressed with the whole idea of Selphyl - I'm vain, I know I'll be using a filler eventually and I like the idea of it being a natural product with no synthetic or animal-derived materials.

I'll tell you what's really freaky - being in a room full of plastic surgeons!  You wonder if they are looking at you and thinking about all the things they would change about you...

Toronto lovers of beauty rejoice - Beautylicious is back again!  For those not familiar with what it is, many of the salons and spas in the Bloor-Yorkville area offer consumers set value-priced packages and services for a set period of time.  there is a wide array of hair, spa, skin and health & wellness service packages available at three set prices - $25, $75 and $125 in four categories: hair (hair/colour/cut/style); spa (includes massage and/or facial and/or mani/pedi); skin (non-invasive procedures including Botox, Restylane or chemical peel); and Health & Wellness (nutrition services, dental, chiropractic services)

There are too many packages for me to even begin to tell you about but you can find all the event info at www.bloor-yorkville.com with details of all the participating spas and salons as well as the packages available.  But I will share with you a few of the ones I have my eye on as well as a few that I have tried already and can recommend:

Marc Anthony Salon - 38 Avenue Road - 416-413-1521 has an amazing $125 offering of an all-over colour, wash, deep conditioning treatment, Shiatsu scalp massage, haircut and blowout (for new clients only).  I got my hair cut there with Byron last week and it was great - you can read the review here.

Taz Hair Co. - 11 Yorkville Avenue - 416-922-6060 has a great $75 or $125 package involving colour and/or highlights - snag Susan if you can, she's great and they use the INOA colour there which has to be experienced to be believed!  You can read my review here.

Pure + Simple - 41 Avenue Road - 416-924-6555 - I can't say enough about the deluxe sea salt microdermabrasion so you will just have to go an experience it for yourself for $125!  You can read the review here.

and don't miss out on seeing Dr. Cory Torgerson - Facial Cosmetic Surgery - 70 Yorkville Avenue, Suite 31 - 647-343-0207 - who is offering special promotional prices on Restylane or Perlane injectable fillers as well as Botox.  If you aren't ready for that yet, he is also offering a complimentary consultation and 3D photo image session - check out what you could look like after a bit (or a lot) of work!  I did it and it was fun, you can check out the post here.

What sounds interesting that I haven't tried:

Clarins Skin Spa - 87 Yorkville Avenue - 416-924-9124 - for $125 I can have a Hawaiian Wave body treatment + Firmer bust: super moisturizing treatment for the body and bust and decollete treatment to stimulate and tone for firmer skin in this delicate area.

OxyBeauty - 14A Hazelton Avenue, Suite 304 - 416-929-4597 - for $75 I can have a OXYjet facial: removes pore impurities, replenishes antioxidant content and provides deep skin moisturizing for environmentally damaged skin

Spa at the Windor Arms Hotel - 18 St. Thomas Street - 416-934-6031 - for $75 I can have a 60 minute Pumpkin Body Wrap: this vitamin-rich masque stimulates blood flow and nourishes the skin.

I have no idea how I will ever choose - it's too bad I only have one face (unlike Christelle)!

Check it out at www.bloor-yorkville.com and help me make a decision and if you're going to book, do it soon, they book up fast and it only runs October 28-November 7!