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Category: General Skin Care

The Power of Customization in Aesthetic Treatments

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At The Derm Institute, we know that when it comes to aesthetic treatments, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach. Every face is unique, and the key to achieving beautiful, natural results lies in a personalized treatment plan that enhances your features, rather than changing them—resulting in the best, most confident version of you.

With today’s advancements in non-surgical treatments such as biostimulators, fillers, Botox, chemical peels, lasers and more, customization is more important than ever. The best results come from subtle, expertly placed treatments over time—not drastic, one-time changes. That’s where Dr. Chiu’s expensive specialized cosmetic expertise comes in.

Why Customization Matters

Aesthetic medicine is both a science and an art. While trends may come and go, the most stunning results are achieved through a bespoke approach, where each treatment is tailored to your unique facial structure, skin type, and personal goals. 

Dr. Chiu will assess your skin and aesthetic needs holistically, recognizing that healthy glowing skin is a key foundation to other aesthetic goals.   She will develop a plan to improve your general skin health, as well as any treatments to balance or optimize your facial features.  Subtle, undetectable, but impactful results to achieve the most attractive version of each individual is The Derm Institute and Dr. Chiu’s primary philosophy.   Instead of following trends or taking a “template” approach, a customized plan ensures that every treatment—whether it’s Botox to soften fine lines or laser therapy to improve skin texture—is natural appearing, timeless, and designed specifically for you. 

 

Why There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Solution

The face is multi-dimensional and dynamic, with muscles, fat distribution, bone structure, and skin quality all affecting our appearance and how we feel as we age. That’s why those who are seeking true expertise and optimal, subtle, and state of the art holistic anti-aging techniques seek highly trained, cosmetic-specialized board-certified dermatologists like Dr. Chiu.  This is not “drive-through” botox, or “fill the lips” and go.  The Derm Institute team looks carefully at each individuals’ facial features and evaluates each patient in a 360° approach to bring balance and harmony in your proactive anti-aging journey in  recommending a treatment plan.

Examples where artistic customization can be key:

  • Basic treatment of fillers puff up areas and fill lines, but advanced techniques never create an overfilled look. Expert high-level injectable treatments can not only restore volume, but it can also contour the face shape, balance features, and subtly refine proportion by customizing the type, placement, and amount for each individual.
  • Botox is more than a smooth forehead; it can be used as a full face and neck approach for lifting various areas by minimizing downward pulling muscles, slimming square or round faces, and refining and preventing etched expression lines over time.
  • Chemical peels should not be confined to a formulation predetermined in a box. Dr. Chiu will blend different products of different strengths and formulations, tailored to treat your skin condition, and specific skin type and color.  
  • Energy based devices like lasers, or Sofwave, are stacked and customized to your skin type and concerns, whether for collagen stimulation, resurfacing, or pigment correction while ensuring safety.

A personalized 360° aesthetic evaluation and approach ensures that your treatments work together harmoniously, enhancing your features in the most natural way possible.

The Power of Micro-Adjustments Over Time

One of the biggest misconceptions in aesthetics is that dramatic changes yield the best results. In reality, the most beautiful transformations happen gradually through micro-adjustments over time.  We have coined the term #quietluxuryderm to symbolize the idea of transformations that are undetectable but build over time to a significant glow up!

This allows for more natural results that just make you look brighter, softer, and more rested. 

Goals of a gradual approach:

  • More natural, refined results
  • Better integration with your natural features
  • The ability to adapt treatments as your face and skin evolve over time

This approach ensures you never look overdone—just refreshed, balanced, and effortlessly youthful.

Trust the Expert

With the rise of aesthetic trends on social media, it’s tempting to request specific treatments based on what’s popular or trending. However, the best outcomes happen when you trust an expert to guide your journey. At TDI, Dr. Chiu doesn’t just perform treatments—we create customized, long-term strategies to help you achieve your best, most confident self.

At TDI we will:

✔️ Assess your facial structure, skin type, cultural background, and skin needs

✔️ Recommend treatments that complement your natural beauty

✔️ Plan a long-term approach for graceful, timeless results

✔️ Ensure that every adjustment is subtle, elegant, and uniquely you

The Future of Aesthetics: Precision & Personalization

The future of aesthetics is all about customization. With advanced injectables, AI-driven skin analysis, and cutting-edge laser technology, we can now tailor treatments to your exact needs like never before.

If you’re considering aesthetic treatments, remember: the best results come from a personalized, expertly guided approach. It is a marathon for a beautiful life, not a sprint.  Trust the process, embrace micro-adjustments, and enjoy the confidence that comes with looking—and feeling—your absolute best.

Ready to Begin Your Rejuvenation Journey?

At The Derm Institute, we specialize in bespoke aesthetic treatments designed for natural, long-lasting results. Book a consultation today and start your bespoke antiaging journey!

Shared by The Derm Institute Team

Lip Masks for a Plump, Hydrated Pout

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Lip masks are beneficial to smooth, soothe and plump delicate lip skin, which tends to dry out and is thinner and more sensitive to ingredients we may apply elsewhere on the face. This becomes more apparent in dry conditions like on plane rides, or even seasons like dry winter months when cold, windy weather can increase transepidermal water loss and thus, dehydration of the lips. Lip masks can be used throughout the day, but are most commonly used on long plane rides, in dry high altitudes, or nightly to seal in moisture overnight. When we sleep, our core body temperature actually rises causing an increase in transepidermal water loss, especially through mucosal surfaces like the lips, so a nightly lip mask is a great way to combat that dehydration. Everyone can benefit from a lip mask because even low-grade dryness can lead to chronic inflammation, which can irritate or cause the lips to have a crinkly, aged appearance.

Almost everyone uses lip balms, which are typically formulated a bit lighter for multiple applications throughout the day and can often be layered with lipsticks. A lip mask is more for when your lips feel particularly dry, or for nightly use as it is typically characterized by more occlusive ingredients, with actives that are more concentrated for specific benefits like exfoliating or anti-aging. Lip masks are generally a more intense version of regular lip balms and are meant to sit on the lips for hours without the messiness of eating or talking a lot.

Ingredients to look out for:

  • Look for deeply moisturizing ingredients such as sunflower oil, sesame oil, vitamin E, omega fatty acids, linoleum acids, and coconut oil to moisturize, soften, and soothe dry lips.
  • Occlusive ingredients like petrolatum and shea butter seal in moisture to help even deeper penetration of other ingredients.
  • Exfoliating ingredients like pumpkin extract and sugar molecules rid the dry dead cells so other ingredients can better penetrate the lip skin and the lips look smooth and plumped.
  • Hyaluronic acid and honey are humectants with slight anti-inflammatory activity to help hydrate and maintain moisture.
  • A good lip mask typically will have antioxidants to reverse the oxidative damage lips can encounter during the day from UV light, pollution, or smoke and help against premature aging.

Dr. Chiu’s Lip Mask Recommendations

1. Ilia Lip Wrap Treatment Mask: this product pretty much hits all the ingredient categories you look for in a lip mask. Exfoliating papaya enzymes are formulated elegantly with hydrating hyaluronic acid, antioxidants like Vitamin E, along with deep moisturizing skin occlusives like Shea Butter and other plant oils without feeling too sticky or heavy.
Price $26

2. Tatcha Kissu Lip Mask: One of the most lightweight masks on the market, this gel texture mask is great for sensitive lips as it is formulated without any fragrance. This mask contains primary ingredients like squalene which is a natural occlusive and a precursor to the skin’s naturally made fatty acids in the lip.  Peach extracts soften and heal the lips without any stickiness.
Price $28

3. Burt’s Bee’s Moisturizing Lip Mask: These single-use, ultra sanitary (think no re-dipping into a jar) lip masks are perfect for plane travel or your winter ski trip. Simple natural ingredients including sweet almond oil and sunflower seed oil deeply moisturize and penetrate the lip quickly.
Price $5.03 

The Complete Guide to Thread Lifts for the Face and Neck

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Living in a world obsessed with youth and attractiveness – especially in the current era of Instagram, FaceTime, and Zoom – you may find yourself wishing your face was a little more lifted and younger-looking each time you glance in the mirror. While there’s nothing wrong with experiencing the natural aging process or your inherited facial characteristics, you might also realize you want to do something about it. That’s why facial cosmetic treatments like our no-downtime, non-surgical absorbable thread lift using injectable threads are becoming increasingly popular.

What Is a Thread Lift?

Dr. Annie Chiu at The Derm Institute at North Redondo Beach, California, proudly offers a cosmetic procedure designed to lift and sculpt the shape of your face, neck or other areas of your body. Using temporary, medical-grade barbed suture material, thread lifts are a completely nonsurgical way to give the skin a lift without adding extra volume, lifting loose skin via sutures injected under the skin.  Common areas to use threadlifts address lower facial laxity, jowling, heaviness of the lower face and jawline area, and neck laxity.  But that’s not all — inserting threads triggers your body’s healing response and induces new collagen production. Results of the lift can be seen immediately, although continued collagen production makes for even more peak results around 1 month post treatment. New collagen stimulated by threads can help continue to tighten your sagging skin and restore youthful elasticity and lift.  

What Are Injectable Threads?

The injectable threads technology employed by Dr. Chiu are absorbable PDO flexible sutures that have molded tiny “barbs” or hooks (almost invisible to the human eye) that grabs onto the under surface of the skin to produce an instant lift in areas with laxity or to address loose skin or heavy skin on the lower face. Dr. Chiu delivers the treatment during a quick, zero-downtime 30 minute procedure.

Benefits of a Thread Lift

While you might be wondering about choosing a thread lift, it’s helpful to remember that injectable thread lifts provide an immediate improvement and a regenerative effect for progressive and natural results. Some of the typical outcomes include:

  • Instant lifted results
  • A boost to the body’s natural collagen production
  • Typically no downtime

Patients who can’t or are not ready to have a surgical facelift due to medical conditions may consider a thread lift as a safer alternative. Thread lifts are low risk, mainly due to how non-invasive they are. There is virtually no risk of bruising, bleeding, scarring, or other complications after having a thread lift.

While no procedure can halt the natural aging process, facelift surgery will usually produce longer-lasting results than a thread lift, typically up to a decade. In contrast, a thread lift will generally last about a year. However, because thread lift procedures are low-risk, patients can opt to have a fresh set of threads placed once the body absorbs the previous set.

What Are the Most Common Areas Treated With a Thread Face Lift?

Patients typically choose thread lifts for facial areas that sag or droop, looking lax over time. These areas include:

  • Jowls and jawline
  • Brow line and forehead
  • Droopy or heavy cheeks
  • Lax or crepey neck

Thread lifts can also present excellent results in other areas of the body, including the knees, buttocks, abdomen, and legs.

Who Is the Best Candidate for a Thread Face Lift?

Ideal candidates for a thread face lift are patients who are just starting to notice some collagen loss in the mid- or lower third of their faces, would like to boost their skin’s structure, and are:

  • In their late 30s to early 50s
  • Have moderately loose skin

Already have volume and do not want to lift with fillers

What Are the Risks and Side Effects From a Thread Face Lift?

A thread lift procedure is generally low-risk, but patients may experience side effects such as:

  • Bruising
  • Swelling
  • Bleeding
  • Slight discomfort at the injection site

There’s also a 15 to 20% chance of complications such as dimpling, but these are generally minor and easily correctable.

Ready to Schedule a Consultation?

To find out more about your thread face lift, call us at (310) 939-9800 or contact us online to schedule a personalized consultation with Dr. Annie Chiu.

Is Caviar the Secret Missing Ingredient from Your Skincare Routine? The Story Behind Restorasea Pro 10x Treatment Restorsea Pro 10x

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Photo courtesy of harbenhouse.com

There are plenty of products that promise to make your skin better and the gold standard in wrinkle-fighting ingredients had been retinol.  Although retinol has multiple studies showing its power in reducing fine lines and wrinkles, some people struggle to tolerate certain side effects such as sun sensitivity, peeling, redness and irritation.  Alterative ingredients that are easier on sensitive skin or easier to tolerate daily do exist.  So, are fish eggs like salmon roe more hype or science?  Recent studies show salmon roe is an antioxidant, exfoliant, and collagen booster.  The omega oils in these fish eggs also strengthen the natural skin health barrier.  So, what’s our favorite caviar for the skin?   RESTORSEA PRO INTENSIVE 10X.

Restorsea Pro Intensive 10X is part of the Restorsea Pro line that was developed and formulated by founder Patti Pao.  The incredible story of how this skincare line was discovered began in Western Norway.  While touring a salmon hatchery in Western Norway, Patti noticed that the workers’ hands were much more youthful looking than their faces.  Intrigued, Patti and other researchers discovered a magical hatching enzyme, Aquabeautine XL, found in the waters the workers’ hands were immersed in daily.  This enzyme is released when baby salmon are hatched to gently get out of their shells! Restorsea found that when Aquabeautine XL is applied to human skin, it gently exfoliates and dissolves away dead dull skin cells revealing healthy new glowing skin.

Photo courtesy of newbeauty.com

Restorsea Pro Intensive 10x Treatment is a great anti-aging alternative to retinol.  Studies show Restorsea Pro Intensive 10X can treat hyperpigmentation as well as glycolic acids without causing irritation or disruption of the skin barrier.  Since it’s formulated to prevent moisture loss while soothing and calming the skin, it’s an ideal anti-aging treatment product for those with sensitive skin and skin conditions like rosacea and eczema.  In fact, Restorsea Pro Intensive 10X contains no PEGs, parabens, phthalates, silicone or mineral oil–making it safe for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Apply one pump to clean skin in the am and/or pm under moisturizer and watch your skin texture, quality, and clarity improve.

Why Choose a Threadlift?

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Drooping skin can easily be lifted with a thread lift! Not only does a threadlift result in a youthful and glowing appearance, but it also works with your skin to continue to boost collagen and elastin levels. Learn more in our infographic below.

Ready to schedule a consultation? Call us at (310) 939-9888 or click here.

 

Skin Health

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Your skin is the largest organ on your body. It is important to keep your skin healthy and ensure it is effective in protecting you. Read our infographic below for a few simple tips on how to maintain your healthy skin.