AquaGold – Feeding the Collagen Craze!!!

Dr. Franco: Welcome back, team, to “Plastic Surgery Untold.” I’m Doctor Johnny Franco, also known as “Austin Plastic Surgeon,” “Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon.” I have my celebrity crew here and so we’ve got a few lovely ladies back by popular demand. Now that we have just G-Berto and he has been stripped of the title “Beautiful.” And if you’re wondering why, refer to our previous podcast. So now, we’ve got beautiful Sarah and Katie Jae, and of course, the anchor, Celebrity Anesthesia. You’re like the workhorse of the podcast. You’re just like a worker bee.
G-Berto: Put the team on the back.
Dr. Franco: You’re like, “I’m just gonna carry this podcast.” You’re not flashy. You’re in scrubs. You’re just like…
G-Berto: I’m just a regular, hardworking guy.
Dr. Franco: You’re just a hardworking man.
Katie Jae: I love it.
G-Berto: A simple man.
Dr. Franco: Anybody wanna catch us up with what’s going on?
G-Berto: [crosstalk 00:00:03.053]
Dr. Franco: Anybody besides just G-Berto who’s lost his first chance to talk here on the podcast after his outrageous outburst on the last one?
Katie Jae: Wow.
Dr. Franco: Yeah, yeah.
Katie Jae: Yeah, he’s right.
G-Berto: He’s definitely still on timeout after that.
Katie Jae: Yeah.
G-Berto: I’ll catch us up.
Dr. Franco: Yeah, catch me up.
G-Berto: How about that? Not too much changed in our life. I know our life has been more boring than normal. We’re not traveling the world like normal. But a couple of potential trips on the horizon. I might try to go somewhere for Mary’s birthday.
Dr. Franco: Italy? Are you going to Italy this spring?
G-Berto: No, no. Italy is definitely off the list.
Sarah: No. Please don’t.
G-Berto: But we have talked about maybe driving somewhere like New Mexico or Colorado or something for Mary’s birthday coming up at the beginning of May. So we’re just making some plans. I think during this time where there is a lot of uncertainty and there’s a lot of negativity and crazy stuff being thrown around, focus in on the positives. And hey, what are some things we can look forward to long term? What is something that we can plan for later in summer, like…? At least that’s one thing that we really like to do is plan trips and then that gives us stuff to look forward to, you know, in a couple of months, a couple of weeks, whatever. So yeah, during this time, that’s what we’re going to focus on. We’re also building a new house which is kinda cool.
Sarah: That’s awesome.
G-Berto: So kinda navigating that process and that’s been fun. We just went to buy the build yesterday and saw the progress and it’s super cool to see that kind of come to fruition.
Dr. Franco: That’s awesome.
Sarah: That’s fine.
Josh: Am I allowed to say something. Can I speak?
Katie Jae: Yes.
Dr. Franco: Keep it short. Keep it short.
G-Berto: Josh, go ahead.
Katie Jae: I was…
Josh: Well, I’d, to kind of piggyback on that, Dr. Franco has some building going on as well.
G-Berto: Oh, that’s right.
Dr. Franco: Yeah, yeah. I didn’t wanna bring it up because I don’t wanna jinx it. It’s been a little bit of a, I would say happy/roller coaster/sour-doughed stuff but we’ve been, someone you know who listen religiously. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. But we have a new office. We have a new building in progress. First walls went up about two weeks ago.
Katie Jae: Woo-hoo. I’m so excited.
Dr. Franco: So first walls went up, plumbings in. So we’re making some big progress. So we’re still on track by the end of May to be in our new office and we’ll let you guys know about our grand opening, so we’ll do a little something, something so…
Josh: You always ask us about what’s going on in our lives. I just thought maybe, you know, it’s your turn.
Dr. Franco: No, I appreciate it.
Sarah: Absolutely.
Katie Jae: Yeah.
Dr. Franco: My life’s been good. It’s been…my mom, as some of you guys know, loves to travel the world. So about a week ago, we had to have the heart-to-heart that she can’t be traveling the world. And she goes, “Well, I fly first class so that I’ve got some distance.” I was like, “That doesn’t count.”
Travis: Oh my gosh. She’s so addicted.
Dr. Franco: And give it to my mom. She thinks traveling’s free because she goes…everywhere she goes, she just travel on points.
Katie Jae: That’s so cute right now. I can’t.
Dr. Franco: So if you guys wonder why I don’t travel it’s because I don’t have any points.
Sarah: Because your mom travels for free.
Dr. Franco: She travels for free.
Travis: The magical point, the points will disappear.
Katie Jae: They’re magical like unicorns.
Dr. Franco: But know that life’s been good. I think with the explosion of Sarah and Katie Jae here, our practice has grown and then obviously, our surgery side with Lindsey and the rest of the team growing, I think it’s been a well-oiled machine. I know that some people have had a little bit of a frustration. Sometimes our office gets a little backed up but I think the new space is gonna make life a lot better for everybody. I know that the team themselves are pretty excited about it and I appreciate their patience of living on top of one another for the last two years. But we’re getting close.
Travis: Yeah. So with the new building I feel like that’s a perfect opportunity to talk about the Med Spa that will be fully functioning.
Katie Jae: Exactly. Fully functioning every day.
Sarah: Yes.
Dr. Franco: And I’m sorry. Team, just so you guys know, today, we’re talking about Aquagold which is for our Med Spa, a new kind of treatment procedure that Katie Jae is gonna bring in to the practice or has already brought into the practice, actually.
Katie Jae: Yes. Yeah, no, it’s there.
Dr. Franco: It’s in full…
Katie Jae: We’re doing Aquagold.
Dr. Franco: …go. And so I think that we’ve…and we’ve talked about this on some other casts. You know, obviously, the surgery, the fillers get a lot of the hype and excitement but, you know, it’s just like, you know, training your body for everything else. You know it’s fun to go do bench press and other things as I often do but, you know, when you got to work the fine muscles as well, there’s the whole eating, the diet, the other stuff…
G-Berto: Add some medication.
Dr. Franco: …which I follow but…
Katie Jae: They really are.
Dr. Franco: …you know, the Med Spa’s a big part of this.
Katie Jae: Yes.
Dr. Franco: Because you don’t buy a Ferrari and not do an oil change, is one of my favorite statements. You know, so it doesn’t make sense to spend, you know, thousands on filler, on surgery, and then not wear sunscreen, not be on a good skincare regimen. But also too, you can only pull the skin so tight with surgery. You can’t change the fine textures. You can’t change the fine lines and that’s where, you know, KJ comes into this in terms of doing some of this. And some of it is twofold. So there’s the after surgery but there’s even the prep, if you will. And I think both of those are equally important. I think this is where, and then maybe we can talk KJ into doing this. We had talked on a previous episode about doing online appointments, consultations.
Katie Jae: I do wanna do that.
Dr. Franco: I would love to enroll this for our Med Spa because I think there’s a lot of one, followup, two, you know, making sure that…I think sometimes, and you can correct me. People don’t realize there’s a lot of little life changes just in terms of like fitness. But in terms of your skin care that you can make, that make a huge difference in your life.
Katie Jae: Huge difference. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, we talk about skin and it’s, you know, our face is the first thing that people see. But we can also address, obviously, the skin on the body, texturely everywhere. But you know, this has been my passion for literally 19 years. This is what I’ve been doing. And so when I started as a makeup artist and I would kinda look at that canvass, what started happening is I go, “Okay. Well, this makeup isn’t really sitting that well on the skin.” And it’s not just because somebody might have wrinkles or things like that. It was texturely. We’ve got pores. We have these tiny little fine lines when the skin’s dehydrated. And so it really pushed me into going into becoming a medical aesthetician because I said, “Listen. I really wanna focus on helping people have beautiful skin so even without makeup, they look flawless.” And I think that people, at least I know that we get approached when we go out, they’ll say, “What are you doing to your skin? Like, what’s happening?”
Dr. Franco: Sarah says that’s how people slide into our DM. They’re like, “Man, that skin is so beautiful.”
Sarah: Yup, people slide into my… Yup, they do.
Dr. Franco: “That skin is so beautiful.”
Sarah: Last night alone…
Travis: And I say, they don’t want some plastic surgery?
Sarah: Yes. I’d usually say… Actually, I hope some people are watching from last night because last night, actually, when I was out for dinner, I had women approach me in the restroom…
Dr. Franco: Did you stand at six feet away from other people?
Sarah: I did. I was like, “Listen, we can’t be this close, people.” No. But when I was in the restroom even, just there were ladies coming up going like, “What? What is happening with your skin?” And they’re always kind of…
Dr. Franco: That’s not awkward when you’re on the toilet and they’re reaching underneath and say, “Hey, what’s going on? That skin looks good.”
Sarah: “Hey, girl. Hey, girl.”
Travis: It’s still glowing at night.
Sarah: It’s when we’re…
G-Berto: [inaudible 00:07:15]
Sarah: It’s when you’re freshening up at the mirror. You know, those things don’t happen at the cubicle.
G-Berto: I guess we don’t do that [inaudible 00:07:15] room.
Dr. Franco: I think because I often do that in the urinal. I work at the service center and I’m like, “Travis, man, your skin’s looking good.”
Travis: If you wonder why your date is in the bathroom so long, it’s because it’s…
Sarah: It’s because we’re talking…
G-Berto: It doesn’t get often until you [inaudible [00:07:29] in the back.
Sarah: Literally, last night, my friends were like, “That was the longest bathroom.” And I was like, “Listen, I just did three facial skincare consults in the bathroom.”
Dr. Franco: You see, and I thought it was always just bad Mexican that’s why you were in the bathroom so long.
Travis: No.
Sarah: No.
Travis: No. You pee, wash your hands, and you do your lip gloss.
Dr. Franco: That’s interesting.
G-Berto: It’s also the selfies that they’re taking.
Travis: Yes.
Dr. Franco: Oh, the bathroom selfies?
Katie Jae: And also the selfies.
G-Berto: Bathroom lighting apparently is amazing for the selfies.
Sarah: It is very good. It’s very good.
G-Berto: Don’t forget to…
Dr. Franco: So this is why G-Berto disappears for so long. Now we know.
Katie Jae: Now you know everything.
Dr. Franco: I mean, do you…
G-Berto: Yeah, if you follow my account, you’ll see so many selfies.
Katie Jae: Now, we’re gonna have bathroom confessionals. But yes, to the point of prior to getting surgery, after surgery, there’s only so much that can be done. And I think, you know, fillers are a way to add volume to the face, right? A face lift, we’re gonna lift, we’re gonna tighten. But then there’s what’s happening on the outside, and that premature aging that starts to take place, right? We, our skin is constantly turning over when we’re in our 20’s and we’re just looking fresh and young. And then we hit our 30’s and our 40’s which I’m silently approaching, and you notice changes in your skin. The texture, the tone, the way it looks. And so in order to keep that glow, you have to stay on a regimen that you’re gonna actually stick to. So we have a lot of plans coming up too that will may be announced at some point for that.
G-Berto: Very good.
Dr. Franco: Well, can we jump into…
Katie Jae: Yeah, let’s do it.
Dr. Franco: …a treatment called Aquagold, which…
Katie Jae: I love it.
Dr. Franco: …you introduced to me a couple of weeks ago and now, I’ve implemented in the office? And maybe just start up by, what is it?
Katie Jae: So Aquagold is my favorite…
Dr. Franco: It’s that cool?
G-Berto: Yeah, it does.
Katie Jae: It’s literally the coolest thing in the world.
G-Berto: I’m in.
Dr. Franco: I mean, I want it. I want it.
Katie Jae: I’m gonna give it to all of you all. It’s happening.
Dr. Franco: Not G-Berto. He’s still on timeout.
Katie Jae: Okay. He’s on timeout, but all you all here are getting it.
G-Berto: Damn.
Katie Jae: So Aquagold Finetouch is what it’s called. And you’ve got this tiny little device that I use that has 24 karat gold needles. They’re very fine. It’s like…
Dr. Franco: I want more now.
Katie Jae: No, it’s hair-like so they’re very, very fine in texture. We don’t actually have to numb the skin for this treatment. But what we do is I Dermaplane the skin to remove dead skin buildup, remove that vellus hair, make it really nice and smooth for the ladies. For the men, I’d go from beard line up, okay, with Dermaplane. And then…
G-Berto: I didn’t notice that all three of us had the same facial style.
Sarah: Yeah, you do. You do.
Dr. Franco: That’s interesting. Continue.
Katie Jae: And then I put a specialty cocktail together. Now, I can’t give away all my secrets, but what I will say is we use a combination of neurotoxins. We use a combination of hyaluronic fillers, right? And then I dilute that down and then I use something for your skin. So maybe we’re focusing on more hydration for someone, or we’re working on skin brightening. Whatever I want your tone to look like afterwards, I’m gonna make a blend that’s specific for you and then I alcohol-prep the skin and we stamp this beautiful cocktail into your skin. So it’s…
Dr. Franco: So it sounds like it’s a dermal-infusion technique with some…
Katie Jae: It is.
Dr. Franco: …very specific stuff in terms of depending on your needs.
Katie Jae: It is and it falls into the family. You’re still gonna get collagen-induction so this is still a collagen-induction treatment. So when you think of like microneedling, people will say, “Well, why would I do microneedling versus Aquagold or Aquagold versus microneedling?” Microneedling goes deeper. The depth is something that you’re controlling. It goes a whole lot deeper. That is a collagen-induction treatment. We’re focusing on acne scarring and it’s really, really building collagen right for you. Aquagold, I’m actually infusing your skin. We’re getting underneath that skin and the neurotoxin is actually going to close up those pores. So for someone who has large pores, oily skin, for someone who wants that very photo-finish look, I can go all the way up underneath the eyes and get that textural issue underneath the eye that you can’t get with Botox and fillers with Aquagold, and that beautiful hyaluronic acid is gonna go in and start to fill in those tiny little lines that we see that we don’t like, that really, we can’t chase with fillers and Botox. So that’s this beautiful marriage, where someone can come to me, get an Aquagold treatment, then go see Sarah, get injections, and walk out, honestly looking airbrushed. Within seven days, you’ll see full results of the Aquagold treatment. And I have literally been told, it’s life-changing for people.
Dr. Franco: So is this a replacement for microneedling or an adjunct?
Katie Jae: It’s an adjunct, yeah. It’s not a replacement. So I’ll tell people, “If you wanna get…if we wanna correct acne scarring and if we want to really do an anti-aging treatment, then you’re gonna do microneedling with me. And we might do it with PRP. And then, maybe a month later, we’re gonna come in and do a little Aquagold.”
G-Berto: I’ve heard of microneedling with neurotoxin as well in conjunction with PRP. How is that different from the Aquagold?
Katie Jae: I’ve done that. And I’ll tell you what happened is it’s a little too deep and you don’t really wanna go that deep. So Aquagold is a little bit nicer because you can infuse a blend of skin ingredients and you’re not going as deep so the heal time is nothing. People can come in, and 15 minutes later, they look stunning.
Dr. Franco: Do they have some of the same redness that you give with the skin pan and other microneedling techniques or not as much?
Katie Jae: Not as much. So you’re gonna be light pink. You might look like you were in the sun or that you went for a really good run. And then 15 to 20 minutes later, you literally look glowing and fresh. I have a lot of clients who, once they’ve had it once, they’re coming back every, you know, one to two to three months. It will last as long as your neurotoxin. And what is dependent is how many units of neurotoxin that I’m actually using in my blend.
G-Berto: Does a dilution of the neurotoxin play a role in the longevity of the Aquagold treatment?
Katie Jae: Not as much. It’s more of how many units actually, in this particular case.
Dr. Franco: And then for the middle-aged men sitting at this table, does this play a role for them? Because I definitely…
Katie Jae: Yes.
Dr. Franco: …have seen more men coming in to the office and doing things because we wanna look good too. We don’t need to be left out, like we’re red-headed stepchildren.
Katie Jae: Yeah, because this…
G-Berto: I once was beautiful.
Dr. Franco: You once were. This is true. This is true.
Sarah: You was.
Travis: A few on top, you know?
Dr. Franco: You lost that ground last week.
Katie Jae: You all are beautiful. You know what? This is actually one of the favorite treatments that I give to men, and they love it. I’ll tell you why they love it. It’s quick. They’re in, they’re out. They wanna fix their pores. They wanna brighten their skin. They wanna feel a little bit better. It’s like the best treatment for them. And truly, in seven days, they look glowing and perfect. And I’ll get a call like, “Oh my gosh. Like, my nose looks so good right now.” Or like, “My pores on my cheeks look so good.”
Dr. Franco: What would be the ideal person you would recommend this to? Because I think for the average person like myself and so forth, like, a lot of times we know we wanna do something to our skin. We know we wanna look better but I think it’s sometimes really hard. And we’ve talked about this on the injectables side. It’s hard to know, where do I start? How do I know what I need? Because it’s not like I wake up in the morning, like, “Damn, I need some Aquagold in my life.” I mean, it sounds cool like I didn’t want it but you don’t know necessarily what’s the best, and I think this is something we’ve talked about in terms of plastic surgery and virtuals overall is this is where, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but we’re a medical aesthetician, a, you know, certified nurse PA, board-certified plus, helps direct this. How does people know what they wanna fix? Because most people, when they come in, it’s the first time. You’re either fixing a problem or treating a need. And so I don’t think they will necessarily have to come in asking for this. But they just come in and say, “Hey, these are what my concerns are.” We’ll help guide them.
Katie Jae: Absolutely. So consultation in everything is important. And that’s what I love to do. I love talking with people. I like finding out what it is. What’s the root problem here? And then how can I fix it. And talking about virtuals, I’ve actually been doing virtual consultations on my Instagram, so people can DM me there. They can also DM me on Austin Plastic Surgeon Med Spa and I will do a virtual consult for you any day. But talking with you about what you really wanna change about your skin, Aquagold really is for anyone and everyone who wants to have that really beautiful, glowing, photo finish to their skin. If you’re struggling with breakouts and acne, maybe Botox is a really great way to get that under control and to really help fine tune the skin. So I think it’s great for that as well. But it doesn’t replace regular exfoliation. And so I think that’s where people get confused in the family of microneedling or even microneedling RF or Aquagold is that these are things that are gonna help to tighten the skin, tone the skin. It’s gonna build collagen. We’re gonna refine pores. But it’s not an exfoliation treatment. This isn’t a treatment that’s going to, overnight, change the way your skin looks. You have to also remove that dead layer of skin and make sure that you are exfoliating and turning it over and feeding it with good ingredients. It’s like you take vitamins, you gotta take vitamins for your skin.
Dr. Franco: But it sounds like you’re putting Celebrity Anesthesia out of the job here because it sounds like we don’t need a lot of anesthesia or something for this.
G-Berto: Yeah.
Katie Jae: No, I did put you out of the job with Aquagold. But, okay.
Dr. Franco: But did they just even start doing numbing cream for this?
Katie Jae: No, no. They don’t need numbing cream. It feels like just a slight little tingle, sting. It’s nothing. You’re done within 15 to 20 minutes with me on it. so it’s really…
G-Berto: Is this something that I can get done on my lunch break?
Katie Jae: Yes.
Dr. Franco: And G-Berto, what about you guys? Because you’re in a large well-respected derm practice here in town. Do you guys do any of the skin resurfacing? Is there stuff that you would suggest as a skin expert yourself?
G-Berto: Yeah, we have…
Dr. Franco: Kind of the little nugget tears for a while, since we took away his title “Beautiful Man” so just so you guys know.
G-Berto: We have our team of aestheticians in our practice too and they offer a variety of different skincare treatments and they’ll, you know, consult you on different skincare products that they feel would be beneficial for your individual needs. Aquagold is one thing that we don’t have at our practice currently, at least not at my location. I know they talked about bringing it on at one point, but I don’t know what ended up happening with that. We do microneedling with PRP, which is why I was asking about that earlier.
Katie Jae: You can actually do PRP with Aquagold as well.
G-Berto: Interesting.
Katie Jae: So that’s a really cool thing that we do.
Dr. Franco: And I think this is to the point where there’s so many treatment out there, I think sometimes it’s just having a consultation and talking about this. Because it sometimes can be overwhelming where you don’t know what you need and it can be difficult.
Katie Jae: Right.
G-Berto: Especially, I mean, someone like me, I am naive to facials and any aesthetic kind of practice on myself. So…
Dr. Franco: You just let people to sleep.
G-Berto: I just put people…that’s all I do. And that’s it. But this is something that I feel like I would be interested in because it’s something that…the barrier to entry is not super high. There is not a ton of risk associated with it. There’s no downtime associated with it and it’s not painful. So for me, if I don’t want a major change and I just want to see some improvement in my skin quality and texture, this is something I…I’d love to come in, sit down with you and now we can talk about that stuff and we can devise a plan.
Katie Jae: Absolutely.
Dr. Franco: I would love to hear G-Berto and Sarah’s thought on this, but, I mean, from my standpoint and your wife who, at New Trinity Therapist who’s had maybe one or two, she’s just naturally gorgeous but, you know, maybe has had a touch of help here there. There’s been a big change. You know, in the old days, we, you know, skin resurfacing is not new.
Katie Jae: Right. Absolutely not.
Dr. Franco: It’s not new. We’ve done CO2 lasers, fractial, those all sorts of things. The problem’s been especially in a place like Austin, Texas where it’s sunny, you know, 10 months out of the year and probably could push an 11th if you really wanted to in a speedo. But trying to keep people out of the sun, trying to keep people out in this world of, you know, fast-paced stuff, yeah, our time is a huge issue and now, I would say the big push in aesthetics has been…what’s the most we can do with the minimal amount of time? And I feel like a lot of the new advances have been stuff like this where people can do them, go back to work the same day, if not, the next day. In the dermas, aesthetic world stuff, I mean, we’re talking about a filler that has less swelling and that’s been a big push.
Travis: Right, right. And I think to, just the everyday person, especially women, we get caught up in…we’ve never been to a plastic surgeon’s office. We’ve never been to a derma office. We are just buying all these products over-the-counter. You know where I’m going with this.
Sarah: Right, right.
Dr. Franco: I hope my mom is listening right now because there is so much stuff.
Sarah: Oh, I don’twanna talk about it.
Travis: My mom is guilty of this.
Katie Jae: My mom’s the same way. She doesn’t trust me.
Travis: She has 20 things on her counter and each of them is a $100. And I said, “Have you ever gone to just see an aesthetician and maybe there’s something way cheaper at this point and more efficient that you can use or so?”
Sarah: And I’ve…
Dr. Franco: People think that they’re gonna spend more money and like, maybe…you may spend a touch more but you’ll be surprised, the price point for some of the products. But also, too, if you bought 30 products and you’re just randomly doing stuff…
Travis: Right. At $50 a pop.
Dr. Franco: …I guarantee you’re spending more money than if you’ve just had three or four like very key things. And it may not even be that many.
Katie Jae: Well, and let’s also just talk about the quality, right? Because what you’re getting over the counter is not going to be the level that you’re gonna get in a plastic surgeon’s office. In an actual Med Spa, what we’re selling is something that you can’t actually go buy. In fact, if you can buy it online, it’s actually probably a fraudulent product because all of these companies like Revision, for example, is one that we carry, they are only found in a Med Spa or a doctor’s office.
Dr. Franco: And the reason is to make sure that you’re getting the product that you really need.
G-Berto: You need. Right.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Franco: I mean, a shotgun approach to your skin and health tends to not be the greatest idea. They’ll all say that “Some time you just got to try stuff” isn’t always the best thing for your skin.
Travis: Yeah.
Katie Jae: Well, and it’s also researched. It’s like these companies are doing scientific research. And so the delivery mechanisms that they’re using in their product are different. So you’re not paying for a name-brand when you get that. You’re actually paying for the clinical trials. You’re paying for the study. You’re paying for the science that’s sitting inside this beautiful bottle that doesn’t cost more than, you know, anything that you’re buying over-the-counter. And that’s what’s really great about…
G-Berto: I also like to think that these companies are looking out for my counter space in the bathroom by only…
Travis: Filling one product instead of 20.
G-Berto: …by my wife at New Trinity Therapist not needing 400 different vials of X, Y, and Z, but just maybe like 3 things to take care of her face.
Katie Jae: Right. Right. Right.
Travis: Yeah.
Dr. Franco: I mean, yeah. We need some space, too. It’s just like…
Katie Jae: No, the guys need space.
G-Berto: Not a ton of room, just like…
Dr. Franco: G-Berto is actually gonna be excited about narrowing down this list on his counter, I know.
G-Berto: Oh, yeah, I’m sure. I’m sure.
Dr. Franco: Yeah.
G-Berto: Especially now.
Travis: Especially when you can come into the office, Katie can do a complementary consult. She kinda breaks the face up into thirds and will let you know, you know, what you think could be best.
Katie Jae: Yeah.
Dr. Franco: Give us a couple bullet points here. If there was three take home messages you’re gonna tell people about their skincare and how to pick a good procedure for them, what would it be?
Katie Jae: First, come in and see me and let’s just consult about it, so.
Dr. Franco: Can I see G-Berto?
Katie Jae: Yeah.
Dr. Franco: Yeah, yeah. Okay. Continue.
Katie Jae: They can. But consult is gonna be king, right? And then let’s get you on a monthly regimen. I think a lot of people don’t realize that every four weeks, we should be doing something. We should be turning that skin over. We should be building collagen. We should be tightening, lifting so that those… Actually, that was probably five take homes but…
Dr. Franco: And those regimens change depending on the time of year because people don’t realize, our skin is made to adapt. So our skin changes depending on the weather, on the sun, on those type of things. There’s different things that we do too, and I’d love to hear you guys talk about this. But, you know, depending on what’s going on, if you’re saying, “Hey, I’ve got a wedding, you know, in six weeks I’m going to,” how do you address the skin? It’s probably much different than like, “Hey, here’s some spots. Here’s some things I wanna treat over time.”
Katie Jae: Right. Exactly. Yeah. If someone’s coming to a wedding and they’re like, “I got to go to a wedding. I wanna look perfect.” That’s where we’re gonna do those glowing treatments. We’re gonna do the dermacleaning. We’re gonna do a hydro facial. We’re gonna do Aquagold. And we’ll do them in succession, right? So we might do hydro facials a couple of weeks prior to it. Maybe a week leading up to the wedding, I’ll do the Aquagold treatment because in a week, your skin is literally the most flawless you’ve ever seen it.
Dr. Franco: Can we back up to that? Because, and people may not have picked up on it. You started months out.
Katie Jae: Right.
Dr. Franco: Please, please, please, whether it’s in our practice, whether it’s at G-Berto’s practice, it doesn’t really matter. You don’t wanna show up a week before wedding.
Katie Jae: No.
Dr. Franco: Not the time to try something new.
Katie Jae: No.
Dr. Franco: Not the time to just like experiment. All in.
G-Berto: I’m going in and [inaudible 00:23:50].
Katie Jae: Yeah.
Dr. Franco: It’s Friday. The wedding’s on Sunday. I’m all in.
Katie Jae: Get that peel, girl. No.
Dr. Franco: Not the time to try new stuff. And this is stuff you wanna do way in advance. And that’s true, Sarah, for fillers. If you’ve always thought about your lip,s the week before your wedding, is…
G-Berto: Not the time.
Sarah: Not the time.
Dr. Franco: …not the time to do your first time of lips.
Travis: Or the other side of that is the week before isn’t the time to come in and get Botox less than seven days before because it may not have even kicked in yet.
Katie Jae: Right.
Dr. Franco: And typically, even just a first time you’re doing stuff, if you know your wedding is six months advance, that’s a good time to do something to make sure you like the way it looks, make sure you love it, and then you can always get a touch up, you know, closer to. But some of the stuff needs to start way in advance. Or there’s…I can’t tell you how many times people have come in and I’m like, “Look, the best thing I can do for you right now is nothing.”
Katie Jae: Right. Well, and I…
Dr. Franco: “See ya.”
G-Berto: “See you after the wedding.”
Katie Jae: Yeah.
Travis: Yeah.
Katie Jae: As a skincare provider, the other thing that’s really important for me is being able to see how your skin responds. I can’t just, like, guarantee that we’re gonna do something and it’s gonna work perfectly for you. Like, we have to build a relationship. I have to see, how does her skin respond when we use lactic versus glycolic? How does her skin respond to intense dermal, you know, abrasion? How does her skin respond to dermaplaining? Dermaplaining alone sometimes people have light breakouts from that and I let them know that. I say, “Hey, when that little hair starts growing back in, you might experience tiny little bumps. They go away quickly but it’s something to know.” So those are the types of things I have to see.
Dr. Franco: And stress can affect your skin.
Katie Jae: Right.
Dr. Franco: And G-Berto, I mean, you can talk to this. And so if you’re already stressed and then you’re adding something new, that can be affecting to you. And we send you a lot of people who come in because of skin issues from who knows what that you have to treat, and that’s a difficult task right before a big event.
G-Berto: Yeah, I see it all the time with, you know, patients are coming in, especially, like brides or people in the wedding party. You know, they’re stressed out and that obviously compounds their skin problems, especially, I deal a lot with acne and stuff and so, you know, it can certainly compound their acne and they’re like, “I’ve got this big event. I need to be like flawless and I only have a week.”
Dr. Franco: And…
Josh: I’m in.
G-Berto: I don’t know I want to tell you.
Katie Jae: Yeah, I’m sure it is.
Dr. Franco: And the stress spirals out of control, right?
G-Berto: Yeah.
Katie Jae: Right.
Travis: Right.
Dr. Franco: Because when you’re stressed, you get a breakout. You got a breakout, now you’re more stressed.
Katie Jae: Now you’re picking.
G-Berto: Yeah.
Katie Jae: Now I’m worried.
G-Berto: That’s when I…you know, I would tell them, “Look, we’ve got a limited time to work with this. I will do everything in my power to make things better for you. I can’t promise, I can’t guarantee that I’m gonna make your skin flawless, but let’s, you know, let’s work together on doing this. Let me incorporate my aesthetician so that maybe, you know, they can bring in some ideas on things that we can do, you know, that will be, like quick fixes.”
Katie Jae: Yeah, quick fixes.
Dr. Franco: And even our practice has a good relationship with you where maybe they’re seeing Sarah or Katie Jae, and then we’ll send them for a specific issue. And I think this is, again, to the point of a responsible practice. And again, who’s doing your treatments, who’s doing these things is knowing, “Hey, I don’t do that. Let me get you to somebody that can.” And Sarah can take her. She sees patients with me all the time that, I mean, probably not an office day goes that we don’t refer somebody…
Travis: One hundred percent.
Dr. Franco: …to a different practice, different specialty, different something because it’s just, “Look, it’s just not what I do.”
Katie Jae: Right, absolutely.
Travis: And everybody appreciates that. They say it every week. “Thank you for being honest. Just, you know, get me to who I need to go to then,” so.
Katie Jae: Yeah. I never like to sell anything to someone. I don’t wanna sell you on an idea that something is perfect for you if it’s not. I’m gonna be very, very honest about what we can do, what we can’t do. And then if I have to send them over to you, I’m sending them right on over to you.
G-Berto: Appreciate it.
Dr. Franco: Any take homes, skincare, issues, thoughts, that people should leave this podcast with? And definitely, not gonna be our last skincare because I think it’s such a broad topic. I think it’s such an important topic and with summer rolling in, maybe we can do a good kind of live. Summer tips, skincare summer…
Katie Jae: Love that.
Dr. Franco: …you know, because we gotta…
Katie Jae: “Skincare summer,” I love that.
Dr. Franco: …we gotta live our best. The “Hot Girl Summer Season Two.”
Everyone: Yes, we do.
Travis: Season Two is now approaching.
Katie Jae: “Hot Guys” too. Also, let’s just talk about that. I wanna get you all in for a spa day.
G-Berto: That’s the other thing I was saying. You know, I’ve always been hesitant and skeptical as a guy to go in and have something done aesthetic-wise. And I think maybe we try to remove that stigma, and I’m about to start taking my skincare regimen a little bit more seriously and maybe…
Dr. Franco: Can you duct tape a line down your counter space at your house? New Trinity Therapist…
G-Berto: This is mine.
Dr. Franco: …only gets one half, you get the other half? Because you’re at the…as a married man, you have to feel a little pressure that you have a trophy wife. I mean, because there’s gotta be some pressure for you to stay up with this.
G-Berto: I gotta stay up with her.
Dr. Franco: I mean, I guess the other half is…
G-Berto: Gotta stay nice and smooth.
Dr. Franco: And you were talking about your one percenters. You just do all your shopping at Central Market and Whole Foods, so maybe that is how you keep up. But, you know, we all have our own ways.
G-Berto: Some of us have to rely on our witty sense of humor.
Dr. Franco: I’m so glad you didn’t say “good looks” because that ship has sailed at your age.
Katie Jae: Oh, no.
G-Berto: Ouch, ouch.
Dr. Franco: Dang. I’m just kidding.
Travis: His skin is glowing right now.
G-Berto: I’m gonna have to come visit Katie Jae there.
Dr. Franco: I’m just kidding. He’s got a lot of Botox on his face.
Katie Jae: I will say his face is perfect. You all actually all have…
G-Berto: I’m worried. I’m gonna set an appointment with Katie Jae.
Dr. Franco: But this is all of us men. We just get better like a fine wine. I mean, we’re improving daily.
Katie Jae: I’m not gonna lie.
G-Berto: I wish you were that easy, but I do think that as I’ve gotten a little bit older, I’ve noticed changes in my skin.
Dr. Franco: Right. Celebrity Anesthesia’s not 30, so when he says “a little old,” yeah, let’s put that in perspective.
G-Berto: No, I’m over the 30 hump at this point. And I have noticed small changes in my skin as far as like wrinkles go. And just, you know, things where I can see my skin aging at this point. So it’s never too late to start taking steps and you’re never too far gone to start preventing things in nature. I think a lot of people have that fear, “Oh my gosh.” Like, you know, “I’ve waited until I’m 45 to get this ball rolling.” It’s like that’s okay. You still have 20, 30, 40-plus years on earth. You’ve got time.
Katie Jae: Let’s get it.
G-Berto: Yeah, absolutely.
Katie Jae: Yeah, we can reverse it and that’s what’s great.
Dr. Franco: Can we do… My favorite segment is always behind the book. Can we do a little something in terms of…something that people wouldn’t know that you do to either prepare their skin, or something that you do as an aesthetician that most people have no idea about? And this is my favorite because I don’t think people know the behind-the-scenes and we’re trying to share a little bit with them.
Katie Jae: Yeah. I have little tricks that I like to do for everybody. So no matter what, either prior to Aquagold or… Well, actually, prior to Aquagold on this particular one, what I will actually do is use high frequency over the entire phase just to ensure that we are killing all bacteria, making sure that [inaudible 00:30:32]. Even though I alcohol-prep the skin, I also will do high frequency. And that just ensures you’re not gonna have a breakout. It’s gonna kill all that bacteria. It’s gonna oxygenate the skin a little bit and get it ready and prepped for the Aquagold session. And that’s a little something I do that I don’t think a lot of other people are probably doing.
G-Berto: That’s awesome.
Dr. Franco: Cool. Can we do quote of the day?
G-Berto: Well, quote of the day?
Dr. Franco: Yeah. Who’s gonna take the quote of the day?
Katie Jae: Well, I have one.
G-Berto: Oh, here we go.
Katie Jae: You know, I always have these quotes, y’all. So let me pull up the one I like the best today.
Dr. Franco: Oh, damn. You just came in and stripped it from them. That’s cool. Okay.
Katie Jae: You know that I do this. I love these quotes. Okay. It’s gonna kinda go hand in hand with the quote that we probably did on a different episode but…let’s just go for it. “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about.”
Dr. Franco: Damn. That’s a little deeper than we usually go on this show, right?
Katie Jae: Right. You know what?
Dr. Franco: You know, I mean… I mean that’s what…
Katie Jae: I always go deep with my quotes.
Dr. Franco: That’s why we gotta mix it up a little bit.
Travis: But I think that’s good to go with skin. Your client comes in one week and they’re broken out and you’re like, “Hey what happened?”
Katie Jae: Got this. Got this.
Travis: And then you can have a little chat session and a facial all in one, right?
Katie Jae: And, you know, really, absolutely. And really, what I’m thinking about too is just right now, as everyone is kinda going through maybe fear because of what’s happening right now in society, with Corona, or even just whatever happens, any time somebody steps in to see me, I never assume that I know what’s going on in their life. And everyone has the silent battle that they’re kind of going through. And so when they come in, I want them to feel like they have a break from that, whatever it is, that they can breathe, that they can relax, that “We’ve got this. We’re gonna make you feel great, we’re gonna make you feel beautiful,” and just recognize that, you know, every single person in this world has something that they’re going through. Love them through it and be a strength for other people.
Dr. Franco: And it’s something we’ve talked about in our office is sometimes when people come in and they’re upset, they’re stressed, you have no idea what was the true cause of this and so you’re just being supportive. I think right now with everything going on in the world, you know, it’s compounded on top of our normal daily stresses. You don’t know how this has affected other people even though this was going on for a couple of weeks now and I feel like we’re starting to get to the tail-end of this, I think that it’s gonna take a while for people’s lives to become normal, for stores to get restocked with toilet paper. I mean, it’s just gonna take time and just being considerate. If people are upset, if people are stressed, it may have nothing to do with you personally. So please just try to take it that way.
Katie Jae: Absolutely.
G-Berto: Awesome. Any last comments before we close out for the day?
Katie Jae: No.
Travis: No. I’m excited for this Aquagold treatment.
Katie Jae: I know. I can’t wait to get it to you all.
Dr. Franco: Well, we would definitely do some more Med Spa. They’ve been super popular. People have DM’d us and hit us up and I think it’s something that touches base to a lot of people so again, please, don’t forget. If you loved the podcast, tell somebody about it. Tell them to download it. You can reach us on iTunes, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Pandora, anywhere you get your favorite podcast. And it’s funny. Since I’ve been doing this, I’ve started to listen to a lot more either books…
G-Berto: Same. Yes.
Katie Jae: Yeah. I do too.
Dr. Franco: …audio books, podcast stuff. It’s really nice to break from the day. So I love it. Also, in traffic, makes it much easier to break up the time. So thank you guys. I appreciate everybody who listens to the number one podcast in the world as voted by our team right here in the studio.
Katie Jae: Yes.
Dr. Franco: So thank you, guys. We’ll see you soon. Bye.
Sarah: Bye.

About The Author

Dr. Johnny Franco
Episode 16: Taboo Topics In Plastic Surgery – Financing, Care Credit Credit/ Alpheon and RecoveryThe Perfect Lip Pout – Nurse Sarah and G- Berto Debate Live From Austin Texas!

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