Despite their hype, most wrinkle creams do not have a significant effect on actually reducing wrinkles. The creams are typically just good skin moisturizers with an added “special” ingredient that makes for a good story but doesn’t actually do anything. (The exceptions are ones with effective levels of retinoids).

What really removes wrinkles

Of course plastic surgery really removes wrinkles. But it’s expensive and involves one or more surgical procedures. Personally, this Beauty Brain doesn’t like the idea of surgery for fixing the things time is doing to my skin. I’ve seen too many celebrity face lifts that have looked too weird (If you’re interested in seeing celebrities who’ve had cosmetic surgery, check out our favorite blog on the subject.) But if wrinkle creams are bogus and surgery’s not an option, at least there’s Botox. Right? Maybe not!

Is Botox Benign?

Now, scientists have found evidence that Botox may not be as safe as believed. According to this Italian study, the toxin used in Botox treatments was shown to migrate into the brains of treated rats. They say there were no observable negative effects, but it does seem a little scary. Could you exposing your brain to a known toxin while smoothing out your skin? Of course, scientists and the media who report on these types of things tend to exaggerate to make things sound more sensational. Botox treatments have been around since the early 1980’s and they were approved by the FDA in 2002. There has been no indication that treatments are turning people into brain damaged zombies.

However, science is always changing and when there is evidence of a problem, it is wise to be cautious. More research will be needed so I remain skeptical of the problem. But if you’re thinking about getting Botox this is just one more thing to add to your consideration. Do you really want to risk nerve and brain damage to get rid of wrinkles?

Some people might.

What do YOU think? Have you, or anyone else you know, had Botox injections?

–Mid Brain

Here’s a story from Tokyo Mango that was curious. Supposedly, if you drink this F-Cup tea you can naturally grow bigger boobs. It’s based on plant extracts from sunflower and pueraria mirifica. They have a cookie version too in case you would rather eat those. Does it work?

From tea cup to bra cup

The science. Pueraria mirifica is a phytoestrogen-rich herb traditionally used in Thailand folk medicine. It has been evaluated by various reproductive health researchers. While no one has claimed it can increase breast size, this study shows it can have prevent some breast tumors (in rats anyway). Sunflower oil has also been investigated for an effect on breast tumor inhibition. So, both extracts have been shown to have some effect. Does this translate to bigger breast? Possibly, but the connection is weak.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

However, if you don’t want to shell out the thousands of dollars it costs for implants, drinking enhanced tea seems like a harmless enough experiment. Who knows, you may actually see a difference. Of course it could just be psychosomatic but does that really matter?

Claire’s question: My sister Grace told me she’s considering a plastic surgery procedure to improve her posterior. What can you tell me about the Brazilian Butt Lift?

The Right Brain butts in:
Claire, normally we try to focus on cosmetic products but it’s hard to resist an email that combines the terms “Brazilian” and “Butt” in the same question. So, we checked with our favorite cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Tony Youn, for the 411 on butt lifting.

What is a Brazilian Butt Lift?

As the name implies, it’s a procedure to shape and firm your derrière. We wonder why it’s named after this particular country. Was it first performed by doctors in Brazil? Do Brazilian women have genetically superior asses? Or is the process some how related to Brazil nuts? We can only speculate…

Whatever the derivation of its name, a BBL is designed to give you “youthful, prominent, perky buttocks.” How does it work? Fat grafting! That means the surgeon uses liposuction to remove fat from your lower back, stomach and thighs. The fat is purified and then re-injected into different areas of your buttocks at various depths. It may take hundreds of tiny injections to fill the upper quadrant of your buttocks but when done correctly it does make your butt look better. But a poor injection job can be painful and produce fat shapeless buttocks.

Are there any problems with this perky pooper procedure?

Aside from the aforementioned shapeless buttocks, other side effects include irregular asymmetric skin, numbness, bruising and swelling. On occasion, the incisions may ooze significant fluid. And since the doctor may need to overfill your buttocks to allow for some fat re-absorption back into your body, your butt may temporarily look puffy or swollen. The good news is that unlike silicone butt implants, there is no risk of allergic reaction since the fat injections are your own natural substance.

To avoid some of these issues Dr Youn says: “My favorite way to enhance the buttocks, however, is to liposuction the hips and thighs around it. This essentially makes everything around it smaller, and can indirectly make the bottom look bigger and rounder compared to the rest of the body. It doesn’t take as much time, has few complications, and allows the patient to sit down immediately.”

How many bucks will it cost to lift my butt?

According to what we found on other sites (these are not Dr. Youn’s prices), the average cost of a Brazilian Butt Lift is about $15,000. That includes the physician’s fee, anesthesia, hospital costs, post operative nursing care, and all post operative office visits.

So tell your sister that for the price of a new car, she can have the rear end of her dreams.

Curious about to see how much better your behind be? Click here to see some before and after butt lift pictures.

Oh now come on, this just doesn’t sound right. I saw this article about a new technology for lunch hour boob jobs and was simultaneously intrigued, disturbed, and skeptical. One hour for bigger breasts? Really?

According to the article a company called Cytori Therapeutics says they have a stem-cell based technology that can actually super-charge your fat cells and fill in breast volume. The way it works is this. First, fat is taken from the patient’s butt or stomach via liposuction. Then stem cells from the fat are isolated and put into a small cartridge. This is then injected into the breasts. The whole procedure takes a little over an hour. Then during the next 6 months the stem cells grow and somehow make the breasts get larger. Clinical trials are reportedly under way and the process has already been approved in Germany. This sounds very similar to a breast technology we discussed last year.

Brains are skeptical

The thing that gets my skeptical senses going is that this wasn’t published in any of the typical science wires that the Beauty Brains frequent. The story cites Chemistry and Industry magazine as their source. This is a less-scientific source than journals like Science or Nature or The New England Journal of Medicine where you might expect a big story like this to break. Chemistry and Industry Magazine tends to hype technologies without solid science to back it up.

So, I looked into Cytori Therapeutics. They’re based in California (of course, the world capital of boob jobs) and they call the technology the Celution System. Med Gadget did a report on the Celution technology last year and said it had not yet been proven to work. But this report from the BBC indicates a 19 person trial conducted in Japan showed it basically worked with no major side effects. That’s a small number but encouraging. More testing is needed.

The Beauty Brains bottom line:

Interesting and it may actually work. It won’t be available for another couple years but can you imagine, new breasts in under an hour with no cutting? How many in the Beauty Brains community would sign up for that?

Want more Beauty Brains brilliance?  Get your copy of the Beauty Brains book here.

Andrea asks: I would like to have a larger bust, but I really don’t want implants. I have heard of the Brava Breast Enhancement system, which seems to be endorsed by a lot of plastic surgeons, and some scientific studies. Do you have any inside info or insight?

The Left Brain responds:

If we keep getting questions about bras and breast enhancement I’ll have to add a special Boob category on the sidebar!

For those of you in the Beauty Brains community who are not familiar with the Brava system, it supposedly works by gently pulling on your breasts which keeps them under tension for hours at a time. This sustained tension causes the cells to grow new tissue that makes your breasts appear larger and fuller.

How does BRAVA work

According to the the BRAVA website, the System consists of two semi-rigid domes, with specially engineered silicone gel rims, and a sophisticated minicomputer, called a SmartBox, that creates and regulates the tension within the domes.

Semi-rigid domes? Engineered silicone rims? Sophisticated minicomputer? Is this a breast enhancer or some kind of Terminator Robot from the Future?

But I digress. The real question is: does it really work? Since our forte is cosmetic chemistry, not breast enhancement, we asked our friend Dr. Rob Oliver over at Plastic Surgery 101 to give his expert opinion. Based on his experience, Dr. Rob says that Brava doesn’t work well, it’s uncomfortable, and must be worn for weeks before you see results “ if you see any at all. He’s aware of very few people who use or endorse it.

The Beauty Brains bottom line:

That’s good enough for me – I’ll take the opinion of a doctor and scientist over the hype from the company selling the product any day. Dr. Rob said he’d try to post more details on his blog, so keep your eye on Plastic Surgery 101. In the meantime, if any of the Beauty Brains community has used this device I’d be curious to hear your experience. If you haven’t used it, I suggest you save your money.

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From: Flirty Lingerie