Hey, guys. My name is Mavi, and I've spent the last 14 years in the plastic surgery and beauty industry working alongside top board certified plastic surgeons. Now I'm an independent patient coordinator who doesn't work for any surgeon. This means I have unbiased reviews for hundreds of doctors, and I can help you achieve the look of your dreams, whether that's a supernatural or a video vixen. I use my professional and personal plastic surgery experience to help you look and feel your best.
Join in on the fun as I. Talk to plastic surgery experts, friends, and. Real life patients about all things plastic surgery. Should be fun. Hey, guys. So guess who I have on the show today? I have Dana from IGN famous. Dana, hi. Hi. Uh, okay. Why is Dana on the show today? You guys, if you were following me on Instagram, you saw me
post this week about go watch Filler Nation. And after you watch Filler Nation, go listen to Cereal Fillers, Dana's podcast and listen to the insider information, like the background of how all of this happened. And you guys, I went and I did it. And I was fuming i, um, was like, we have to record an episode ASAP. Uh, what the hell? So, Dana, I'm so glad to have you on. And girl, what the hell? That's exactly what I was saying. And literally, Sheridan and I were messaging immediately because
we're like, oh, it's coming out. It's coming out. And we watched, and we're like, what the hell? This is not what we signed up for. This is not what they told us. And also the fact that we filmed for so long. I filmed for six plus hours. She filmed for three days. The entire documentary is 22 minutes. Like, what? It was just insane. They cut out so much because it wasn't what they wanted to say. We weren't giving them the sound bites they wanted.
Unfortunately, I'm excited to get you on because I can't believe it. Me neither. Like, girl. It was Dana. What the fuck? That's so fucked up that they're like. That, uh, the producer. I know we kind of talk badly about her, but honestly, I think she just had no idea. She actually was nice, and she clearly didn't know anything about her. Edit it.
Yeah. And really, the person who really annoyed me the most, which I didn't actually have any one on one I didn't get to talk to her, is the girl with the, uh, colorful hair that's like, uh, a writer for NBC News, where she was talking with so much confidence about stuff that she doesn't know anything about. Clearly, like, she knows just enough to say buzzwords and not enough to be able to talk about it. And that's what was crazy. She was saying influencers shouldn't talk about this
because they don't know anything. And I'm like, girl, you don't know anything either. And it shows. Okay, hold on. You can use any of this, by the way. I know we're pre recording, but you're welcome to it. Thank you. When I saw first, I was like, okay, let me go listen to the episode. I was like, let me go be supportive and listen to the episode. And then I went to listen to it, and then I was like, wait,
hold on. What the hell's going on? So then I went to watch the documentary and I was like, yeah, I can't believe that they changed it around. Like, this isn't in positive lighting at all. Right. And what Sheridan and I kind of think is that they maybe didn't know exactly where they were wanting to go with it, but after interviewing me, interviewing her, maybe we were too positive. And they're like, well, this isn't interesting.
There's like, no friction here. Yeah. And so another thing is that there's no clear message. Right. And we talked about that on the podcast. Like, there is a little bit of an influencers are bad. They shouldn't be talking about this, but they don't really say why. They don't really, like, even back up that message. So it just seemed like they filmed all this stuff. And then they're like, okay, what are we going to do with all this information? We need to make a stramatic something.
Let's just make something out of it. Right? Well, okay. So for the episode, what I was thinking because, you know, what I'm trying to do on Instagram is, like, exactly what they're talking shit about, like, attention and like Howard, it's completely I love that mug. I want one. It's from married to the mob. I love it. I want one. And it's hot pink. It's matte hot pink. So it's super cute. I love it. I want one for that purpose.
Exactly. Right? So what I was thinking was like, okay, well, even for doctors, have you seen what happened with Dr. Roxy up in Ohio? Like, her medical license suspended? Yeah. And I'm kind of on that fence of how, uh, much is too much? When is it inappropriate? How far are we pushing to be in the operating room that we're putting the people's I don't think they should be recording while they're operating, period.
I think that so when I did my surgery, they had a separate person who was in there to take just a couple quick videos and pictures, but she was not allowed to talk. She had to stay a certain whatever. So they do have some video and she was scrubbed in and everything. Right. And so they have some video of, like, he was pulling out, like, a fat pocket out of my eyelid and like a little bit of the lipo, like, whatever. But a
doctor, a surgeon filming. No, ma'am. I think what she was doing to the camera, talking to the camera, not paying attention. Yeah. Did you read the document? Yeah. So I was reading the document and said that she was talking to the camera while she was doing the lipo. Section and looking instead of looking down. Because you have to keep visual. Yeah. You have to look at what you're doing. Yeah. So I'm kind of, like, on that fence because I feel
like we're pushing it a little bit too far. So it's like we're pushing too far into the operating room. And at the same time, what we're trying to do is educate our consumers, right. Because they want to know what's going on over there. Right. But it's all this transparency that we don't have.
For example, like, Dr. Roxy, she seems great. The thing was and you know exactly what I'm going to talk about, like, the older doctors and the younger doctors and how they're kind of, like, inappropriate, and the younger doctors are like, well, this is what they want. People want to know. But, uh, the difference with Dr. Roxy is that she was told multiple times to
stop, and she didn't stop. It's a mistake if you do it once, right, maybe twice, because you're trying to do it differently or a better way or whatever, and you're still messing up. But I'm sorry, after a certain amount of time, you are just outright putting the patient at risk. Yeah. Putting them at risk. You're putting yourself above their needs. And at the end of the day, you're supposed to be caring for your patient before you care about literally anything else,
anything else interpretice. So she will never not be wrong to me because of that. Because they warned her. She got warnings, and she still said, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to perform for TikTok anyway. So then that's where it kind of like, I'm okay for this episode that I want us to do, where I'm like, okay, well, they're shining the light so bad on us, on these people, on Instagram who are trying
to spread information and blah, blah, blah. But literally, if we don't do it, there's nothing. There's no information. Yeah, there's no information. 100%. And the thing that I have a really big issue with was that they're saying that influencers shouldn't talk about their experiences with plastic surgery because they're not giving the risks and warnings. And I was like, first of all,
I don't want them to talk as an expert. I want them to talk as, uh, a person having an experience, because they're not trained to talk about exactly all the things that you learn about informed consent. They're not trained to know who's the right person for it and who's not. When is this the right thing to do? All they can say is, this is what was right for me, and this is what steps I had to take to do this, and this is what my recovery process was like. This is what
the cost was. Whatever they want to talk about their personal experience, I don't want influencer being like, okay. And they, um, have to say not even they have to say, like, all of these things can go wrong, and all of these things are possible. And these are the people who shouldn't have the stone. They don't know that. That's not in their business to be spreading anyway. Right, exactly. Because that's where we're going to actually get misinformation. All I want you to
talk about is you got lipo. Why? Where what did it look like? What did it feel like? What is the result? That's it. Where did you go? I don't even want you to be like, well, I got lipo here. Because the way that talking about it in broad terms, you know what I mean? I just want you to tell us your personal experience. Just tell us that you had something done. Literally, that's all we need to know. Just tell
us you had something done. Because sometimes when, like, for example, if a follower is watching Bella Hadid, and they're like, oh, she's so beautiful, and everything's natural, and then it's like, it's really not m there just be a little bit more transparency as to what is really real and what's fake and what are they doing? What are you doing to get there? Because I want that. Right? I mean, at the very minimum, I'm just talking about that I get work done. Absolutely.
But they were showing influencers that show their journey. And they were like, they shouldn't be doing this. And I was like, no, absolutely they should. This starts the conversation to where now I know what procedures may be out there. I can go talk to my doctor, my provider, whatever it is. And then it is up to them to give me informed consent and tell me the risks and all those things. That's what the consultation process is
for. Exactly. They're making it seem like if I post my lip filler journey, people are just going to go get lip filler. And the person that's giving them is. Just going to be like, okay. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way with the people that we associate with. I think what the light they were trying to bring in the documentary or in this video was that there's other people that shouldn't be doing it. True.
But they don't talk about that. They don't make the comparison, and they don't talk about, like, how do you find a qualified provider? And that was another thing that bothered me. Like, I feel really bad for that girl. I already forgot her name. Desiree. Desiree. Whatever you want to do to your body, whatever. As, um, someone in this industry, the way she went about it completely and correctly, that is not something that and. I said that no one should ever do this.
I am not in support of how she did it. You know what? She did it. I'm not going to talk shit about her body but they put her and Sheridan, like, as if they were two people doing the exact same thing and on the same path. And it's like, no one went about it the illegal way. Going to back alley, all the things that we always say do not do. You are so putting yourself at ah, ridiculous risk here. This is how people die. Sheridan literally got too much filler and then was getting it.
She wanted to take it out. Yeah. And then start again. And now that she had filler blindness for a little bit and wanted bigger, bigger, bigger, until it was like, okay, I need to dissolve this and start over. Those are two very separate journeys. And even after they like her lips, they weren't, like, outrageous. They weren't illegal. It was just too big for her face.
Too big for her face. Okay. So that's what I was thinking for this episode, for us to kind of really talk about the Instagram community and what we're trying to do and how this documentary shed, like, such ugly light. And I think it was, like, targeted at boomers, like, these people on Instagram and they're doing all of these terrible things, and it's really not going to. Get, like, illegal butt shots. It's bad. But I felt so mad. I was so mad when I
was watching. I was like, I cannot believe this. This is terrible. I know. And I felt really so how did. You feel while you were watching the documentary, when you were watching it for the first time and you're, like, kind of realizing, oh, shit. This isn't the light that I was thinking that it was going to be in. Right? This isn't what they pitched me. I mean, honestly, they didn't do me dirty the way they did Sheridan,
desert some of these other people. They still had me as an expert, and they have me where it sounds like I'm kind of anti when I'm like, no one should ever get that injected into their butt or anywhere, which is true. I stand by that statement. And even they cut that part out because I mean, cut parts of it out because that was like, first of all, let's call it what it is. It's illegal because they're biopolymers. That is
silicone that's just in your body. It can be reabsorbed into different tissues, and it can cause some serious, serious issues, including death. No one should ever do that nowhere. Not your lips, not your butt, not your babies. You do not inject free silicone into any part of your body ever. And that was like my whole quote. And they cut it to where I, um, was just like, no one should ever and I was even laughing because they're like, so what do you think about her
illegal butt shots? And that's when I was, like, laughing. And I was like, first of all, let's call it what it is, bipolymers. And I was laughing anyway. And it almost made it seem like I was on their side. But I don't know. My first initial reaction was the flow is weird. I don't understand their message. They're comparing a regular lip filler and dissolving journey, which they don't even touch on the dissolving journey part to
illegal procedures as if it's the same thing. Then they touch on possible racial issues that can coincide with some of these trends but just jump into another topic right after that and it's just like. Jarring and it doesn't more like dramatic TV, right? Like needing something exciting for the show, right? And all of it. The part that bothered me the most was still the girl that works for NBC News, I guess the, um, pop culture writer. And she was like, they're bypassing regular marketing
agencies. I was like, yeah, they're using influencers instead of marketing agencies. Influencing is marketing, first of all, so don't make it seem like it's not a leg of marketing. And she's like, the influencers aren't going to have the best interest. And I was like, how marketing agencies do? Are you joking? You know what? And I also want to point out that there's a difference between going on Instagram
and trying to become an influencer. And like, for me, I'm, um, a business that has a page on Instagram, right? This is my business and I'm putting it out on Instagram and I'm like it's for my marketing. But I think that it needs to be separated. They're like all of these people on Instagram, they're just influencers. And I don't consider myself an influencer at all. I do my job. This is what I do. I am not trying to gain popularity just for it. I have a mission, I have a purpose behind it.
Right? M. It kind of makes me mad. Like I'm offended, right? But at the same time is that what they're getting wrong is that these are not all influencers who are being paid by anything. Like desiree. Sheridan. They're not getting paid by Allergen or galderma or anything when they're getting fillers. She's just showing that because part of being an influencer is showing your daily life and what you
do. But at the same time, doctors and surgeons, they do need to have influencers and other people that are willing to let their image be shown because it is such a taboo and private subject that people don't want their pictures out there. But that is their bread and butter. That is how they advertise their services. Like who wants to go to a surgeon who they can't have any pictures? Yeah, no one wants that. Especially now when most
of the work that we see is on Instagram. People are not going to websites to look at the boobs that they did. They're going to check out your Instagram page first. And I've said this a lot of times. If they do give anything, it might be a little bit of a discount, which is basically paying for your image. And they do that for
regular people. I know surgeons who are willing to give you a little bit of a discount or free Botox in addition to your surgery or something like that, if you let them use your before and afters on their social media and you sign your extra consents, like, this is not illegal. And so the way they're making it seem was like, all of these influencers are just getting all this free surgery and then they're talking about it, but they're spreading misinformation just by being transparent
about it. And then all of these people are going and suddenly getting work done. And, uh, if you hear me at 1.1 of the clips, I'm saying people are acting like people are just now getting worked on because of instagram. We've been getting worked on for like 100 some years. Like Marilyn Monroe had work done. Like Greta Garba had worked on these people we've had surgery around for a long time, and regular people have been having surgery for decades. We're just talking about it more because
our generation is talking about it more. We're not hiding it anymore. And they kind of mentioned they kind of use a little bit of that clip. That's where that came from was the question was, is social media causing more people to have surgery? And I was like, m, well, we've been having surgery for a long time for social media. I think what it's providing is, hey, it's fine. Like, my friend did it, so and so did it. They're not ashamed about doing it, so maybe it's fine. I
want to do it. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but I was afraid or I was shy or I didn't know anybody who did it. And then all of a sudden, it's like, oh, look, I'm watching somebody go through the whole thing. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought, or it is as bad as I thought. I don't want to I don't want. To do it right.
But at least you're getting like, real time information, and no doctor can give you that because you're not going through the surgery and they're not experiencing it, no matter how good they are. How well the office is there's something that you can get only from somebody who's experienced it too. Exactly.
Because they can tell you, oh, well, when I was going through this, this is what I did to help me with this problem that you're experiencing now, because it also stops this feeling of like, oh my God, is this just happening to me? What's wrong with me? Why am I not healing fast enough? Why don't I feel better? All of these things get to be like, oh, well, I'm just recovering a little bit slower and totally normal. It's more open, more freedom, more accessibility to other people and
information. Exactly. I love it. Though. Me uh, too. It was just crazy because it's like they took all of this information from me and they're like, we're m not going to use any of that. Because just like what you were saying, the more that people know, the better we can make decisions for ourselves. And I literally compared it to sex ed. I was like, studies show time and again when people know what their options are, what risks are, what they can do to protect
themselves, how to have safe sex, ETCA. We have less teenage pregnancy, we have less rape. We have less of all of these outcomes. We have also have people who enjoy sex more and are having more positive experiences. Right? And so it's the same thing with, I think, anything. I think anything that people can learn more about what the risks are, how to protect themselves, how to do it the right way or find the best way for them is only
going to make it better for everyone. And so talking about this stuff and people seeing more of it, they're able to find the right surge and they're able to find the right procedure. Sometimes people don't even know what procedure they need. They just heard something and they're like, oh, this is what I'm getting. And it's like, no, that's not the right procedure for you. What can they expect? How much does it cost? What is
downtime? Like, what are the risks? And then they can make the decision for themselves. Which a lot of times, you know, just as much as I know from being in the office with patients that they sometimes don't realize what they're signing up for. Right? I can't tell you how many times I've had a patient who later on after post office visit, one after a tummy tuck, they're like, crap, I did not realize
it was going to be like this. And it's like, even as much as we explain it in the office, you know, they only retain about what they learned during our consultation. So it's normal for them to not grasp. But the more research they do, once they go home and they're on Instagram and they're looking it up and they're finding what we're trying to do, I think, is for them to find good information instead of all the crap information. That is out there exactly. For safety. Right?
So then why are they talking shit? I don't know. Like I said, even though their message seems to be like, influencers shouldn't be talking about this. This is bad. It's all bad. They don't ever back it up with any reason. They don't ever say it's bad because people might go out and do illegal butt shots. They don't even make that connection. Even when they're showing the girl who did it, not the way that we would ever recommend anyone to do it. Right.
Why couldn't you have picked somebody who had a massive weight loss, went through their transformation on Instagram lost all the weight, went through the recovery. Finding a surgeon is like, showing their transformation after 100 pound weight loss or a 50 pound weight loss and how
they're walking people through the journey. Like, you all could have picked I'm sorry not to knock on the girl that did get shown, but I wish they would have shown somebody, like, who's going through the process and really being out there with information that's valuable. Right. Feel like they could have just picked some, like, show. I think they wanted someone shocking. They wanted someone shocking. Her body is shocking. It is beyond even the most extreme of normal surgeries.
Even when we think about the Kardashians and their extreme Bbls, and their Bbls are very extreme. A lot of the surgeries they have are very extreme. It's still beyond that in terms of what she looks like. And she gave them the sound bites I think they were looking for. Like, at one point, she was like, yeah, every time I add to my butt or something like that, every time I do this, I get, like, 500,000 likes. So they got the sound bites that they wanted. All these influencers are just
getting all this work done for likes. And it's like, theoretically, yes, when you look better, people will like your post more. They will engage with you more. They will follow you, like, study, show more attractive people do better. Um, on Instagram, that's just how it is, unfortunately, but they're equating it with almost direct. Like, if I add more into my butt, suddenly 500,000 likes. And that was just the sound bite they were
looking for. So it's like a shocking person saying shocking things, and that's why they picked her. Well, the good thing is, though, I think that seeing that and for me, it really burst my bubble, this bubble, uh, that I lived in, where I'm like, oh, everybody's okay with plastic surgery. Everybody is fine. And it's almost like, oh, it's a reality check. Like, no, they're not, actually.
They talk crap about people who have plastic surgery, or they look down on our list, and it's everything that I'm trying to work against being in the industry. It's like, everybody has procedures done. I know. I see celebrities. I see attorneys. I see everybody. Everybody. Regular, everyday people. I always say, every single day, you're walking around out in public, you're passing by at least one person who
has something done. Like, you have someone in your life that's had it, and you might not know, they might not be telling you, but someone in your life has had something done. Yeah, and just burst my bubble of like, oh, crap. Maybe there is a lot more work that needs to be done to counter this stigma that's being or this narrative that's being pushed out there. Girl uh, okay. I've been really open about my
surgeries. I literally had a video where I was just, uh, talking about my eyelids, my bluff, and I was showing, like, before and after. And I was saying, like, some people couldn't see, but I was, like, showing really good before and after. People will be able to see that I have more eyelid space. And this guy comments on this video like, yes, I know. I got lipa on my chin in my arms. This video was strictly about my eyes. And he goes, you could have just worked out for my eyelids. Are you
joking? He is so mad. He was annoyed that I got surgery when I could have just worked out. And it's like, you can't work out for your eyelids? What the hell? First of all, I hate that you should have just worked out anyway, period. But eyelids? Thanks for stopping by and leaving this amazing comment for me to laugh at. Uh, later, when everything come on, you get advice, create advice. Let me take it. Let me shut all my stuff down and take your advice and work out, right?
That's how stigmatized surgery is. That even with something that absolutely cannot be fixed by lifestyle choices, that's still the option that's presented to me. No, that's ridiculous. And it's even harder when it comes to your body. Like, with me getting my arm lipo, so many people are like, you need to just work out. You keep talking about how you gained weight. Yes, I did. I have gained weight over COVID, and I am and I've been losing
weight, but my arms have always been bigger. And right now, my arms are smaller than they were at the same weight a few years ago. And people are just not understanding that lipo is not about weight loss. It's about re sculpting your body, changing the shape. And so it's even harder when it comes to that, because people just swear if I just did arm workouts, my arms would get smaller. And they don't. It's just genetically, my arms are bigger. That's just where I hold all the weight.
You, uh, know what's crazy? I had this conversation with one of my patients or one of my girls. She goes to see her. She has a therapist that she talks to, and she was telling him about what she's planning to do and that she was working together with me, and she was kind of, like, justifying it. Like, oh, you know, I want to have a tummy tuck, but it's because of my kids. They stretched out my
stomach and blah, blah, blah. And the therapist was like, hey, you don't have to explain it to me why you feel like you why you want to have a tummy tuck. Like, even if you're doing it just for vanity, there's no explanation that needs to be given. And ever since she had ah, I was like, you know what? I've always felt that, but now I'm like, now I'm going to start saying it out loud. It doesn't matter if you're doing it for diastasis
recti. It doesn't matter if you're doing it because one of your eyelids won't close or because you have extra skin. It doesn't matter why. It's your personal choice, and if it's going to be doing it safe, and if you're being smart about it, there's absolutely nothing wrong, and I don't even help anybody. Why or who? Why are you doing it? Exactly. So another example for me is that I've been using semaglutide to lose weight. I lost a little over £30. Hey, uh, thank you. I'm so happy
with it. People would comment, Why don't you just die and exercise? I'm like, I don't have to respond to that. It's really literally none of your business what I'm doing, like, how I'm doing it. I'm telling you guys, because I am open about this, and I don't like to gatekeep, and I want you guys to know that this is what people might be doing. That being said, it's literally none of your business why I chose this instead of working
out. But since we're here, I eat very healthy. I do exercise, which is why I haven't gained any weight since COVID Like. During COVID Yeah, everybody gained weight during COVID I gained £20. Uh, to get them off, I gained 30. And then after I went back to eating how I would and exercising, I stopped gaining, but I wasn't losing. And sure, I could have eaten even less and whatever, but then I was hungry, and I was thinking about food all the time, and it just wasn't what I wanted. Like,
okay. I got on steam and gluten. I'm continuing to eat well. I just eat really small portions now, because I can't handle much food at one time, and I'm still working out like I was for the two years after I gained weight. Okay. And now I'm actually losing because of the semen glutide. But at the end of the day, it's literally none of your business if I didn't want to work out. It's just mind yours. Like, I don't understand why you want to push your beliefs, but I do understand why,
because it really comes down to fat phobia. What they want is for people to struggle to earn it. They just think that people need to struggle. Like I said, it's not fair that I'm taking a shortcut, and I'm like, okay, you know what? That kind of reminds me of this, uh, thing that I saw, and it was talking about how resentment or resentment is in the family of, uh, envy. Uh, envy. Yeah. NV and it was because it's like, well, why do you
get to do that? It's this kind of underlying and I've known for a long time because I've heard it from my patients, where all of a sudden, they have surgery, and people will start being mean to them, and it's like, you know, this power of, like, well, why do you now you had surgery and I didn't have surgery. And well, now I hate people who have surgery or people who have surgery are taking the easy way and whatever, start talking negatively.
Right. It comes from them being insecure and unhappy with themselves because, uh, it really isn't about the surgery. It's saying they look good. And I'm mad that I don't look like that or I'm not where I want to be. So I'm going to like, what is it? Not misguide, but I'm going to misdirect, uh, my feelings about my own body and put it onto someone else because I'm jealous, right? Because I'm envying that they got to where they wanted to be and I'm not where I want to be.
That's what I think it is. I think that's exactly what it is. And even with men, like, what is it your business to go comment all week, like you said? Okay. All right. Well, I know now that we have a lot of work to do more now I'm like, crap, we have a lot of work to do. But together, I think between all of us in the surgery community, like between you and I and a, uh, surgeon made curves and the faha doctor and all of these people time out. Massage. Like all of
these people in the surgery community who. All we're trying to do is really spread valuable information that women who are going through the resurgent journey are looking. For men and women. I want men to know you all are getting surgery too. I see every day anyway, all the time. The avenging is getting the adona's body, right? That's what Dr. John calls the male transformation. And they look good. They do shout out to Drake getting it.
Have you seen him recently? I think he did it, and then maybe he gained a little bit of weight, but then he started losing it back to me. Well, we'll see if he's on semiglutide. What was something that, as you're watching it, you're like, wait, uh, and then as you're watching it and you're seeing how this is being represented, how did you feel? Well, one of the things was definitely when they were making it seem like influencers, being
transparent is bad. And they bring on this dermatologist who starts kind of talking about that. And you know what? She might have been taken out of context because a lot of my stuff was taken out of context, even though I still stand by everything I said in there. But they bring up this dermatologist who's like, my patients are getting younger and younger, and I just don't think people should have surgery that young. And meanwhile, she's obviously had a lot of work, and she's
saying they're just looking older. And it's perpetuating this idea that anyone who has work, it's always bad or too much. And we know in the industry that the majority of people get very subtle work to the point where my own followers are like, what's even the point? Someone wanted to shave off a little bit of their bump on their nose or lift the tip just a little bit. That is a rhinoplasty. And they're like, well, that's not even the point. Or what's the point if we can't
tell? Trust me, they can tell. And we're talking like about entire facial balancing and body balancing. So a little tweak here or there is going to make a big difference in the overall look without it being something like where you can just automatically obviously tell that someone had work. So it was just really upsetting for someone who's in the industry to perpetuate the idea that everyone who gets work is bad and it's too much. And we know that that's not true even when younger people do it.
Another note is, um, they were talking to a dermatologist talking to a plastic surgeon, right? And so that's another thing, is that I'm all, for our dermatologists, do great injections. I'm not saying that they shouldn't, but they're not talking to someone who actually does BBL, who does breast augmentations, rhinoplasties. They're only talking about someone who does Botox filler. And
that's what we've been talking about. Right? And that being said, there's a lot of evidence that, uh, people who are getting Botox at a younger age is actually better than to wait until you already have the line. So I don't know if she was taken out of context, but I was not okay with how it was presented. And that being said, they kept talking about how influencers shouldn't be talking about this stuff. They only had one physician on there, right? There was one, yes, just one. Who was the
other one? The one with the curly hair? Was she a physician? I don't remember seeing her. There was like a redhead with like, curly hair. Then there was the one who was the dermatologist. The dermatologist is the one that I remember. Right. I was texting you at the same time, so maybe I missed it. Yeah, there was one other person. I can't remember what she was. But then there was Sheridan, who's an influencer there's. Me. They have me as a met
spa consultant. But I would also be a content creator too, because I do consulting for med spa's and plastic surgery clinics. But honestly, that's a side gig to my instagram. Then they have the Desiree girl and then they had a pop culture writer. Obviously, I'm still bitter about this. This is the one that I have m just the most fight with because she was saying none of these people should be talking about it. Of, um, all the people on this documentary, she is the least qualified to
talk about this. The dermatologist definitely has something to say. I have something to say. Sheridan and Desiree, I hope. I'm saying I might not be saying her name correctly. It might be a different name, but they've experienced it. Whatever. The pop culture writer is the most far removed and yet they had her on there as an expert. Uh, I have a bone to pick with that. Who signed off on that? She also was using all of the buzzwords. She was
doing it for Clickbait. That's going to be a clip that they use to market this, right? I'm not saying that she shouldn't have a voice or an opinion, but they kind of put her voice as, uh, equal and maybe even above mine. Maybe the dermatologist definitely more than Sheridan and Desiree, the influencers who actually done this. And she was saying wild things like that. Regular marketing companies have people's best interests
and influencers don't. And I'm like, well, first of all, most of these influencers aren't getting paid to do this. They're literally just sharing their experience. And anyone who believes a marketing agency cares about your best interest, I mean, baby, you're a sucker. You're a sucker because all they're doing is selling you something. Bottom line, to the point where we have had to make laws to protect the consumer because they were giving impossible results and impossible
things. I've talked about this before, and this is a very basic comparison. Or, uh, example, every time there's a mascara, uh, commercial, they have to say computer generated image because every single time they show it, they never show real lashes. They always show really ridiculously long and gorgeous and whatever lashes that have been created by a computer. Not even like lash extensions. And they have to say that because they've been using that image to advertise their
mascara for so long. And it's like, that's not okay. Uh, my eyelashes to look like that growing up. I saw it works in the commercial white hit mind. And it would be really the real model with fake lashes that had been created by the computer. And so now you always seen asterisk like computer generated image or these are not real results.
Computer generated image every single time. So how are you going to tell me that the marketing companies have our best interests when the United States had to make laws to say, hey, y'all, stop lying? Like, come on, Dana. I think it's really important, I, uh, feel, to point out that as, uh, influencers, I feel very protective about my following and the people who I'm sure you feel like that too. I'm very protective about them. Absolutely.
I don't think these marketing agencies are very protective. Well, it's because they don't have to interface with the people. They don't have to interface with the consumers. So I have this pillow that helped me train to sleep on my back by sleep and glow. And I really love it. I really used it to learn to sleep on my back. I now use another pillow because I don't need it anymore. I can sleep on my back.
However, it is very particular how you have to unwrap it and squeeze it so that incorporates the right air so it gets the right shape. Unfortunately, they don't have very clear direction. So I've gotten so many messages that people are like, my polo doesn't look anything like yours. And so then I'm troubleshooting with them. And literally, this happened just a couple of days ago. I don't know. I started my period yesterday. Maybe that was part of it, but I kind
of lost it on the influencer manager. I feel really bad. Daria, uh, if you're listening to this, I'm so sorry. I was like, I shouldn't have to be dealing with your customer service. You guys need to make better and clearer directions because these people are thinking that they're getting a shit pillow. And I know that it's great, but they don't know how to open it correctly so that it gets the shape that it needs to be. Because there's a film covering over there that people
don't know they have to remove. Yeah, there's no instruction that they need to remove this. And sometimes you got to squeeze it. And so literally, I was like, you need to DM this person. You need to deal with it. I'm tired of having to do your customer service. It's just not fair to me. And she was like, I'm so sorry. Thank you for always whatever. I talked to my team. I definitely went off on her because I'm protective. I don't want them to think I'm selling
or not. I'm not even selling it, but I'm selling that I'm promoting a sham product. Uh, like, no, but these marketing companies don't have that one on one interaction. Mike at, uh, one, two, three advertising doesn't have to get that message from Charlotte. Like, hey, my pillow doesn't work from Charlotte in Ohio. Right. He's not getting that message. So he can make whatever commercial, whatever advertisement he wants, and then he goes to sleep the next day and thinks about the next
commercial he's going to make. And so, no, that's why influencing works a lot of times. In a lot of ways, better and is more successful for brands than traditional media. It's all over the place, even on TikTok, I feel. I've seen where the videos that get turned into ads do, uh, so much better than thousands, um, of dollars of production videos that are ads that don't get any traction because people want real.
I'm tired of don't sell me fake. I want real. I buy stuff I see on TikTok all the time because I want to use that. I want to get that right. And that's how it is. We're just sharing and we care. I'm not going to say that there aren't, like, shit influencers who will do whatever to make a buck. There are. There's always going to be that person. But I think that you get a really good gist of who the person is when you're following them. They're actually using something if you bought a couple of
things and it's just not working. Like, obviously, this person may not be telling you the whole truth, which is why I like to say, like, this was gifted to me. This was an affiliate link, this is whatever, or this didn't smell that great. I will tell you because I would want someone to tell me before you make a purchase. Yeah, right. Because we're nothing without our following. At the end of the day, I'm only as, uh, successful as, um, the people wanting to engage with me and see my
content. So why wouldn't I want to engage back or respond to messages or make sure that the stuff that I'm promoting is doing for other people, too? Right? Yeah, absolutely. I love that because that's exactly how I feel about my girls. I'm like, they're my girls. I'm not going to try to push something on them that's not good for them. I want them to get something and be super excited and for it to be like, wow, I can't believe I got this. Bobby was right. Exactly your
Paula's choice. I know. Everybody's loving that. Paula's Choice. Oh, my gosh, so many messages that are like, okay, I bit the bullet and I got it. I should have known to trust you, but now I definitely do. I'm like, thank you. And by the way I'll say it, I don't really care. Paul's Choice is not they're not easy to work with. Honestly, I don't get paid, really. I don't have a sponsorship, but they made me an
ambassador. They don't even pay me. I get, like, affiliate linking, which, thankfully for shop, I do better through their platform than Paul's Choice, um, own platform. Literally, I can't even call it a partnership. I hate what's going on. Right? Yeah. I'm not a fan, and if I didn't love their products so much, I would completely be like, don't, I don't care. But it sucks because I love their products and they are so backwards when it comes to influencer marketing. And I don't know, I feel like.
Influencer marketing is kind of still catching on. Earlier, we were talking about how with plastic surgeons or doctors in general, where. Is the fine line, right? The line of, uh, where is it too much? Where is it just enough? Uh, where it's not enough. But I think people are barely realizing the value of it.
People who aren't on social media, because even people who are on social media don't even realize it, how impactful it is to hear about something from somebody that you trust versus just whoever. True. I will say, though, that with Paula's Choice, I can prove I can show and this is just from people who directly bought through my links that I've helped them achieve more than $30,000 in revenue this year alone, directly through links
and codes. And so that doesn't even account for all the people who saw it, and then saw it at Sephora and picked it up or whatever, right? But to the point where the influencer manager was like, I posted and there was like, a significant increase in their sales uptick. And she was like, my boss literally was like, what happened? And she's like, let me tell you about Dana. She posted. And then there was like, a noticeable
increase in sales. And that's when they had me on as an ambassador, which is very few PR packages. They're like, we don't really do sponsorships, will do affiliate linking, but you have to do it through our platform, which is miserable. I mean, it's not their own platform. They're using another platform. Ah. It's really difficult to use my discount code for my followers, which is great. They get 15% off. Doesn't track. They don't track
it. It doesn't get tracked. So if someone doesn't click the link, just uses the code, I don't get anything. Right? But when I use shop my shop my is amazing. Absolutely love it. It's like it to know it, but honestly, I like shopping way more. Anytime someone clicks on the link, it's got a pretty long memory. They're really great about tracking people using your code. And so I've reverted back to using Shop My even though the percentage I get is 15% instead of 20%, just
because they're just so much better. And, uh, all of that to say is that they're still getting sales because of me, even though I'm using Shop My instead of their own platform and I'm getting less commission. It's just easier track. And they're like, oh, um, no sponsorship, no nothing. And I'm like home on truly. Just because you love the product, right? Truly doesn't love the product. And they're like, oh, no, it doesn't make sense. $30,000 in a year,
ma'am, come on. It does make sense. This makes sense. Like, you have the numbers in front of you and they're like, m maybe. Small fries for them, probably around the world, I'm sure their numbers are. But for them to notice an influx and then still not really, right? No, it's that they would rather pay whatever they're paying to have, like, a marketing agency post an ad on. Um, you know what's so funny? That the marketing agencies are going to be the ones reaching out to you here, right?
And they're going to be paying them more than they would be paying me to do what I already told them to do. But what I do like about being on Instagram is that I get to see a little bit more from brands that do care. I had a brand that approached me. Their product wasn't something that I could I mean, I'm talking about plastic surgery, and it was a drink that wasn't a good drink for you to be drinking
during your drinking. But I loved watching them with their audience and really engaging with the brand, engaging with the person on the other side, and they were so cool. And I was like, Man, I wish I could make this work because I love the brand. I love you to drink, uh, but I just can't because it's not appropriate for my girls. It's not appropriate for what I'm talking about. Right?
But I really liked it. And I wish more brands would be like that, where they're just as engaging with their followers on Instagram because there's a lot of them and they're all. Out there looking well and not just engaging with their followers, but also that they do look for the right influencers and making sure that that partnership is doing well and that your connection
with your followers is great. The people who actually get it, they do so well with it, but unfortunately, some of our favorite brands don't. It's just a struggle because maybe at some point they will get it, but at that point, it's like, we'll see. How much it will cost you, right? If they weren't one of my favorite brands, I honestly this would have made me stop. Wait, before we go off, tell me your favorite product from Paula's Choice and why? What is it due to your skin?
So the BHA is my absolute favorite, even though it is really just sell a solic acid. Uh, there's more to it. Uh, there's more stuff in there. It just is absolutely amazing. So really quick about how I found Paula's choice. When I was an assistant manager at a Medspa actually, like, six, almost seven years ago. It was, like, 2016. One of our patients, she was so wealthy, so she was coming in regularly for all sorts of lasers, like, some fillers sometimes all sorts of stuff regularly,
like, on the dot. She came in one day, and she's gorgeous, by the way. She makes me think of Luanne from Real Housewives in New York. Like, just like chopped on, like, you know, a little older, but, like, just looks incredible. And I was like, her name was Barbie. Like Barbie. You look amazing. Like, her skin was glowing. I was like, have you been going somewhere else? Like, have you been cheating on us? A new laser or something?
Somewhere else? And she was like, no, girl, I've been using this amazing product, polish Choice BHA. And I was like, BHA. That's just an acid. Like, what kind? I'm looking it up on the computer, and it's just to sell silk acid. I'm, like, thinking, like, clean and clear. Ivy, sell silk acid. And it did okay, like, nothing special. And she was just like, Just try it. Just try it. And I was like, okay, sure, whatever. So I buy the little travel size, and I use it. First of all, it
says use twice a day, every day. Don't do that. No one should be using Exfoliants that much. No, use it like, three times a week. Maybe if you have dry skin once a week, but, you know, once or three times a week anyway, just a couple of times of using it, my skin was, like, glowing. I already have acne, uh, prone skin, and it was like my blackheads were gone. I was like, this is magic. This is amazing. And so from then, so since 2016,
I've been a die hard, polished Twist fan. I've used other BHA's that are they're great, they're cool. But that is the one one of my Holy Grails that I never let go of. And that's how I got there. Well, I'm going to try it. You've convinced me. Your influencer marketing has convinced me. Alex joy actually sponsor me. I'm not better or anything. We should put the link on this episode. So if anybody wants to try it, they could go through your link, because I want to try it. I love I want
to comment. I can tell your weight loss on your face, everywhere on your face. You look so beautiful. Your cheekbones are popping. Thank you. Paula's choice is working. Thank you. I mean, it's been a lot, but I'm so happy with it. Um, it's been a life changer for me. Also, the lipo, like, shout out to Dr. Rose. He was amazing. Everything with my bless. He kept my eyes still looking Arab, which is super important to me. But I just feel like my eyes look
open. I'm just over the moon with how my WIPO and my weight loss has gone. So tell me about your journey with the weight loss. What do you feel with that, uh, medication? I haven't tried it. Uh, I don't have any experience with it. So I would really be interested in knowing how do you deal with it, like, your energy levels? You're eating. Are you hungry? Are you not hungry? I experience so what it does is. It makes you feel not very hungry at all. You can't
eat too much. Like, it makes you feel nauseated. I've never had bariatric surgery, but some of the feeling is, like, you've had bariatric surgery. Like, you feel literally nauseated if you eat too much. Yeah, but it also helps stave off cravings. So even people are reporting that they're smoking less, they're drinking less. It's like Activating or maybe Deactivating that impulse control, need for snacking and other just other habitual things, even bordering on addiction things in your brain.
So, yeah, like, there are studies that it might be helpful for alcohol addiction, things like that. Wow. Stopping smoking. Yeah. People are reporting less smoking, less drinking, less sugar cravings. I definitely crave sweets less, especially even on my period. That's when I crave sugar the most and crave sweets. I'm on my period now, and I have not had a single sweet in, um, the last couple of days since I
started, which is not normal for me. And then it also helps with blood glucose control, which is why, as a zeppec, it is for diabetes. It's one of the things that helps with diabetes, as wagovia. It's for weight loss, but it, uh, even has cardio protective properties. That being said, there are side effects, like any medication. So nausea, diarrhea, things, uh, like that are your normal side effects. There are some more serious side
effects. Like, it's possible for pancreatitis, but as soon as that happens, you just have to quit. Like, your body just can't handle it. But, yeah, essentially what it does is you just don't feel very hungry. You don't really have cravings, and so you're eating, like, small meals. You do need to focus on your nutrition to make sure you are eating protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, things like that. But, yeah, I'm eating a quarter of what I would normally eat throughout the day.
And the weight is fast, but it's not abnormally, um, fast. Like, since we were like, it's so unhealthy to lose weight that fast. I'm losing an average of £2 a week. That is the same as if I busted my ass in the gym. I never ate over my caloric limit. Like, I did all the things that I needed to do. I would lose between one and £3 a week. So it is still in that normal, healthy weight loss without me being insane about it. So it's not like you're losing £10 a week.
That's not is there a limit to how long you can be on it? No, actually, it's even made for people to be on it long term. So basically, you're on it until you get to your goal and you have to wean off. And then you manage your weight through diet and exercise, which, like I said, I was maintaining my weight with how I was eating and exercising. I just wasn't losing. Maintaining it so much easier
than losing. However, if you have any sort of condition that makes it harder for you to maintain your weight, such as PCOS, such as diabetes, if you were very, and I'm going to use this in quotes obese, like, your BMI was well over 35. There are a lot of other confounding factors that make it difficult for you to maintain weight. You are recommended to be on a low or moderate dose, depending on your body long term. But, like, for me, I've already said this. Did it for vanity.
Didn't want to be hungry. I have no medical conditions. I can maintain my weight. I will lean off of it when I get to my goal, which is very soon. And then maintain that way. Yeah, PCOS or something. You'll stay on a low dose, or it's recommended that you stay on a low dose. What's the amount of, uh, weight loss? You know how everything kind of has like, this is indicated to lose, like, this amount of pounds, and this is indicated to lose, like, this amount of pounds.
Like, for somebody, especially for our listeners or my listeners who are. On their plastic surgery journey, and sometimes they have some weight loss to get to get to their surgery. There isn't actually an indication, but there is an average, which is about 15% to 20% of your body weight, but it only only was approved as a weight loss medication in 2021. When we think about Wagovi as, uh, FEMA Glutide, as, uh, Lyric Glutide, which is succenda, uh, that was approved
maybe, what, six years before that. So your average is about 15% of your body weight. However, if you are working, like you're really working towards losing weight, it's possible to lose more. Okay. And they can get it at their spouse. Right. Like, it's something that a medical provider can. They're getting it compounded, so I get it compounded. There is a lot of things you do need to think about when you're getting a compounded medication. I mean, compounded medications are healthy, like safe.
They're just at a pharmacy that makes it for you. Yeah. Instead of it being the brand name drug, et cetera. So where it like, toeing the line of whether it's legal or not is that semaglutide as of Zimbac and Wagovi, they have a patent on it. So what these compounding pharmacies are doing are compounding it like attaching it to B Twelve or Cobalamine or to L Carnitine or something like that, which is still very safe. It's basically just a very basic supplement. They're compounding
it to bypass the patent site. So most of the real issue with it is that, uh, it might be violating patent rights. But in my opinion, companies that, uh, are gatekeeping life saving medications and life changing medications and important medications for 20 plus years so that they can make money. So I honestly don't care that Nova disc. Yeah. I don't care that Nova Disk is losing money. I truly don't care. And honestly, they're not losing money because they're in a shortage. So
whatever. But that's why I was getting it through a compounding pharmacy, was because, well, insurance wouldn't cover it for me. There is a shortage, et cetera. If you do it through a compounding pharmacy, you're not taking medicine away from the people who really need it. Yeah, because I think I did hear that drama. They're eating it. All these people are using it for weight loss, and now the people who need it don't can't get it.
Which I want to say, it's just really awful for people to say that people who need it for weight loss don't need it. Because obesity is a real condition that needs to be managed and treated. And it is 100% a, uh, good reason to be on it, because Wagovi literally made for obesity. Now, me, I was an obese, so technically, I'm not that person, and I will own that. I am not that person who needed it. I wanted it. And so I went through the compounding way, and I'm following my
decision. But when people are like, no diabetics need it. People who are just trying to lose weight. Don't. There's a whole class of people who are obese, who are just as, um, deserving of this medication as someone who has diabetes. They both need it, for sure. It's like what we were saying earlier. None of your business. It's between them and their doctor, period. Between them and their doctor and whoever's prescribing them the medication. It's none of your business.
Exactly. But instead of, like, directing anger at the right place, which is the pharmaceutical. Companies, that's really that's really where we should be targeting the conversation. Exactly. The pharmaceutical companies. I saw this video last thing before I veered off. It was like, oh, tell us about how you've been selling us back this thing that we funded for you to create. Like, we funded the research, and then it was privately sold to a company for them to sell it back to us. Yes, exactly.
Anyway, I'm so happy I got to have you on today, Dana. You are amazing. Uh, it's so beautiful. You look so great. I'm so happy to see you. Thank you. I can tell you smiles all the time. I'm so happy. And we'll have you on the show again soon. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Bye. Bye. Um, if you enjoyed this episode, please go on Apple. Write me a review. It's the best way for other women who are just like you, who need help, who are looking for information, valuable
information on the Internet. This is how they're going to find it. So go on Apple. Give me a five star review. If you love this podcast, if you want to support the podcast, the best way to support the podcast is through the website. If you need help through your journey, if you need help finding a surgeon, if you want to join the membership, if you're looking for Bruise Juice,
you guys, don't sleep on Bruise Juice. You all know I have my Bruise Juice 30 coupon code for you all to use if you're having a BBL, if you're having liposuction, if you're having a tummy tuck, if you need to be using Bruise Juice all over your body, stop using those other brands that are not tailored for your post op recovery. Bruise Juice is formulated for your recovery. It's amazing. It nourishes your skin. It helps your fat transfer live. Don't sleep on bruise.
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