Start preparing for bikini season now with laser hair removal by Jacksonville's Garcia Institute.

Here in sunny Northeast Florida, you’re almost as apt to see women walking around in strappy sundresses in January as you are in June. While we’ve still got a few cool spells to go before the official start of summer, temperatures in the 70s have local ladies looking to get fit and fabulous in plenty of time for bikini season. And they’re starting with laser hair removal.

Jacksonville’s Garcia Institute offers laser hair removal for the legs, bikini area and underarms using the top-rated GentleLASE 755nm alexandrite laser designed to permanently reduce hair growth. But contrary to popular belief, significant permanent removal of hair doesn’t happen in just one visit. Typically, eight to 10 sessions scheduled from 21 to 35 days apart are required for optimal results. So the earlier you get started, the more prepared you’ll be for beach season.

To get the best results from your laser hair removal, Jacksonville’s Garcia Institute also recommends that you stay out of the sun in the weeks prior to your first session. Tanned skin increases your risk of unsightly and potentially painful side effects like blistering and permanent skin discoloration. That goes for both natural tans and tanning-booth tans. Either way, you’ll have to wait until your bronzing has completely faded before undergoing laser hair removal.

Jacksonville clients also are advised to skip waxing or electrolysis in the weeks prior to your session. However shaving may actually be recommended, as it preserves the hair shaft and follicle and may help improve your results.

You’ll also need to fess up about any and all medications you’ve taken over the past six months, including both prescription and over-the-counter products. All hormonal and birth control drugs and many antihistamines, anti-depressants, anti-inflammatory, acne and anti-cancer medications can increase your skin’s sensitivity. Your technician needs to know if you’ve taken any of these medications to effectively valuate your risks and to schedule your sessions appropriately.

Think you’re ready for laser hair removal? Jacksonville’s Garcia Institute and Reviva Medical Spa currently are offering a huge special. Purchase six lower leg hair removal treatments for just $1,125. That’s half off the regular price of $2,250. But it only lasts through the end of January, so call 904-247-8522 to schedule your consultation today.

Get $15 off 60-minute skincare treatments on any Tuesday throughout January at Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery.

If your New Year’s resolutions include a beautiful new look, you’re in luck. Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery is offering a slate of January specials designed to give you a smoother, firmer, more youthful look.

To keep your skin healthy and vibrant throughout the year, experts recommend adding a touch of luxury to your skincare routine with weekly or monthly facials. Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery makes it easy to get started with “Terrific Tuesdays.” You’ll get $15 off all 60-minute skincare treatments on any Tuesday throughout January. We know you’ll feel so relaxed and look so radiant that you’ll commit to making this resolution stick.

Is getting your body in bikini shape on your list of New Year’s resolutions? Make sure your skin is beach-ready, too. Start early with a series of laser hair removal sessions designed to permanently reduce hair growth on your legs, bikini area and underarms. Throughout January, purchase six lower leg laser hair removal treatments for just $1,125. That’s half off the regular price of $2,250.

All these great specials come to a close January 31, so call 904-694-0091 to book your appointment today.

Also during January, we’re hosting two Botox and a Taste events where you can meet our double board-certified plastic surgeons, get a complimentary skin analysis and opt for onsite Botox injections. The first is hosted at Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery‘s Reviva Medical Spa in Neptune Beach on Thursday, January 5 from 5:30-8pm. RSVP by calling 904-247-8522.

A second Botox and a Taste event is scheduled for January 25, 5:30-8pm at the Fountain of Youth Medical Spa in St. Augustine. Reserve your spot by calling 904-806-4208.

Face the fall season with a beautiful new look. Check out Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery's October specials.

With the fall season fully underway, many are thinking about the holidays – what they’ll cook, what they’ll wear and how to look their best during a fun but stressful time of year. Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery has a few October specials to help you get a head start on your beautiful holiday look.

Through the end of October, we’re offering a steep discount on our Lightening Lift Series. This pigmentation resurfacing cocktail is a highly effective blend of natural and synthetic agents designed to tighten and brighten your skin, leaving it smooth, even-toned and radiant. You’ll take home a full size bleaching serum and precise instructions on how to complete the at-home portion of your treatments. The series includes six lightening lifts and the product all for $450 – that’s a $240 savings from the regular price.

Here in sunny Florida, we get a little extra time to enjoy wearing leg-baring skirts and sandals. Make sure your legs are smooth and silky with a six-session full leg laser hair removal treatment. You’ll save more than $1,200 and you’ll be ready for the 2012 bikini season.

Also, don’t forget our monthly Botox & a Taste event at the Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa clinic. This Thursday from 5:30-8pm enjoy wine, hors d’oeuvres while you get to know our double board-certified facial plastic surgeons Dr. Phillip Garcia and Dr. Roberto Garcia. You’ll get a complimentary skin analysis, plus you can opt for on-site Botox injections.

Our October specials are expected to go quickly. Call 904-685-8852 to book your appointments today.

Is your skin ready for the cool snap? Check out the fall skincare and laser hair removal specials at Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Garcia Medical Spa.

Fall is upon us. It’s time to prepare your skin for the cooler weather. What better way to do just that than Facial Fridays at Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa?

On Facial Fridays, Jacksonville area clients enjoy any facial or level 1 peel for $80, or an Ultimate Microdermabrasion treatment for $85. Our facials, peels and microdermabrasion treatments are designed to repair sun damaged, acne prone, unbalanced or dehydrated skin. Our expert aestheticians pamper your skin, preparing it for the cooler temperatures and dryer air. You’ll leave with beautifully hydrated, soothed and smoothed skin, as well as tips to protect it from the elements. Facial Fridays run through September 30 and exclude level 2 and 3 peels, Micro-Lift treatments, gift certificates and series.

Free laser hair removal is another September special option. Here in sunny Florida, knee-length and short skirts are worn well into the fall season, so a smooth pair of legs remains a fashionable must. At Reviva Medical Spa, purchase laser hair removal package and get a second area (of equal or lesser value) treated free of charge.

Our specials fill up fast, so call 904-694-0091 to book your appointment today.

Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa are offering an array of August specials to help you wrap up your summer beautifully. Whether you’re preparing to head back to the classroom as an instructor or student, or just looking to bring your summer to a luxurious end and gear up for the fall and winter holidays, we’ve got just the treat for you.

Through August 31, when you purchase any laser hair removal package, you’ll get your underarms treated free of charge (package must be valued equal to or greater than the value of underarm treatment). At Reviva Medical Spa in Jacksonville, laser hair removal is performed using the GentleLASE 755 nm alexandrite laser, Candela’s premiere hair removal laser. Its patented Dynamic Cooling Device assures a quick and comfortable procedure, and the GentleLase can be used to smooth wrinkles, fade pigmented lesions and treat vascular lesions as well.

Facial Fridays offers you a selection of relaxing and revitalizing skincare treatments for just $79 (excluding level two and level three peels, micro-lifts, gift certificates and series). Put your best face forward for fall with a luxe treatment designed to smooth, tighten and even your skin.

These offers expire August 31 and appointments fill up fast, so call 904-694-0091 to schedule your treatment today.

Drop off the kids and head to Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery & Reviva Medical Spa for a luxurious Saturday morning open house.

Don’t you deserve a little luxury, a little pampering, a little ‘me time?’” Then drop the kids off at the baby sitter’s house and head to Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa in Neptune Beach near Jacksonville this Saturday morning, July 9 for our open house.

Beginning at 9 a.m. and running until 1 p.m., you’ll enjoy great food, fun with friends and fabulous deals on beauty products and mini treatments. Among the specials offered exclusively to our open house visitors are:

• Buy two beauty products, get one half off
• Buy three beauty products, get one free
• Buy five beauty products, get two free
• Buy Latisse kit, get one free
• $40 mini treatments
• 50% off laser hair removal for new clients
• 50% off laser hair removal for returning clients getting a new area treated

Spend your Saturday morning getting a luxe facial treatment, racking up great deals on beauty products and spending time with friends. You’ll leave with a beautiful, healthy glow, ready for a Saturday night on the town.  See you there!

Spray tanning, laser hair removal and Jane Iredale skincare products all are part of the special offers from Garica Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa throughout June.

What better way to spend a Saturday morning? Garcia Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa invite you to their Open House Saturday, July 9 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. for food, fun and fabulous deals on beauty products and mini treatments.

Want long, lush lashes? Pick up a tube of Latisse for just $99. It’s proven to make lashes longer and fuller with significant improvement in just two months.

Want a clear, hydrated and even-textured complexion with a little R&R? We’re administering our mini treatments for just $40. And we’re offering 50 percent off laser hair removal if you’re a new client or a returning client getting laser hair removal for a new area.

Some specials don’t end with our Open House. These deals run throughout the month of June:

• Experience an Organic Facial and get a SunFX Spray Tan treatment for $15 (a $15 savings).
• Purchase a Brazilian Package laser hair removal treatment for just $1375 (a $500 savings).
• Purchase a Bikini laser hair removal treatment package and get an Underarms Package for free
• Purchase $100 of Jane Iredale products and get a full size Jane Iredale Tantasia for free (a $36 savings).

Each of these specials runs through June 30, 2011 but you’ll need to set your appointment quickly. Call 904-694-0091 to book yours today.

A pre-wedding massage or facial is a great way for brides and bridesmaids to relax in preparation for the big day.

There’s nothing more beautiful than a June bride. As the wedding season gets underway, we offer multiple ways to rejuvenate your look at Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery’s Reviva Medical Spa. Jacksonville‘s Drs. Phillip Garcia and Roberto Garcia, along with a staff of highly experienced aestheticians, can help you look your most radiant this season, whether you’re the bride, the mother of the bride, a member of the wedding party or just a well wisher.

Five procedures are our most popular among brides-to-be:

1. Facial fillers: For older brides and mothers-of-the-bride, a top request is a dermal filler such as Botox. Jacksonville-area brides know that a dermal filler is a fast and effective way to minimize facial wrinkles and creases, including forehead wrinkles, crow’s feet, frown lines between the eyes and smoker’s lines around the lips.
2. Chemical peels and facial treatments: A luxurious facial is a top way that brides treat their bride’s maids just before the wedding. Not only is it a fun way to relax with her closest friends after months of wedding planning stress, it’s also a way to make sure everyone looks their best for the big day. Our specially developed facials are designed to brighten and firm skin and give you a refreshed, rested look. For more intense results, plan a light, medium or deep chemical peel several weeks before your wedding.
3. Lip plumping: Lip enhancements can help add volume to your lips and minimize wrinkles forming at the corners of your mouth. Injections with top quality fillers such as Juvederm and Radiesse, permanent lip implants and laser rejuvenation all are ways to give you a perfect pout.
4. Spray tanning: Wedding planning is all-consuming and leaves little time for sunning. And Jacksonville’s warm climate makes for many outside weddings that take advantage of the beautiful beach, river and marsh views. So, or SunFX spray tanning system is another top request for brides looking to get a healthy bronze glow without overdoing it. Tanning solution is applied via a low-pressure spray that allows our skincare consultants to perfectly customize and contour your tan.
5. Massage: Jacksonville brides often plan massages on the mornings of their weddings. It’s a great way to release all the tension that pools in the muscles after months of planning. Our tailored massages help soothe the muscles and promote circulation (which in turn helps skin look more radiant). Massage add-ons also are available. A favorite is our hand rejuvenating treatment which uses a glycolic/retinol solution that helps reduce pigmentation and improve the appearance of dry, rough hands and cuticles.

If you’re a bride-to-be, call Reviva Medical Spa at 904-694-0091 to schedule your wedding preparation treatments.

Baby Boomers are driving a new trend in plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures for men, Jacksonville's Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery says.

Surgical and cosmetic procedures for men are on the rise according to statistics recently released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Overall, cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in men jumped two percent in 2010 compared to 2009. However, the numbers were much higher when zeroing in on particular procedures. Facelifts for men led the charge, jumping an impressive 14 percent.

ASPS’s statistics show that men underwent more than 1.1 million cosmetic procedures, both surgical and minimally invasive. But six of the top ten procedures that men chose last year are surgical ones – a significant turnabout of the previous trend toward less invasive cosmetic treatments. Men increasingly are embracing plastic surgery as a way to remain competitive in the workplace, boost their confidence when it comes to dating, or simply to keep looking on the outside as young and active as they feel on the inside.

“Baby Boomers hitting retirement age are the new face of the male plastic surgery trend,” says Dr. Roberto Garcia of Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery near Jacksonville. “They’re still healthy, active and sharp minded. Those who are retiring are looking forward to enjoying all the free time they’ll have on their hands and want to look great doing it. Others feel they’ve got a few more years of competitiveness in them and are opting to delay retirement. Those guys know they’re competing with younger coworkers climbing the ladder, so they want to go head-to-head with them on all the factors that determine career success – including looks.”

For the best in cosmetic procedures, men in the Jacksonville area turn to Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery. Board certified plastic surgeons Drs. Phillip and Roberto Garcia specialize in facial cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, plus a full battery of minimally invasive procedures designed to help you continue feeling confident and competitive. Call 904-247-8522 to schedule a consultation today.

Men’s Top Ten: Fastest-Growing Male Cosmetic Procedures (by percentage increase)

1. Facelift – 14% Increase
2. Ear Surgery (Otoplasty) – 11% Increase
3. Soft Tissue Fillers – 10% Increase
4. Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox) – 9% Increase
5. Liposuction – 7% Increase
6. Breast Reduction in Men – 6% Increase
7. Eyelid Surgery – 4% Increase
8. Dermabrasion – 4% Increase
9. Laser Hair Removal – 4% Increase
10. Laser Treatment of Leg Veins – 4% Increase

Summer’s almost here – are you ready for sundresses, shorts and swimsuits? If not, head to Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa in Jacksonville. Laser hair removal, spray tanning and a custom nutrition plan to get you fit and looking fabulous are available in one conveniently located spot.

Get that healthy summer glow with Garcia Facial Plastic Surgery and Reviva Medical Spa.

• Fabulous Figure: The Garcia Institute and Reviva Medical Spa have partnered with Better Living, a nutrition program designed to make eating right, losing weight and getting healthy a lasting lifestyle – not just a short-term plan. The Better Living integrative approach addresses and balances all aspects of your life including your career, relationships, physical activity, and spirituality. This helps assure that your beautiful results will be lifelong. Coaches and counselors Meredith Leapley and Heather LePetrie will guide you through setting and accomplishing your health goals, understanding and reducing cravings, exploring healthy and delicious new food choices, increasing energy and improving yourself image and personal relationships.

• Smooth Skin: Wondering about laser hair removal? Jacksonville women and men choose love this option for permanent removal of hair from their legs, backs, bikini lines and other areas. Reviva Medical Spa uses the GentleLASE 755 nm alexandrite laser for quick, comfortable and effective treatment. Not only will treatment rid you of unwanted hair growth, but the laser also is capable of treating pigmented lesions (sunspots and freckles), vascular lesions (hemangiomas, venous lakes and blue facial veins) and wrinkles.

• Bronze Glow: To get a healthy, bronzed look, choose spray tanning with SunFX, a revolutionary spray tanning system that uses a low-pressure spray to deliver a tanning solution evenly over the body and face. SunFX is made with all natural ingredients – no harsh chemicals, perfumes, oils or preservatives. You get a beautiful sun-kissed look without the sun damage that can lead to premature aging or cancer.

To schedule your summer makeover, call Reviva Medical Spa at 904-694-0091 or use our convenient online appointment scheduling form.