QUIRKY COSMETICS

Preston Hollow Businesses Take Feeling And Looking Good To New Extremes

IT’S HARD TO PINPOINT WHEN HEALTH AND WELLNESS BECAME TRENDY. Maybe documentaries like “Supersize Me” and “Food, Inc.” persuaded us to swap a cheeseburger for a creatively named salad. We’re more likely to buy a membership to a boutique gym than a tanning salon. But it’s the quirky concepts — think vitamin infusions and vampire facials — that are becoming ever-present in our neighborhood. Whether they’re easing aches with an arctic blast or dousing your face with plasma, these Preston Hollow businesses have taken an unconventional approach to wellness.

Cold as it gets

Standing inside a tank that’s colder than Siberia seemed ludicrous until celebrities and athletes raved about wholebody cryotherapy.

Now spending three minutes in a contraption overflowing with liquid nitrogen — while only donning underwear, gloves, socks and slippers — is a common way of easing soreness and pain.

Cryotherapy immerses the body in temperatures between -147 and -202 degrees. The session, which costs between $45-$70, is reported to reduce inflammation, redirect blood flow and lead to weight loss, although research is inconclusive and contradictory.

The procedure originated in Japan as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in the late 1970s. It has been popular in Europe for decades, and its demand in the United States has grown since 2006.

Kelly Carden launched Cryo1One at Preston Royal Village three years ago.

“When I left my corporate job, people thought I was leaving to freeze dead bodies,” Carden says.

She couldn’t convince companies to distribute liquid nitrogen, and landlords were hesitant to lease property. At first, she rented a 300-square-foot space, where she crammed two cryotherapy chambers that cost about $60,000 each.

“It took two years to get a sign on the building,” she says.

As lines wrapped around the hallway, she moved the business to a larger space and partnered with one of her former clients. The duo chats with patrons during the three-minute sessions to ensure their safety and distract them from the frigid cold.

It feels a bit like working in a hair salon, Carden says, because people will tell her just about anything to keep their minds preoccupied.

Avid customers range from St. Mark’s and Hockaday athletes looking for a competitive edge to 80-year-olds seeking pain management. Families schedule sessions together — an entertaining, albeit atypical time to bond.

“The funniest thing is the high-schoolers are better than their parents,” she says.

The hangover cure

What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but a bachelor party in Sin City sparked Matthew Burns’ fascination with vitamin infusions.

Desperate for a quick hangover cure, Burns stopped at a retail infusion store for a dose of electrolytes. He learned Nevada was one of many places commercializing vitamin infusions. The concept intrigued Burns, who had devoted his career to the oil and gas industry.

“Running a vitamin and wellness clinic is not what I imagined myself doing,” he says.

He invited his mom, aunt and a few family friends who are experienced in the medical and law professions to dinner. Five hours later, they devised a plan to launch VitaLiv.

Burns thought that most customers would be 20-somethings looking for a quick fix after binge drinking or an intense workout. Instead customers often are battling illnesses that deplete their energy levels. They visit the Preston Center business for additional relief, despite that the federal Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved the treatments.

“Hearing words like cancer, lupus, Lyme’s disease — all these different things we didn’t expect to see — is the base we’re seeing.”

Doctors oversee the Preston Center business, and registered nurses concoct the infusions and shots on-site. Costs range from $25-$200. Because of the risks that are associated with them, vitamins A, E, K and potassium aren’t available.

Burns hasn’t seen any complications, he says, although a few people are afraid of the needles.

Story by ELISSA CHUDWIN Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

Nip, tuck, freeze

Preston Hollow neighbor and former Real Housewives of Dallas cast member Marie Reyes has watched skin care trends come and go since she opened SkinSpaMed in North Dallas.

But the effectiveness of CoolSculpting surprised her. The treatment involves placing a vacuum onto fatty areas of the body. The vacuum freezes fat cells, which causes them to die so they’re absorbed back into the body.

It’s uncomfortable, but there’s no downtime, Reyes says.

“Some people describe it as a frozen piece of butter under their skin.”

The Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment, but Reyes doesn’t want to oversell it. It’s meant for people targeting problem areas, not people seeking dramatic weight loss.

CoolSculpting also is expensive, ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 per treatment.

Thanks to the Kardashian clan, services like the Vampire facial also have skyrocketed. Seeing faces splattered with blood across social media may appear to be a horror movie poster, but it’s part of a cosmetic procedure intended to reverse aging.

Patients’ blood is extracted from their arms. The blood is then spun to separate platelet rich plasma, which stimulates cells. It’s added to the skin with a micropen to rejuvenate cells.

As barbaric as it sounds, that hasn’t deterred patients from making an appointment.

Tweaking an ancient tradition

Acupuncture is more than 2,500 years old, yet cosmetic acupuncture is unfamiliar to most.

Modern Acupuncture, located in the Preston Center, offers cosmetic and traditional acupuncture in an unusual setting. The clinic’s dimly lit room and quiet setting is more like a spa than a doctor’s office.

“We call it the zen den for a reason,” says Bruce McGovern, who co-owns the franchise with his wife, Stephanie.

The couple have a knack for predicting trends in the industry, which is why they were one of the first to franchise Massage Envy and European Wax Center.

Cosmetic acupuncture places fine needles throughout the face, which is reported to stimulate the growth of collagen. It is supposed to fill fine lines, smooth wrinkles and improve skin tone, although studies’ verdicts on its effectiveness are mixed.

“I think people are being more responsible for their own health and wellness now,” Stephanie says. “We thought this maybe on the cutting edge of development.”

Meet three graduating students whose tales of success and resilience embody what it’s like to be

BY LISA KRESL

PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Stand and deliver

The 18-year-old stands confidently at the podium in front of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and the Dallas City Council. The microphone is eye-level and members of the media are recording every word.

“I’m Mary Orsak from District 13,” she says. “I have left school today to come to City Hall in order to speak to you about the removal of Confederate monuments.”

It was March 21 and the 5-foot-tall Hockaday senior had replaced her school’s trademark off-white jacket for a black blazer. She spoke as the youngest member of the mayor’s task force on Confederate monuments. Her recommendation was to relocate the monuments to an educational facility.

This was not Mary’s first moment as a public speaker or in the media spotlight. In addition to serving on the mayor’s task force, she’s chaired the Dallas Youth Commission, created and operated a nonprofit organization, conducted summer programs in the Dallas Independent School District and presented a TED Kids talk at Southern Methodist University.

“People underestimate what’s going to be in that little package,” says Steve Kramer, Hockaday’s Upper School History Department Chair. “Mary is an outstanding history student, probably one of the best, if not the best, that I’ve had in a long career of teaching. She’s curious, she’s articulate and she knows how to bring things together.”

But Mary’s success hasn’t been without pain and setbacks. In elementary and middle school, Mary played volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis and basketball. During the seventh grade, she got a concussion when a girl accidently threw a softball at her head. Since that day, Mary had eight concussions in the span of four years. Her pediatrician and neurologist agreed that she should stop playing sports.

“I had spent all this energy trying to play club sports,” she says. “I needed to find something to do with my free afternoons.”

Mary discovered journalism, government and politics. She currently writes for the school newspaper and magazine.

After attending a leadership program at Yale University during the summer before eighth grade, she was inspired to come home and improve women’s education in Dallas. “I wanted to encourage young girls to become leaders in their fields,” she says. “My teachers always told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be as long as I worked hard enough. I knew that wasn’t the experience for every girl in Dallas. I had an awakening that I was very privileged to hear these messages and have all this support. I needed to ensure that other women have these same opportunities.”

Mary raised $10,000 to buy books by and about inspiring women and donate them to middle school libraries. She worked with the Community Foundations of Texas to get guidance about creating a nonprofit. It’s called Story Power, Inc. Next, she approached the head of libraries at DISD about the idea of using the books in a summer school program.

“I wanted to make sure that these books really got into the hands of young girls,” she says.

A few weeks later, she started working at Thomas A. Edison Middle School’s summer program. Mary continued raising money for books and conducted the session for the next four summers at Edison, George Bannerman Dealey Montessori School and T.R. Hoover Community Corp. She recruited friends to work with her. As the program expanded, she recruited volunteers from the St. Mark’s School, students from the neighborhood and anyone who was interested in helping.

During her senior year, Mary was asked to do the TEDxKids@SMU. Speakers are not allowed to bring notes on stage for the 10-minute talk. She practiced her speech, “Take Your Seat at the Table,” in front of anyone who would listen. When told she looked composed and confident, she confesses that inside she was shaking and worrying that she would mess up.

Next year, Mary plans to go to Yale, where she will major in ethics, politics and economics.

When asked what her advice is for other students, she says, “Find your passion and don’t ever hold back in accomplishing that. Get involved and continue to speak up. Never give up even if you are 13 or 15 or 18.”