“Addicted to Beauty” TV Show – Not Such a Pretty Picture of a Medi Spa
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider
It was bound to happen…a reality show with a spa focus.
While Bravo TV has had Tabitha’s Salon Takeover on for a couple of seasons, it was more salon oriented than spa oriented. I actually quite liked Tabitha’s Salon Takeover – although Tabitha herself was a bit hard to like at times. You’ve got to respect her though – she knows how to make a salon profitable and is herself a star stylist. And let’s face it – she is entertaining.
So now we have the new reality show Addicted to Beauty on Oxygen. The basic “plot” is that a plastic surgeon’s office and a day spa merge to become a medi-spa. (They probably don’t know – yet – that the term MediSpa is trademarked by Dr. Bruce Katz of Juva MediSpa in New York).
Dianne York-Goldman heads up the spa team and Dr. Gilbert Lee is the plastic surgeon. The new entity is called Changes Plastic Surgery and Spa and is located in La Jolla, California.
The only problem is (and they got this right because it is a real-life issue) that the cultures of spa and medical are not mixing so well. The spa employees are drama-all-the-way-around and the doctor is very buttoned up…more than a few conflicts result.
While the mix is entertaining, the biggest problem in my opinion is that all the employees who work for this new medi-spa have themselves had more than a tad of plastic surgery – and the results are a bit scary. Young faces with lips that are too large and uneven, blown up breasts that make everyone look topsy turvy, cheek implants and narrow noses….it’s not as bad as Michael Jackson but some get pretty close to that Joan River’s look.
So what do I think of this show considering that I am in the spa industry? Well, thankfully we have had so many reality shows to date that we are all used to the outrageous. Just like we know that most housewives are not like the Housewives of New York, Orange Country and Atlanta, and normal Bachelors and Bachelorettes don’t end up confused about who to marry, I think that most people will know that this depiction of a medi-spa is pretty out-there.
While Addicted to Beauty doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of a medi-spa, it does show that spas have joined the big leagues…and, I will probably be tuning in again next week!
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I'm a teacher at the Santa Barbara Cosmetology Academy, teaching aspiring estheticians. Beauty school is a reality show just waiting to happen; there is major drama with the girls/women (and occasional straight and gay man in a class). With the structure of beauty schools, even teachers are in the drama and it is crazy/funny … unprofessional and unethical at times. I've heard that a reality show approached a S.F. cosmetology academy, but I'm sure … eventually Beauty school will be a reality show; I live it everyday and it's funny and frustrating all at the same time. Stay tuned…
@Melissa. I think I already saw a cosmetology reality show somewhere, or not. With so many reality shows that have popped out, nothing stands out anymore.Anyway, while the show is entertaining, I know some in the medispa industry that say that the show will just give a bad rep to the industry. Yes it can, but you can use this to your advantage by showing your clients that you are better than the clinic-spa in tv.
Diane and Shannyn would scare me away from Dr Lee's clinic with their looks. Diane looks fake (too many face jobs, and Shannyn's lips look like she was hit in the mouth with a board. Also, I have never seen a more poorly managed and supervised shop in my life. On the other hand, Dr Lee's work on the show has turned out very nice.
I totally agree with you that those girls would scare me away too and that Dr. Lee's work seems to turn out well. But then I got to thinking that it would make sense for them to only show the people that turned out well. And for that matter they show the more outrageous management antics that no other plastic surgery or spa business would stand for. So in the end I realize this is entertainment and probably not as much reality as one would think. However I must say…I continue to watch.