DermaPhil Laser and Skin Care Center

they just sold out to some company and are no longer honoring the groupons.
they are not honoring the extra packages they sold at «groupon prices» that supposedly would never expire as well.
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update 11÷11÷12
i called again friday. supposedly i will get a refund for the unused package. but no refund for the unused groupons. at this point i’ll be happy with any money back at all.
i am waiting to see the credit on my credit card bill… fingers crossed!

I bought a groupon and then purchased an additional prepaid package. At the beginning it was very smooth and easy. However, starting December of 2012 service has been spotty. Multiple cancellations of my appointments by them only to not put me back on the schedule for several months. Was ready to do my last appointment this weekend. They called and canceled again without being able to tell me when I could come in at a comparable date/​time. I was told that they can’t tell me if they can even honor my prepaid services. Good luck to anyone else who uses DermaPhil.

So I’m dropping DermaPhil’s rating to 3 stars. I finished all my treatments and had about a 50% reduction in hair. I decided to try another laser center since my experience with DermaPhil was my first with laser hair removal and WOW, what a difference. The staff and nurses at the other laser center are not as nice but they’re using a much better machine and the results are PHENOMENAL. All of the hair that was remaining after my DermaPhil treatments is now completely gone after just 2 treatments. The nurses and receptionists are very sweet and helpful at DermaPhil so no complaints there but it sounds like the owners may be trying to cut corners…
Early on in my treatments I had a bad reaction to the laser during at DermaPhil and ended up with hypopigmentation for almost 2 months on an area where my hair is very fine. I was reluctant to treat the area ever since and later spoke to my dermatologist as well as the new laser center I’m visiting about it and they said you should NOT treat hair that is very fine as it could actually STIMULATE growth and cause the hair to come back thicker. I called DermaPhil to request changing the area for my remaining treatments and they said they couldn’t do that,. They should have never treated this area to begin with and to refuse to remediate the situation is very disappointing to me, I feel like they will agree to treat any area because it means more $$$ when they should be thinking of the patients best interests. So just beware, inform yourselves before you start a course of laser hair treatment at any location.

Not trustworthy. Sold me a sample product. A SAMPLE. Even said «Not for retail sale» on the box. I pointed this out later and they acted like it was no big deal. Only after I complained to the medical board did they even care, but then were difficult when I came in for a refund. Will NEVER go back there.

So I bought a $ 99 Groupon with the high hopes of one day, not being a yeti. Let’s just say that I’ve been savin’ on razors since day one. I know that it’s hard for the laser not to do it’s job, but the ladies here are great. They are super friendly and although I am easily to distract, I must say they did a great job of getting my mind of off of getting my body attacked by a laser.
Even though you have 6 – 7 weeks between visits, I always get a friendly hello at reception, and the doctors actually remember me! Like asking about my students, or asked how Indiana was over Christmas. She had only seen me once before! That is what I am really looking for. It was awesome. I know everyone has a different pain level, but my tattoos hurt more than this. :o)
Not to mention, the area is almost hair free and I have 1 more session on that area. Next I’m moving onto my legs and I can’t wait to not have to shave most of the summer. :o) Never have I gotten burned, redness more than a day or too. Their skin type survey at the start is SUPER detailed. Don’t rush through it… or lie. It’s not your drivers licenses weight here, kiddos… it matters.
SIDE NOTE: You can’t have the area out in the sun 4 weeks prior to the laser date. AND the hair that is coming in (it comes in cycles) is much finer. Whoooooo!

I love this place, and highly recommend getting an appointment with Margarita for any service. The staff are friendly, fast and offer a great value for what you pay. My only star deduction is the fact that this place is SO popular — that it can be hard to make an appointment in your desired time slot. Other than that, I am sold.

amazing result on IPL
I’ve had two IPL done else where and I see no result.
I didn’t like IPL becuase the bright light is very irritating to my eye.
but
the IPL here is done quick and the light doesn’t bother me as much.
who cares how many passes they went over the face as long as it works, the less the better. (so I don’t have to suffer!)
My appointment was with Mitra,
She is very professional and nice.
right after the IPL my face was not red or anything.
in two days I started to notice little pin size scabbing especially on my spots.
then they fall off after a week. now it’s been 3 weeks, my spots has significantly lighten.
usually it’s very difficult to lighten spots for Asian skin. bad IPL can result in darker spots or no result except less money in your pocket.

Groupon — 99 for 6 treatments and then i purchased another 2 sessions because the hair was almost gone; another 99. not bad overall; got the job done, hair is gone: average price, decent service, facilities are fine but kinda far for me.
Generally good experience but burned on one occasion; left burn marks on me that lasted a few weeks and left me looking a lil cow-​hide-​ish, major skin sensitivity but primarily surface-​level scalding.
Garage parking below the building is a tad eery at night but i guess that just encourages me to take a quick jog up the three flights of stairs n burn a few extra calories: P

This review is for the long wait for appointments. Dermaphil continues to oversell themselves on Groupon while I have been waiting for months to get in the building to use a Groupon I bought six months ago. It’s difficult to know what your schedule will be like in three months, but that is how far in advance I have been asked to reschedule the appointment I made two months ago and cannot keep due to a summer holiday. I want my money back before this coupon expires and I haven’t been able to use it!

I had the ipl treatment done here, but after dealing with the customer service of this place… I would not recommend this place.
Looking at other Unilocal reviews, I think it’s safe to say that there are other places to get an IPL with more results and better service.
Don’t come here, even if you get a deal.

I am so disappointed in this place. I bought a Groupon and they immediately signed me up for another one, for my hands. Then, like the sucker I am, I signed up for another one with my hands and lower arms. My hands take a beating because I am a glass artist so I wanted additional hands (they said it would take several more treatments for my hands to improve). and added lower arms. The office manager said she quoted me too low but would honor her price. When I showed up for the second treatment she said it was for my arm alone. That is not true. I was very clear i was paying for both areas. I got home and checked my receipt which clearly says half arm w/​hands. I called and they said that was an abbreviation for without hands.
GIVE ME A BREAK. THEY DON’T HONOR THEIR AGREEMENTS
DON’T GO THERE.
I am going to cancel ANOTHER groupon i bought with them.

I, too, bought a special for this location. i have gotten laser treatments at numerous locations. I don’t know why, but my treatments here hurt more than other places. I tried both of their machines, no luck.
Secondly, if you need to reschedule last minute, tough luck. You lose a treatment from the package you bought. So because I’m sick (which I had no advance notice was going to happen), I basically don’t end up with much of a deal at all. Such a drag.

First let me admit… this is the very first time I’ve ever had anything done to my face, so I have nothing to compare this to.
I’m 42, am blessed with good genes and good skin (most people think I’m 30). But after 2.5 years of living in LA, my face was feeling like dried out lizard skin. I’m used to the humidity in Texas and haven’t acclimated, so I wanted to see what a simple microdermabrasion would do.
I bought the Groupon for 3 treatments, just finished my second session, and my face looks and feels amazing! I had quite a bit of dry patching from the first visit, which meant that I needed a deep exfoliation pretty badly according to Mia.
The staff is friendly, the office simple, clean and relaxing. Nothing fancy. I love Mia! She’s so down to earth and friendly and makes you feel comfortable.
I had no idea what to expect, but I’m very pleased so far. I even called about a different product that I saw while there and was told to ask about it when I came in the next time because there were less expensive alternatives.
Easy to find, parking is free underneath the building.
Mia told me I had great skin and didn’t need a peel yet, but if I ever decide to get one, I’ll definitely get it here.

I was surprised that no one posted a recent Groupon review so I figured I better get to it! Today was my first appointment so I arrived 20 minutes early to fill out paperwork. I found street parking right in front and walked up the 2 flights of stairs to the office (they do have an elevator). They had called me over the weekend to remind me of the appointment which I appreciated because I’d been waiting a couple months to come in!
I had Kimberly work on me and she was great! I had the brazillian bikini, underarms and tops of my feet! She explained everything and did my treatments really quickly. She checked in on me often to make sure the pain was tolerable and it absolutely was fine. I usually get brazillian bikini waxed so this was nothing compared to that.
After she was done I decided to buy another Groupon just so I can get as much hair gone as possible. There was a line for a tip but I wasn’t sure if that tip went directly to Kimberly and since she was sitting there I felt uncomfortable asking (I know, I know) so I didn’t tip this time. They also have envelopes for tipping so if I had the right amount of cash I could have just put it in there but I didn’t. Anyway, if you are a tipper then you might want to be prepared. I tip when I get bikini waxes and since the Groupon was such a great deal I figure I can tip something for these services. I’ll have to be prepared next time — which isn’t for another 10 weeks!
Obviously I can’t comment on the hair removal yet but I’ll update it when/​if I start to notice a difference.

I went in to receive my first laser treatment on September 15^th. DermaPhil was easy to find, there was plenty of FREE parking and I was seen on time. My nurse, Crystal, was super super friendly and nice. She made sure to ask me if I had any questions and answered everything thoroughly.
I am getting my entire legs done, my upper lip, my sideburns, my arms and underarms done. Crystal used the Cool Laser (don’t know the actual name) on me and it was PAINLESS!!! I could feel that something was being done, it felt warm than cool, but it was nothing compared to waxing. Crystal started off on the low setting since it was my first time ever and we didn’t know how my skin would reaction, but it looks like next time she’ll be able to increase the setting.
Since I was doing my entire leg, and two small areas I wasn’t able to get my upper leg done today, the room gets hot and the laser can overheat, so the appointments are an hour max. I didn’t know this before my appointment so I was a little bummed, but I completely understand.
Did I mention how nice Crystal is? I really really like her, and actually everyone I met was super nice and friendly. The place isn’t very big, but it’s nice and very clean.
THANK YOU SO MUCH DERMAPHIL!!!

I received a few laser hair treatments here. This review may be biased but to begin with, we were already off to a bad start.
I bought a underarm and brazilian laser hair package from a now defunct shop in West Hollywood. The package cost me $ 800 bucks. Long story short, after one treatment they split. Literally. I went in for my second treatment and had a long discussion with their neighbor. The neighboring business was sorry but they came in and the business was completely gone. He was creating a list of customers though in the same predicament I was in. The entire place was empty and cleaned out. Supposedly there was some family emergency which made them shut down.
Which now brings me to DermaPhil. I am pretty bitter since I lost all that money and never got my treatments. Well DermaPhil said they would honor all the customers from the now defunct company. I was late 15 min or so, coming from Culver City was not fun, and they did not honor two appointments. I think from the five treatments I was suppose to receive, they only gave me two. It seemed unsanitary when I saw some of the employees not use gloves, etc. And the employees may be family, because they were engaged in personal talk forever, while I sat waiting in the waiting room. I was the only customer there. It just didn’t seem professional they way things were handled and the employees behavior.
They continue to contact me to come in but I say no thanks.

Laser hair removal is always a tricky thing. The results are not always succesful based on your own personal hair type. I will admit on my first visit I spent quite a bit of money for a package and was guaranteed that the unwanted hair would be gone, however it’s been 2 years now and although the hair has been reduced by 80%, it’s not completely gone and I constantly have to go back for touch ups. Aside from that, the prices for my touch ups have been very generous recognizing that the treatment wasn’t 100% succesful.
The laser itself is extremely painful, and even if they use the cold air to numb your skin it doesn’t help much. I guess the saying «no pain no gain» comes into play here though. I will also point out that the laser has helped my skin and acne problem, which is a cool side effect if you ask me!

The promotion of ’90%’ for 4 treatments that are being offered to local businesses only… is not even 90% off! When I mentioned this to the salesperson he had no response for that. We purchased two packages of four visits each, and scheduled for the ‘soonest possible appointment available’ and were told ‘on Saturday.’ Went the following Saturday and was then told ‘oh, not this Saturday’ and the next ‘soonest’ appointment is six Saturdays away.
This star is merited because of the complete lack of accurate information and lack of customer service.

Being asian I don’t think I’m very hairy to begin with, but thought it would be great to be completely hairless. I have a light complexion with dark hair. I was told that after 5 visits I would be completely hairless (went in for underarms). After 8 visits I’m still sprouting hairs, so be prepared to go in for at least 10 before your hair free.
It has definitely worked, but its not all gone as advertised. Be prepared for some upselling into other services as well.

I was drawn to Dermaphil because of their discounted prices through SpaWeek ($ 50 for underarm and bikini laser hair removal), because they had the best rating on Unilocal out of all the places offering discounts, and because they’re close to Porto’s (yummmnomnomnom)! ;)
When I called to make the appointment, the woman who answered the phone was really nice. I had to call back 2 more times because I remembered more questions, and she never made it seem like I was bothering her. Arriving at my appointment, I was pleased by the ample garage parking. I made it only a few minutes early (what’s with all the construction on Alameda??), and I had to fill out forms, but everyone was super pleasant and calm when I arrived and didn’t make me feel like I had to rush.
The first thing the nurse (Mitra) did was sit me down in a back room and go over all the forms and explain how laser hair removal works. She was very thorough and seemed well-​educated. I went into that office REALLY nervous and she had me feeling pretty good after 10 minutes. She was very open to questions, and I felt she was forthright with me. She was also super nice! :)
Before she started the procedure, she explained the devices around me, and exactly why she was doing what she was doing. There were no surprises — I like that. It was pretty fast, and there was much less pain than with waxing (I’ve heard it described as a «rubber band snap» — I thought it felt more like pinches).
I’m coming back for 4 more sessions — locked in at the discounted rate! :) Very happy about that!
Overall, a great experience!
Pros:
–Good Price
–Great staff
–Lots of Parking
–1.5ish miles from Porto’s
Cons
–None! :) (well, driving from West LA to Burbank kinda sucks, but it’s worth it… for DermaPhil and for Porto’s! :))