Artful Aesthetics

I sent a message on their website and got a prompt email asking me for the best time for them to call me to go over my questions.
I said the next day would be fine. They didn’t call.
The day after, I called them in the morning and said, «hey, call me anytime this afternoon.» They… Called me at 11:30, ie not the afternoon, I couldn’t pick up. I called them back twice, left a message, and an email, and never heard back. Anytime I call it goes straight to voicemail so there is zero chance of ever actually talking to someone unless they deign to call me or write back to me.
It’s been six days now since they first emailed me back. I’m flabbergasted — I was specific about what I wanted done, had a couple of questions — - do they just not want my money?
Very disappointing and a huge waste of my time.
eta: Thank you for your response, Irina. I’ve sent an email to your direct address. Hoping we can move forward :) upped to 3 stars as all communications have been great so far. Will update upon receiving treatment.
Eta2: Irina was incredibly prompt in all of our correspondences. The office was great about giving me the best price possible. Will update once results are forthcoming :)

This place and Irina are fantastic. Irina has helped so much with my acne issues as well as holding back the hands of time ! The services I have received have all been affordable and effective with minimal downtime. My visits are part of my regular routine to keep my skin looking it’s best. Caity is always helpful and has the best skin care product tips. Thank you Irina and Caity!

In August I went to Artful Aesthetics for a coolsculpting (cryolipolysis) consult. The consult went quickly, was complimentary and I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. The office is small, up some stairs with plenty of street parking in Montclair Village. I then scheduled my appointment for a couple weeks out. The coolsculpting itself is a long process, about an hour each section, I had a total of three sections done on my lower and upper abdomen. Caity and Irina are very laid back and easy going, they gave me net flicks to watch and made me very comfortable during my procedure. I have to say, whoever is going around the internet saying coolsculpting is painless and a «lunch time procedure» is bonkers. In any case, Irina and Caity never lied to me or gave me false expectations. I felt nothing but cared about and supported by them. So far I am about a month out from my procedure and I have lost an inch around my waist (it takes up to three months to see the results in entirety, and at first you are very swollen) I will likely go back and get my flanks done at some point
Irina is a fully educated and licensed Nurse Practitioner, which is what you want for this type of work. If you are looking for a place to get coolsculpting, this is it.

Irina has an amazing touch and Katie has amazing customer service! I recently had a service to my lips and now the aging lines are gone. My smile is beautiful and love the added «plump».

I am a 51 year old woman, and I am constantly told that I look at least 10 years younger than I am. I give the credit for that directly to Irina at Artful Aesthetics! I have been seeing her for 6 years now for botox, filler and IPL. I completely trust her to make me look like myself, only a younger version and for that reason, wouldn’t ever consider going anywhere else. I’ve seen the results of other injection work out there and knowing that will never happen to me gives me complete peace of mind. I am a salon owner myself and when I mention that I get injectables to my clients, they, without fail, say who do you go to because that’s exactly what I want! Needless to say I refer to Irina ALOT! Go… you won’t be disappointed!

I’D GIVE IT 0 STARS IF THAT WERE AVAILABLE. WARNING THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. I made an appointment for a consultation on my one and only day off. I showed up on time. I was told by the receptionist that the clients first appointment had shown up 30 minutes late, so I would have to wait at least 30 minutes to have my consultation with Irina. I can’t imagine how anyone runs a business like this, and I am a small business owner. Why would she not take the client who showed up on time… a potential new client who could potentially refer more new clients… It confounds me. I had a tightly scheduled day and had paid to park and had to just leave. I was told to call back for another appointment. I did call back and emailed to request another date for a consultation and no one ever called or emailed me back. I am relieved to see that I am not the first person who this happened to. It’s such a contrast from her happy customers, who are already established, apparently. It seemed odd to me that she wouldn’t take a moment to come out and apologize to me. It was just her receptionist who told me that she just walked in and saw that her first client had been late.
To add insult to insult, not only did I not get a response to reschedule, but I just got an email message announcing that they are opening in San Francisco. Yippee for that. I don’t think professionals in San Francisco will be willing to put up with such unprofessional behavior, so I hope they read their non-​five star reviews from time to time.

If there were a 6^th star, I would give it to Artful Aesthetics. They are beyond incredible, and completely transformed my skin! I’ve been going for 2.5 years, since i moved from SF to Oakland. I’m so happy I found them!
I’ve done several treatments including a 6 series of Clear & Brilliant, laser hair removal in three areas, botox, peals and more. After having a baby i had terrible brown marks on my face, and lots of sun sports and Irina worked her magic and my skin looks nearly flawless. I alway get complements on my skin from strangers– if they only knew what i started with!
After seeing such great results I wanted to buy more and more treatments. What i love among many thinks about Irina is that she lets me know where i would benefit and where i should save the money. Sometimes i want to buy things and she recommended i don’t, because it is not something that would benefit my skin type.
I saw the negative review they have below, and i was shocked to read it. I’ve been to the office over 20 times, It always looks so lovely (in fact they referred me to their interior designer because i wanted to replicate it). The staff are always so kind and courteous to me, I’ve never waited more than a few minutes on the rare occasion and after 6 Clear & Brilliant treatments have never had one thing go wrong.

I waited a long time to write this review to make sure that I felt it was the right thing to do. To be honest, I never write Unilocal reviews, but I thought that it was important to write this review so that people know what they can expect going to a this medical spa vs. a dermatologist. A really good dermatologist I should say. The only reason why I booked an appointment with Irina is because I moved from San Francisco to Oakland last year so it would have been more convenient to see someone for my skin care needs closer to home. I loved my dermatologist in SF, but Irina also charged less than my derm so I decided to give her a try. The first red flag for me was when I called to make my appointment. I called the spa at least 6 or 7 times, left numerous messages, and never received a return phone call. When I finally did reach a live human being, they were very dry and unfriendly. When I arrived for my appointment the door was locked. The receptionist opened the door, looked me up and down with a blank stare and said, ‘and who are you?’ Wow… way to make a girl feel totally unwelcome. The office itself is a complete clutter disaster. Tiny and filled with makeup, jewelry, and magazines strewn everywhere. After filling out a bunch of forms, one of which was a legal clause stating that if I decided to sue Irina I would settle out of court in arbitration… hmmm…wonder if she has been sued before…
Anyways, so this very cold unfriendly receptionist ends up also being Irina’s assistant. Irina is nowhere to be found, and this girl is the one prepping me for my procedure. She has me lay down on a table in a freezing cold room, and slathers on my numbing cream. She said Irina would be here soon… about an hour later Irina arrives. I’m not sure how difficult it is to get to your first client of the day when you open at 12pm. Irina comes in. We talk briefly and she begins the laser procedure. 5 – 10 minutes later, she’s done, and I’m being pushed out the door as I am late for work, and clearly she is behind as the waiting room has a couple women late for their appointments. I’m confused. My doctor in SF takes his time with this procedure. He’s careful. He’s attentive. I completely trust him. I left Irina’s feeling a bit robbed, BUT I still decide to give her ONE more chance. My second appointment goes exactly the same as the first. The door is locked. The assistant is cold, but perhaps a little less this time as she commented on my wedding ring… which happens to be CZ but looks like a real big beautiful diamond… Since she made me feel so uncomfortable I went out of my way to make conversation with her. Awkward! Once again Irina is over an hour late, and I’m freezing while waiting for her on the table, and her waiting room is filling up with clients. Irina finally arrives, once again, 5 – 10 minutes later she’s done… she slaps a cooling mask on my face and pushes me out the door so she can get on to her next client. I literally had to walk through the waiting room with this Hannibal lecture mask on. My face and chest are beet red, and as I look in the mirror, I notice that she has missed many spots. I quickly pull the mask off, as the receptionist asks when I want to make my next appointment. Yeah. No thanks. I already knew I would never go back to artful aesthetics, but to make matters worse, I woke up the next morning wish a large burn on the side of my temple. Irina was so careless with this laser procedure that she burned me! The burn blistered, oozed, and peeled off within a week, and was super painful. Lesson learned! I basically flushed $ 1000 down the toilet. Don’t go to a med spa for the lower cost or convenience factor! Do your research! I have been back to Dr. Narurkar in San Francisco multiple times since seeing Irina. I am kicking myself for ever going to anyone else. His staff is SO helpful and friendly. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Narurkar. He is totally worth the extra drive into the city and the extra cost. Dr. Narurkar is one of the leading Botox/​filler specialist in the country. When I told him some of the injectables that Irina recommended for me he said he would never do what she suggested. Bottom line is don’t waste your money and time going to artful aesthetics! They are rude, unprofessional, inexperienced, and laughing their way to the bank with your hard earned money.

This place really is an exceptional business. I got laser hair removal done by Irina and she was very friendly yet professional and made the process way less intimidating and painful than I expected. The results were great and have lasted.
I also purchased Latisse from them which I highly recommend and have been using for years (and they also run discounts on it here!) and one of the bottles I bought didn’t work. When I contacted them about it I was expecting that I would have to go through Allergan, the supplier, myself but they instead replaced my bottle and told me they would deal with it. What exceptional customer service! I will definitely be back for touch up laser hair removal and any other beauty maintenance I have in the future. I highly recommend this place.

Irina did some enhancement work for me over the last few weeks and all I can say is that I look fabulous — but no one can tell exactly why.
It’s our little secret.

I went to Artful Aesthetics today for the first time. Katie at the front desk was very pleasant and welcoming, and I was seen exactly on time by Irina. I found Irina to be knowledgeable, professional and warm. She was patient with my many questions and took the time to explain the procedures available to me. She closely reviewed my medical history, and discussed my options at length. I will definitely go back — I recommend this company and Irina very highly.

I know how much Irina cares about her work and she has a strong sense of professional pride. When I saw the recent negative reviews I contacted one of them. I was sure it was planted… but to be honest, I did receive a long reply from a very upset person. I cannot speak to what they went through, but I can only say that I am a 3+ year client and have never been treated that way by Irina or her staff. She’s been nothing short of wonderful to me and I’ve gotten comments, even from strangers, about how good my skin looks after I see her. I feel terrible that those two had a bad experience. It seems so out of character based on what I know about Irina, her ethics, and this business. That’s my experience.

*** YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST READ TO THE END***Service not with a smile but with a scowl would best describe my experiences there. I felt overcharged and treated like I was insignificant. Since this happened each and every time I went here I finally decided to go elsewhere. Hearing that you had blood on your ice pack Jessie pretty much sums up my feelings about the place. I went to a new places they took pre pictures, they asked me to come back in two weeks for post pictures to ensure Botox working to my satisfaction and offer additional if needed at that time. Did any of this happen at artful aesthetics? No. In fact my new place spent an hour with me taking and doing precursor questions to ensure safety etc. This place did NONE of that. none…
Service is exactly what I was looking for since Botox is Botox… on that note, I’ve been having Botox for years and I am not sure if they dilute theirs at this place but I can tell you that at the physicians office I just found that it was way better-​my frown line is completely gone– it was way cheaper $ 200 and I never got out of this place for close to that– and I walked out feeling like I was a valued customer. Let me know if you want to know where to go for Botox because I assure you that I would much rather go without than go back to this closet sized place artful aesthetics full of attitude and condescending staff.
Would never go back and would never recommend this place to anyone
It is of the utmost importance to me now that in seeing the response from Irina, that I post a very candid response. I find it utterly alarming that her first thought is that I’m a competitor. I moved here from Laguna beach and needed botox prior to my wedding. My twin sister works in montclair and suggested we try this place. I do NOT work at all and don’t work for a competitor. She did not contact me at ANY time to find out if I was a client or a competitor. She made a ridiculous assumption. I assure you I was there with my twin sister on 7-​20-​2011 and again on 8-​8-​2012. Perhaps you’d like to check the records again. Two women came in together. Ashlee and Andrea. Andrea uses a different Unilocal screen name Jessie J. I am aware that Unilocal does not show last names so there is NO way you can check to see and claim that I have NEVER been a client as you did below in your response. In fact, I would imagine with a substance such as botox that you are required to keep records quite some time so I do suggest you check this. I am happy to return, obtain copies of my records and post on Unilocal for others to see my claim is correct. My sister who works around the corner is also happy to stop in and discuss further. At no time during any visit were photos ever taken and I’d love to see the records you have with photos in them as they were never taken! In fact this is so utterly amusing and disgusting to me that I just might come in and request copies for my own viewing pleasure. I can’t imagine what you will provide to me!
The ice pack incident so nicely described by my sister under Jessie J. did happen and she was so utterly frantic about it that we never returned.
Anyone is welcome to contact me… anyone…including you Irina, although I am fairly sure I will never hear from you as I can prove all my facts are legitimate including bank statements showing the debit card transactions.
Thank you but NO THANK YOU TO YOUR COMPANY.

Please read all of my review,
Wow. I really like Unilocal.I find it a useful tool for sharing a super positive or super negative experience and read about a business I may visit. I am just a normal middle aged customer wanting to age with dignity and decided to try Botox. This establishment was my first experience and I went to see Irina 4 times. Please –DO free to contact me for further information. Apparently Irina did not appreciate my review, but instead of attempting to repair my opinion, she simply added an owner note (which she has now conveniently removed) that stated my review was phony and I was not a real customer. No, I do not use my real name on Unilocal for privacy reasons, of course, but you also cannot «research» a person by their Unilocal username either so I did giggle when she said that I was never a client because she had checked her records. Nice try but I am, or WAS. I find the lack of concern about a customer walking away unhappy, truly unprofessional. By the way, Ashlee is my sister and I brought her there with me for Botox twice, but you claim her review is phony as well. It’s real! :)
My honest and thorough review: I went in for Botox. I chose this business because it is super close to my office in Montclair and the price per unit seemed great. I’ve had four visits here. I will not try again.
It is an upstairs space across from BofA, kind of above the Post Office and Grubb if you are familiar with Montclair Village. The waiting room space is smaller than my bathroom and deathly quiet and uncomfortable with the reception desk in there as well. They do always have a wonderful fragrant candle burning so that’s nice. Irina is efficient… But there Is very little background information taken, medications, history, etc… Which I do feel is important. I have not had any before and after photos and was never even asked if I wanted to do them. And somehow, I always walk away feeling a bit cheated… Not sure how I still have such a huge bill with my several hundred brilliant distinction points??? And considering the frown line has a legal limit (FDA) of 20 units at their price of $ 10/​unit… With an average if 200 points… My bill is easily $ 350+… Am I missing something here? I was quoted $ 10/​unit but apparently it is now $ 12.
Let me tell you my favorite part of my last and absolutely final visit and let me add here — that this is absolutely true: I asked for an ice pack (mind you, this is offered without asking everywhere else) and I was handed a small circular freebie from Restalyn (sp) and… It had blood on it. I kid you not. Blood! Someone else’s blood! I pointed out to Irina and she told me that she had just cleaned the ice packs.? A freebie promotional one time use ice pack and you cleaned them? Great job!
I have also felt as though my little visit for Botox isn’t worth her time and I’m taking away from a huge potential package deal slot…
And the lack of ANY warmth of personality, small talk, appreciation, come again…
I just can’t recommend, really!

I called artful aesthetics today in hopes of making an appointment for IPL photofacial, but the gal who answered was quite adamant that IPL doesn’t help remove freckles overtime. She even went on to say that IPL only works on new sun spots. Say what?!? Yeah, she is incompetent and has no clue what she’s saying. She mentioned that they tried it on someone and that it didn’t work. Also, she claimed that their IPL is not good enough for IPL photofacial. Not sure I can trust a place that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Irinna is still awesome! This business used to be called LaserDoc – you can see previous reviews under that name.

I was super nervous about getting Juvederm to get rid of the wrinkles around my lips. I didn’t want to end up looking like Meg Ryan. I found Irina on Unilocal and made an appointment. The office was beautiful and smelled fresh and clean. The receptionist was pleasant and helpful. I got in right on time with Irina. She spent almost an hour doing her magic. Sure, it hurt, but not as much as everyone told me it would. I looked a little ducky when I was first finished. But, by the next day, voila, beautifully youthful lips restored. The wrinkles filled, the line defined and just a little plumping. I love them! Irina did an excellent job and has a great eye. Go, have it done. no more purse-​string mouth! She is very reasonable and is a true esthete.

Irina is not only gifted at her craft, she is a master at administering it! I have walked out from other places where the doctor left me purple and bruised. Irina is so careful and precise that bruising and discoloration are minimal. I love my face! yes it is pricey but the results can last as long a one year. My face is worth it! I just had a treatment 2 weeks ago and have fallen in love with my face again. I look damn good for my age (64)! Woohoo! Donna