FOX13 Investigates Discount Body Contouring Services | News

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Big butts have been a big deal for decades. They are celebrated in song, dance and pop culture.

This big thing just keeps getting bigger.

In the age of Ozempic and the Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, people’s dream bodies are within reach, but they can come at a hefty price.

“When I first started, I had maybe one customer a week,” said Yolanda Johnson, owner of Lavish Body Bar. “Now, I’m at maybe 18-20 a week.”

Johnson is better known as the Lipo Lady. She offers affordable body contouring and weight loss services, which she advertises on social media and on her SUV, which is emblazoned with the words “booty pills” and her phone number.

It is one of the many services they offer such as liposuction, butt injections and more around the Mid-South at a fraction of the price of plastic surgery.

One of her selling points compared to the work of plastic surgeons is her claims that her procedures are non-invasive, meaning there is no cutting, probing or working under the skin.

FOX13 caught up with her to see exactly what she’s up to.

First, she showed off her line of pills, including those meant for weight loss, weight gain, female enhancement and, of course, “smooth pills.” The packaging for all states that they offer “guaranteed results”.

Johnson said she makes all the pills herself using supplements and other ingredients she buys at Whole Foods. Supplements are not regulated by the FDA.

She then proceeded to her hands-on treatments, explaining the equipment she uses and what each device does.

Johnson said her non-invasive liposuction is a variation of a procedure called liposuction. It involves an ultrasound device used to heat the fat inside your body.

To find out how this procedure compares to traditional liposuction, FOX13 sat down with Dr. Roberto Lachica, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Germantown.

“Cavitation itself refers to the bursting of fat cells and the release of fat molecules,” said Lachica,

Lachica explained how the procedure is performed in a medical setting: after the fat is heated, a tube is inserted under the skin to absorb it. The patient is sedated with anesthesia while all this is happening.

However, with Lipo Lady and others offering “non-invasive” liposuction, the patient is awake and the fat is not suctioned after heating.

Johnsons said she instead wraps the area to reshape the fat.

“Everything is non-invasive,” he said.

Johnson’s version of the Brazilian butt lift is also different.

The medical procedure involves anesthetizing the patient, removing fat from another area and injecting it into the buttock. It must be performed by licensed physicians.

Johnson explained that she uses large plastic cups to apply suction to the buttocks and inflate them.

For her buttock injections, Johnson said she uses a product called a hyaluronic pen to inject collagen stimulators into her patients’ buttocks.

Hyaluronic pen is a commercially available product advertised for use in at-home lip fillers. The pen is marketed as non-invasive because no needles are involved. Instead, air pressure pushes the liquid through a tiny hole and into the skin.

The device is not FDA approved.

Johnson told FOX13 she has no medical background and there is no oversight for the types of procedures she performs.

One of the most attractive parts of the services offered by Johnson’s Lavish Body Bar and other similar businesses is the price.

Sessions with Johnson cost hundreds of dollars compared to the thousands required for plastic surgery and anesthesia, though she doesn’t promise the same results as surgery.

“They’ll take fat from your stomach, your arms, your thighs and put it in your butt,” he said. “I’m more of a natural result.”

There is also recovery time.

Johnson said her patients can go straight to work from a session. With plastic surgery, patients can expect to be bedridden for a while.

On the other hand, plastic surgeons are required to have years of training, insurance, and a medical license.

“I would suggest that any patient who is trying to change their body shape, look better and feel better about themselves, to seek out someone who is capable of providing these procedures in a safe and effective manner,” Lachica said. .

Are these exchanges worth the price difference?

The prey is in the eye of the beholder.