This is my first-ever review on Yelp. I really dislike putting out any negativity out there but I feel compelled to share so that others might avoid the very distressing months-long ordeal I had with Dr Somenek. First let me start with what's good: Dr. S is very personable and his staff are extremely sweet. What's not so good: Dr. S is incompetent at performing under-eye filler, at least in my case!
I ultimately spent ~$2,500 to have him perform and then "fix" a botched under-eye filler procedure that he did in late 2019, only to emerge from the saga with lumpy, bumpy orbits streaked through with the unmistakable Tyndall effect. Don't know what that is? Tyndall effect is when you can see the blueish tint of filler under your skin because it has been injected too superficially. Super sloppy and should never happen with any semi-skilled technician. And the cash outlay says nothing of the time spent driving to and fro from 10+ different appointments during that time period. And the cash and the time together say nothing about the mental toll of feeling like someone just disfigured your face.
Dr S did the first procedure in late 2019. It was my first time getting under-eye filler and I chose him based on his positive reviews. At first, everything seemed cool. But the following summer I started to notice some small blueish lumps on the inner corner of my right eye. I thought it was a ruptured blood vessel so I went to my local derm. She said, no, that has nothing to do with a blood vessel, that is filler that has migrated. Well the only person who had ever injected filler under my eyes was Dr. Somenek. So I returned to his office in November 2020 for a follow-up. He graciously offered to try and dissolve the filler lumps with hyaluronidase. We had to repeat that procedure three times before there was an incremental improvement, at which point Dr S said he would not do anymore (whether that was because of the cost to him or because he didn't see any additional marginal benefit, was unclear).
Predictably, all that hyaluronidase left a pretty deep hollow so I agreed to have that touched up with a syringe of Rystalene Silk. It made no noticeable difference so I went in for a follow-up. Dr S suggested that if I wanted better results we should do an additional, full syringe. And that's when things got really fun! I looked like someone had inserted a fat slug under the skin under my eye. Talk about over-filled! Staff said not to worry, give it two weeks. Two weeks and I still couldn't believe what was going on so I went in for a follow-up, after first sending in some pictures for Dr S to review. What happened next was really lame: Rather than cop to his shoddy work, he essentially gas-lighted me and said that the pics I sent were taken in bad light and did not accurately showcase the results. Honey, I want to look good in ANY light, thank you very much! Anyway, he dissolved some of the filler, and I returned two more times for additional dissolve sessions.
Now we are 6 months post my first follow-up in November 2020 and I am still totally dissatisfied with the outcome. I have gone to a specialist for a second opinion, and they were frankly shocked by the sloppiness. I wrote to Dr S this week letting him know I was very unhappy with his work and asked for at least a partial refund, a free Botox sesh, anything. His staff wrote back that I am welcome to come in to have the filler completely dissolved. $2,500 and months of distress only to be brought back to Square 1? Nah, don't think so.
Luckily, I am blessed across the board so while this is vexing I will be fine. Really, it's a reminder that I am perfect and should not be messing with the Universe's creation! Nevertheless, DON'T LET DR SOMENEK TOUCH YOUR FACE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. xox :-) read more