Carrying on the legacy of a beloved founder, Skin Specialists in Coral Gables continues to offer what many consider the best acne treatments around, as well as product lines developed locally and sold internationally through Vivant Skin Care.
Vivant Skin Care was founded Sara Fulton, President, and her husband James E. Fulton, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., who died this past July of colon cancer at age 73. Their daughter, Kelly Fulton-Kendrick, is CEO of Skin Specialists and Vivant Skin Care. “We consider ourselves to be the living embodiment of his skin care legacy,” she said. “Skin Specialists and Vivant Skin Care offer treatment techniques and products that are unique and used internationally to treat acne and other skin problems.
“Obviously teens but also a lot of adult women in South Florida are dealing with acne,” Ms. Fulton-Kendrick said, “and need treatment for residual scarring and to promote even tone. Between our plentiful sunshine and the Hispanic ethnicity of many of our patients, we have situations where injury to the skin leads to increased melanin production causing brown spots and scars. My father’s own acne when he was young was traumatic for him, and he spent his life helping people to avoid what he suffered.”
Skin Specialists, the clinic where Dr. Fulton practiced at Flores Dermatology, is located at 6705 Red Road, Suite 400, in the Whole Foods building. Skin Specialists offers treatments for acne, rosacea, rejuvenation, discoloration and sun damage, using chemical peels, clinical facials, derma-filing, high-frequency microdermabrasion, ultrasound and more. The Venus Freeze technology uses radio waves to tighten skin in a series of treatments, with many patients gaining dramatic results.
Dr. Fulton held many patents for skin care treatments, and was a developer of Retin-A for Ortho Pharmaceuticals. He developed the patented gel delivery systems that stabilized benzoyl peroxide and topical erythromycin for major laboratories. Vivant Skin Care, the manufacturing company, markets multiple lines of skin care products including Vivant Pro, available to professionally-licensed aestheticians; and an over-the-counter line, Vivant Skin Care, available to consumers in stores and through their website at vivantskincare.com. On the website, consumers can view dramatic before-and-after photos of clients, choose products based on their complexion and specific problems, and fill out a product regimen advisor questionnaire for personalized service and recommendations from licensed aestheticians. Vivant Skin Care trains all of the aestheticians at Skin Specialists, carrying Dr. Fulton’s legacy into the future.
Dr. Fulton was the author of the bestselling Acne Rx (Dutton Press, 2001) and had appeared on “The View” to discuss his ground-breaking treatments. “He was not only the developer of Retin A, used first for acne and now more often for treating fine lines, but his techniques and patents were also used in the development of standard acne treatments, including Proactiv and others,” Ms Fulton-Kendrick said.
