Pearl E Grimes MD

I was a patient of Dr. Grimes 15 years ago. She made my skin beautiful and set me free after about 3 months of care. I started to see scarring and discoloration from aging skin last year so I went back to the expert that saved me before. I’ve only been using the products she recommended for a week and I already see considerable improvement.
The office is beautiful, staff is professional and courteous.

I’m updating this review due to the many requests for additional doctor information. The doctor I saw was named Delphine Lee at UCLA. However, she is no longer with UCLA. I do still recommend contacting the Dermatology department at UCLA and scheduling an appointment with the Vitiligo Clinic (ask for that specfically). I’m so happy some patients have had positive experiences with Dr. Grimes. She is truly one of the most knowledgeable doctors around when it comes to vitiligo. Maybe the front office experience has improved since I stopped going many years ago. I can’t speak to that now, however, at the time it did nothing but add to my anxiety over this condition.

Dr Grimes is an amazing doctor. I took my 13 year old daughter to her regarding some white spots she had on her back and leg. She was diagnosed with Vitiligo and given a treatment plan to get it under control. Dr Grimes sat with us explaining everything thoroughly to both my daughter and I. She was very sensitive to my daughters hesitation of being at the doctors office. Her office staff could not have been kinder drawing my daughters blood and being so patient with her. Dr Grimes called me right away with some elevated blood results and recommended a doctor for us to take her to regarding this possible issue. I can not express how wonderful, caring and knowledgeable Dr Grimes is.

I am a patient that has frequent bouts with acute urticaria and Dr. Grimes is the only dermatologist that can get my hives under control. I first came to Dr. Grimes after a year of going to Kaiser’s Dermatology department for various bouts of acne and hives to my face, body and scalp with no relief. I am not a teenager, I am a woman in my 60’s and I was very upset with this un welcomed skin problem. Dr. Grimes does not take my insurance but, I rather pay out of pocket to be able to go out in public with out sever breakouts. Dr. Grimes quickly got my skin under control and I have not had a severe acne breakout since I have been under her care. I also have bouts with severe and acute urticaria, hives and she will see me very quickly when ever I call and let her staff know what is happening. She is the only doctor that understands the severity of acute urticaria and brings me in pronto and makes sure that I do not suffer with the intense itching that accompanies urticaria. Dr. Grimes listens and is very understanding to me when I express my frustration with my hives and the mystery as to why they occur. I have had every allergy test and I am very aware of my food allergies as well as to my environmental stimulants, and I comply faithfully. I am so grateful to be under the care of Dr. Grimes, she is professional, compassionate and always makes sure that when I leave her office I am feeling confident that my health issue is taken care of. Her staff is professional and very efficient. I am thrilled with Dr. Grimes’ medical excellence and her professional expertise.

I’ve been a Dr. Grimes patient on and off for years and here is why. When it comes to my skin, which is acne prone and affected by melasma (discoloration), she knows what she is doing. Under her care, my skin receives daily compliments. Dr. Grimes is expensive but she is a leading specialist in her field. She is also extremely busy, so if you are looking for a doctor to chat with about all of your fears and insecurities — she ain’t it. However, if you meed someone knowledgable about skin care to get you looking your best — she’s your gal. I do like that she does great work for area underprivileged children through her charity. Excellent doctor and excellent human being.

I am so amazed with the results my wife received from her treatments with Dr Grimes. She was going to a dermatologist in Corona and her condition got worse within several months. She found out about Dr Grimes from the Internet and a article she had read in a magazine. My wife and I were very pleased with the results after 6 months. Her hair has grown back and is healthier than before. She travels from Corona to Los Angeles to see her and it’s worth the 1 – 1:30 drive. The staff is excellent and she is in and out within 45 mins. If you’re having a problem with hair loss, Dr Grimes is the doctor you need to see.

Excellent doctor that cares & an excellent staff that supports her. I love Doctor Grimes.

I have been seeing Doctor Grimes for the last 4 years. She is an exceptional professional in her field. I think that the office tries its best to be able to accept new patients and to satisfy current patients. The people working at the office are always busy which is a great thing! I had to wait for 3 month for my very first appointment with Dr Grimes. I realized that there are so many other dermatologists in LA but Dr Grimes is the very top one.
Are you gonna have to wait for a long time? Most likely yes!
Will it be worth it? Absolutely yes!

Dr. Grimes is the best in the world at what she does. Just like any other business with high volume you have to put in effort to see her though.

When I lived in LA, I met with, Dr. Grimes and her staff. Dr. Grimes was wonderful she address my skin issues with great care, and made me feel right at home. I was so nervous. I so glad I saw Dr. grimes prior her to my upcoming photo shoot. And after our visit I surely felt a lot more knowledgable and confident about the health of my skin after our visit. Dr. Grimes is truly the best!

My review is solely for Dr. Grimes Pigmentation specialty.
For years and years I have been self conscious about pigmentation and discoloration post high school acne.
I have gone to roughly 30 dermatologists, various estheticians and spas and thousands of dollars later – no real difference.
I came to Dr. Grimes once, and at this point i’m a huge skeptic so I doubted her through the entirety of my first appointment. Lets face it, no one likes waiting in a room for 45 minutes to be seen for 10 and made to buy all these different expensive products through the course of one appointment.
Dr. Grimes makes her own products so its not covered by insurance, keep that in mind when going here. you will be dropping a few hundred on her prescribed medications easily. Needless to say, I bought the products and within 6 weeks I saw HUGE improvements.
I have gotten so many compliments on my skin and I can feel it looking less spotty and dark. My make up goes on smoother and I only have to use 1 shade as opposed to 2! #firstworldproblems.
I don’t have acne other than a pimple here or there, so I can’t really comment on her work with that. But she did prescribe me some good cleansing wipes that have kept me pretty clear.
Note: I gave her 4 stars instead of 5 because Parking in the building will run you $ 25.00 for the entirety of your trip and they don’t validate so try and park on the street. Wilshire is 1 hour max for $ 1.00.
Also, the wait time was pretty extreme my first appointment. The second one I was in and out within the hour.

Although Dr. Grimes has many accolades I was very disappointed in the medical treatment I received. I think perhaps this medical practice is geared more towards cosmetic dermatology rather than more medically focused dermatology. I should have known as soon as I saw the many advertisements for botox, laser, oxygen, collagen etc. treatments being advertised (all things not covered by insurance). These are all great products, but none of them that would help my condition.
Quick synopsis (you can read more below):
1. Misdiagnosis and had to keep coming back w/​out any results. Lot of money wasted.
2. Long wait times.
3. Office is an administrative nightmare. No one has any clue what is happening.
More detail:
I went in for discoloration on my forehead and the doctor’s assistant did most of the diagnosis. The doctor prescribed me a cream and asked me to come back in two weeks. I went back in two weeks with no results, and my new treatment was to keep using the cream and come back in two more weeks. This scenario repeated for about 3 months, until FINALLY I insisted on a biopsy. The biopsy came back negative so the doctor suggested I do oxygen treatment. Later I found out this is purely a cosmetic treatment and not a medical treatment. Nothing resolved, condition only slightly improved.
I finally went to another dermatologist at a university medical center and she looked at my forehead, had a conversation with me about some other conditions and prescribed me a medication and said to come back in a month. Within the month my issue was resolved 100%. She even had a name for the condition!
I went to Dr. Grimes for 6 months and my condition only mildly improved. I feel l wasted so much money and time and nothing was resolved. They just had me coming back to tell me the same thing over and over again.
On another note, this office is a administrative nightmare. I had to call 10 times for them to transfer my files to my new doctor over a 1 month period. When I finally got to my new doctor they didn’t have the files. Finally that doctor had to call the office to get my files which we could only review on my second appt.
The whole experience with this doctor and office was frustrating. Especially because I thought I was going to a highly acclaimed dermatologist.

Prior to seeing Dr. Grimes I read some poor reviews. Someone even went so far as to say that any positive reviews must be written by her staff. Let me begin by saying I am a patient, not staff. I travel 3.5 hrs each way to see her. The staff is truly wonderful as well as prompt, caring and accommodating even in an urgent last minute situation. Dr. Grimes was everything her past and present awards promised. A true professional, highly educated as well as compassionate and caring. I encourage you to visit her website as it can better explain her qualifications and many much deserved awards

Dr. Pearl Grimes is one of the best Dermatologist practicing!!! She helped through my severe scalp condition when other’s couldn’t seem to figure it out.
Thanks to Dr. Grimes and the Vitiligo Pigmentation Institute for making me smile again!
–Jason B. Henry
Los Angeles, CA

Dr Grimes is a superstar in dermatology. She not only is one of the most recognized leaders in her field, but more importantly to me is her charity work. She is directly involved with CARRY which helps at risk youths. She also donates time and expertise to young people with skin problems… that otherwise treatment would be unavailable. She spends lots of her own time helping out the community, something many people are unaware of.

Dr. Grimes is a great doctor and her staff is equally talented however she is concerned more with running a business than she is offering care to her patients. She makes more money doing fillers and cosmetic things than actually dealing with her practice which is dermatology. Perfect example I had a visit and she forgot to give me the prescription we had spoken about when I called and asked for the prescription to be called into my local pharmacy I was told I have to schedule an appointment and come back and to see her! Seriously, how ridiculous does that sound?
Well from her perspective it makes perfect sense because she gets to bill me all over again and get more money for my insurance. When I explained all she needs to do is call in the prescription to my pharmacy they refused and said that I need to come in and physically see her to get a piece of paper handed to me! I must add I’ve been a patient of Dr. Grimes on and off for six years and I can clearly say she’s more interested in making money and building her practice than providing quality care to her patients. Think twice before you visit her, their hours are very peculiar especially if you’re new patient.

Everything everyone here says is true. All of it, pros and cons.
I go to her, however, because despite the inexcusably rude wait that often is required, the exorbitant costs (I spent over $ 400 last visit!!!) and what else?: Oh yes, the measly five minutes I usually get of her time, my skin looks better than it ever, ever, ever has.
Keep your eye on the prize: Great Skin. She knows what she’s doing. I’m 48, have never had botox or injections etc., and still get carded.
So I’ve taken off a star because I imagine there are other dermatologists out there who also know what they’re doing and will spend, say, more than 5 minutes with you after making you wait a half hour over your appt. time. And really, I almost gave her only 3 stars.,
But here’s the thing: if you can put up with the rudeness and you can afford it, your skin will look fabulous.
Oh, someone mentioned her charity. If it’s any consolation, I believe some of the money from your super expensive treatments go to a good cause. She treats children with terrible skin diseases and doesn’t charge them anything. It’s truly a service that changes lives. They blossom, come out of hiding, make friends, stop getting bullied etc…

I had an appointment here a few years ago – and as a Unilocaler, I tend to be the sort that is motivated to leave positive reviews … but it takes a really sore experience for me to even think about leaving a negative one. I had an appointment with Dr. Grimes a few years ago. One appointment. I never went back for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. But the reason I am leaving this review is because a coworker of mine recently mentioned going to see Dr. Grimes, and what an awful experience it was. My reaction to her was, «OH MY GOSH ME TOO!» We were both disgusted when we compared stories and realized how similar they were.
My experience was this: I have a lot of moles – a few of which concerned me. I also have keratosis pilaris on my arms, which bothers me. I was new to LA and in doing research found Dr. Grimes and read about how renowned her work is. She seemed like a smart bet. I made an appointment.
When I arrived at my appointment time I was made to wait for a ridiculous amount of time. Another patient was panicking about potentially missing a flight because she’d been waiting so long. That should have told me something.
Once I was taken back I spent about 5 minutes talking to the doctor’s assistant … who assured me Dr. Grimes would take a good look. When Dr. Grimes came in, she barely even acknowledged me. I was baffled when she kept directing questions/​comments to her aid. I’m sitting right here! I had wanted someone to look at my body and see what moles I should be most concerned with … and she barely spent a minute looking me over before dismissing me with a «Nothing to worry about.» When I expressed concern over a few in particular (because I was alarmed that she had barely glanced at anything specific) she simply said, «If it bothers you, we can remove it.» and then told her aid to «set up surgery for next week» and left. I’ve been to dermatologists before and it takes two seconds to remove a mole – she required me to COME BACK and have an official «procedure» ???
She then left the room. The aid began prescribing me medications for my keratosis pilaris – all of which I needed to buy there at the office for a ridiculous amount of money. Ok. Now I’m disgusted.
I don’t expect a doctor to spend an hour with me. I don’t expect a doctor to be my best friend and all cheerful chatty Cathy. I simply expect to be humored at least a little – even if they have already presumed there is nothing to worry about. I don’t think it’s absurd to want someone to spend 10 minutes really looking at my skin (I have a lot of moles and freckles) – and to TALK to me about why I need not be concerned. I definitely don’t expect to be treated indifferently. It was appalling to have her so cavalierly and disinterestedly tell her assistant to schedule a surgery when seconds before she said there was nothing to worry about. She made it clear she had zero interest in actually discussing the whys and reasons. It was like, «Hey lady, if you want to make a stink then I’ll just cut it off you.»
I am the kind of person that tends to be too polite. I stupidly let them schedule a surgery and left totally baffled and frustrated. Over the next few days, though, I got angry. I canceled the procedure and made an appointment over at Cedars. Turns out, the dermatologists there are warm, considerate and WANT to discuss things with you. I had nothing to worry about, but was able to talk to someone who explained why and took their time in doing so. They also offered to remove the mole on the spot if I decided I preferred it gone. I didn’t, because they made me feel secure about it.
Bottom line … she may be a brilliant doctor, but she obvious lacks in bedside manner. I will never return.

I left a message to schedule an appointment and did not receive a call back.
Oh well, moving on to Dr. Paul Wallace of Beverly Hills, I go.

I agree with a lot of the other negative reviews: Dr. Grimes is very knowledgeable and can be a great doctor, but her office staff is AWFUL.
I had to stop going there because it was just ridiculous, her staff was incompetent and unresponsive. I had a mole that Dr. Grimes recommended to be removed, but she didn’t want to do it herself because it was on my face — so she wanted to refer me to a specialist, which was fine. The problem was that neither she nor her staff could recommend someone that was in my insurance network (I have very common PPO insurance by the way). She left me in the hands of her office manager, and I had the worst experience. He kept promising to call me back, but never did. I had to keep calling him, I spent SO much time trying to get some help, but never got any results. It was incredibly frustrating. I finally gave up and stopped going there, and I found another doctor at UCLA that was able to help me. Why was that so hard for them to get me a simple reference? Ugh.
A note about Dr. Grimes… while I think she definitely knows what she’s doing, she always seemed way too busy. Like she was running out the door to get to her next patient before I had a chance to ask her a question. I felt like I was inconveniencing her, which shouldn’t be how your doctor makes you feel.
Bottom line: Dr. Grimes may be one of the best, but look elsewhere unless you want a doctor that barely spends time with you and an office staff that doesn’t make an effort to help you.