THE NEW NEW FACE
Richard M. Foxx, MD
NEW YORK magazine enjoys an often well-deserved reputation as one of the major arbiters of “the look” so when they write a cover story on one of the latest trends in aesthetics you tend to give it more than a quick read. The lead article in their August 11, 2008 issue, called “About-Face,” deals with the judicious and careful use of fillers, lasers, and BOTOX® to create a face of “indeterminate age.”
Recreating the face of your youth by placing fillers in the hollows under the eyes, the so-called “tear troughs,” is clearly the solution to the gauntness left by the changing anatomy of the bony skeleton and the decrease in collagen and elastin that occurs with advancing years. Think Madonna or Kim Cattrall (although no one is really saying what they had done).
Calling the result “The New New Face” the article summarizes the philosophy of famed NYC dermatologist Pat Wexler, MD, and other noted NYC cosmetic derms in saying: “The New New Face is really your old face.” According to Doctor Wexler “…you need volume to keep a face looking young.” This is, in fact, what I have been doing here at The Medical and Skin Spa, lecturing about, and teaching other doctors for some time.
Madonna’s dermatologist, Frederick Brandt, MD, talks about the aging face as losing “youthful convexities.” And the convexities, he goes on to say: “are the fullness and the roundness. A facelift…doesn’t do anything for volume loss, and a lot of people still don’t understand this concept.”
An idea whose time has long-since come, tear trough filling, or mid-face plumping, is exactly what was described in the last issue of NEW BEAUTY.
This kind of what is euphemistically referred to as a “correction” was not really possible until the advent of really long-lasting fillers such as RADIESSE®. In the right hands, the improvements that can be effected with this long-lasting product (that will last far more than a year) are truly amazing. When I lecture on it or train doctors one-on-one, I often refer to “the WOW factor” because patients looking into a mirror for the first time after the treatment is performed are usually compelled to say some variation of that.
The article goes on to discuss what they call “the overinflated-lip craze.” Their conclusion is that it is finally over. Thank goodness. It was over for me even before it took off. My constant belief is that true beauty come from balancing all of the elements of the face: general health, supplements, good product use, and judicious use of the magic treatments at our disposal.
More on overinflated-lips in articles to come.
Doctor Foxx is the Founder and Medical Director of The Medical and Skin Spa in Indian Wells, CA, at Hyatt Grand Champions Resort. He may be reached at drfoxx@medicalandskinspa.com or at 760-674-4106