Global Beauty Buzz

Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007 to PROFILES > Plastic Surgery

Posted by The Original Anti-Aging & Cosmetic Surgery Magazine

To compliment the current era of python, diamonds, and pashmina, beauty's new image is triple luxe, all out extravagance, and over-the-top opulence. Topping everyone's wish list of all things expensive, sexy and feminine are beauty shots, facial indulgences, smoothing body treatments, high tech skin creams, non-surgical lifts, and the obligatory nips and tucks. Wendy Lewis, New York and London-based beauty junkie, takes us on a whirlwind beauty tour.

New York Dolls

The domain of the high maintenance woman in black ISO quick fixes, NYC sets the pace for the bi-coastal moratorium on facial lines. Some of us are dangling close to Botox® overload, but any wrinkles that get away, they get stamped out via electrosurgical non-laser resurfacing, micro and macrodermabrasions and Ober mud. Bergdorf's beauty floor sold out of Botaenica Deep Sea Masks at $845 an ounce practically overnight. Rumor has it that 57th Street is being renamed 'Spa way', the posh place to get buffed and polished at The Avon Centre, Bliss, or the new Greenhouse. New Yorkers' new best friends are the couturier browmeisters that can pluck years from your look, one unruly follicle at a time. Fat rules, and the New York philosophy of lifting includes preserving what you've got and adding more as you need it. Other trendy wrinkle fillers are of a bio-engineered nature like cultures from your own skin and grafts made from other humans' tissue. Celebrity dentists like Marc Loewenberg, DDS, have added a new dimension to the concept of whiter than life teeth by laser that has us smiling even when we snag our Donna Karans. New Yorkers are also really into anyone who delivers including trainers, facialists, manicurists and makeup artists who make housecalls. What's next - Urbanfetch.com for your Dermatologist? Hmmm ...

Miami B-Scene

The South Beach lifestyle promotes an addiction to bronzed bodies without a hair, vein or dimple in sight, thong-worthy thighs and buttocks, and BIG chests for men and women alike. In a world where clubs are rated by how mini the skirts are, total body sculpting and breast implants are a mainstay coupled with cooling lunchtime lasers for removing fatal flaws like red spots, brown spots and stretchmarks. Another must have is a good tattoo artist for the ultimate in sweat-proof eyeliner and waterproof lips. Many locals tempt the fates when it comes to smart sunning, but high-tech digital microscopy to detect skin cancers early is proving to be a lifesaver for beach slaves. This tropical pastel paradise beckons with the latest in rejuvenating salt rubs at Agua and luscious skin treatments at the new Stella Spa with Derms on hand for beauty die-hards. Miami is also home to 'The Baron of Botox,' Dr Brandt.

Blame it on Rio

From the land that ranks second for having the most Plastic Surgeons (all of whom claim to be trained by pitanguy) and infamous for bikini waxes, Brazilians are leading the charge for perkier breasts without the scars. With 3,000 miles of sandy coastline, breast and body contouring techniques do not permit any sign that surgical alterations have been performed. Droopy breasts are made smaller, higher and younger through one incision around the areola complex. The Brazilians also work wonders with little bits of fat to elevate and round out flattened buttocks in danger of slipping further south. In a country where cosmetic surgery is a national pastime second only to samba, having liposuction is like getting your nails done. Although supermodel Gisele may fit the ideal of beauty the world over, in Brazil the body-of-choice is small breasted with a round bottom. Breast reductions are their most popular surgery fix. On the facial front, they start young and it has been said that all Brazilian women over 50 look the same. Cosmetic surgery levels the playing field considerably.

London At Last

Unlike New Yorkers who have no preset spending limit for getting gorgeous, beauty investments don't come as naturally to the Brits but there is a trend afoot to change that and fast. Urban chic nail boutiques like Pixi are popping up, the shop that imported niche brand cosmetics, SpaceNK introduced SpaNK,and Sephora finally arrived in Kent at the UK's biggest mall. Britain's exclusive designer recovery hide-away, 112 Harley Street, opened last year and a rejuvenating American style medical spa, Boston Clinics, opens this summer. There is growing interest in skincare that sizzles and tingles which represents a 360-degree turnaround from classic English aromatherapy and herbalists. Soft liposculpture (aka endermologie), sandblasting crystal peels and laser hair removal emporiums have recently surfaced in London. For wrinkles, there are some versions of Phenol peels being done by a few brave souls that require a mask-like dressing and considerable time away from Harrod's. Breast implants rank number one in the UK, and there are more implant choices like silicone gel available than across the pond. London women rarely kiss and tell about their affairs of the scalpel. Surgery is strictly hush hush.

Paris Beaute

The word in Paris is 'les levres grasses' and they're being pumped up with everything from silicone and fat to semi-synthetic injectables with particles like ArteColl®, Dermalive® and NewFill®, none of which are FDA-approved yet. A stroll down the Avenues of Paris will reveal a plethora of puffy Parisian lips that have been surgically enhanced by a drastic method of rolling the upper lip into a pouty shape through an incision along the vermilion border (lip line) that is also permanent. There is a ban on silicone breast implants in France that limits the selection to saline and hydrogel fillers. The French are also not particularly fond of the 'lunchtime' treatments popularized by overstressed New Yorkers. At the Ritz, Parisian women lavish in La Prairie's pampering facial massages that de-age from the scalp to the decollete and indulge in Anne Semonin's aroma-based treatments at Hotel le Bristol. The parfumeries of Paris recently welcomed their first Origins store and American cosmetic brands at Et vous, as well as The Bumble Bar for hair. The question du jour over cafe is still, 'Who did Catherine Deneuve's face?'

Save those frequent flyer miles and bon voyage.

0 Comments | Share | Save to Favorites

Report Abuse| Rate It: