Michele Garber
Hello, Dr. Kotler patients and fans. Did you know that cosmetic plastic surgery favorites change with the times? I’m Michele Garber, a Nip-Tuck Coach, editor of Beauty News Talk and today’s guest blogger.
Cosmetic surgery is no longer for the rich and famous. Today, Plastic Surgery transcends age, gender and income barriers. According The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), there were nearly 1.6 million plastic surgery procedures performed in 2011, along with 12.2 million minimally invasive procedures. So, is that to say we as a society are obsessed with beauty, perfection and the “fountain of youth”?
Actually, it’s a personal choice. Almost everyone I know has had some type of cosmetic enhancements like tummy tucks, breast implants and others including:
- Face lifts
- Rhinoplasty
- Dermal fillers
- Botox
It’s far more acceptable today to go under the knife than it was even 10 years ago, although many of my friends still prefer to deny the truth behind their “refreshed” looks.
Just like fashion changes in cycles, so does cosmetic surgery. The trend 10-12 years ago in breast augmentation was the bigger the breast implant, the better. As a beauty publicist, I worked with many East Coast plastic surgeons. Most often, the women who worked in these offices were walking advertisements for the practices. A good percentage of them had breast implants that were so big, they often looked cartoonish, unnatural and disproportionate to their physical statue.
The trend today is smaller, more natural-looking breasts. Many women are opting to have smaller implants and those with large implants are switching them out for smaller sizes. I suspect that — just like the length of dresses going up and down — so will breast sizes.
Face lift trends have also shifted from the overly pulled, tight look of the 70’s and 80’s to a more natural appearance. Today’s face lift techniques combine fillers or fat transfers to achieve a more realistic look. Some face lifts seem so natural that only “your hair stylist” knows for sure.
Rhinoplasty is another cosmetic procedure, commonly known as a “nose job”, which has evolved over the years. Growing up on the East Coast of Jewish heritage, a nose job was the rite of passage for most 13-year-old girls in the 70’s. You had a Bat Mitzvah and rhinoplasty. It was the top fashion trend. But certain surgeons were known for their signature cute “couture” noses. You knew the surgeon’s name by the shape of the nose.
In those days, insurance companies often paid for rhinoplasty, because it usually involved correcting a deviated septum. Once you received the diagnosis from two ENT specialists, your rhinoplasty was medically covered.
As other cosmetic surgery trends have shifted, so has the nose job. Noses today are more natural, enhancing a person’s face and profile. Many patients prefer their ethnic noses and only want a slight change. There is no longer one type of nose to fit one type of look.
Rhinoplasty also seems to be one of the more traditionally acceptable cosmetic surgery procedures today, many of my sources and clients say.
Wondering what the next trends in cosmetic surgery will be? While the current trend is toward non-surgical procedures, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see about the rest!
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About Michele GarberMichele Farber: she’s been in the medical aesthetics industry since 1997 and was the founder of dMK Communications, a Lifestyle Communications firm. Michele has worked behind the scenes with both skincare manufacturers and with surgeons. Currently, she is the founder of The NipTuck Coach, an independent cosmetic procedure consultancy and, editor-in-chief of Beauty News Talk, a beauty blog. Coming soon is a new cosmetic surgery blog called Talk Plastic Surgery. Michele is already a frequent guest blogger and speaker on blog talk radio.
She can be reached at www.niptuckcoach.com
