I had a patient who said she wasn’t going to do “anything to my face until I turn 50.”
Hmmm.
I get not wanting to do plastic surgery. For anyone who has met me, I am not a typical plastic surgeon. I barely wear makeup, I talk people out of things all the time, and I like natural. (As in the really looking natural, like you have never met/seen/known a plastic surgeon natural, not the housewives of orange county “natural.”)
But you can’t wait until you are 50. There are many things you can do which are
- gradual
- nonsurgical
- natural
to postpone looking older. I have had people tell me “well you don’t understand! you don’t need to do botox.” Ugga. I don’t “need” botox and don’t have those wrinkles around my eyes and forehead because I DO botox. Most women in the Palo Alto area do some form of care to reverse the signs of aging: lasers, chemical peels, products like vitamin C and Obagi, Botox and Dysport, and fillers fillers fillers.
Facial volume is the key to youth. When fillers are done well, you look effortless. As one of my patients told me recently: she had a tough work week, and her colleagues remarked how great she looked. What is her secret? She replied, “Dr. Lauren Greenberg and Juvederm!” She then sent me a note telling me she understands what I meant now by volume is the key.
So what can you do nonsurgically? My bag of tricks:
- Botox (or Dysport)
- Good skin care (think exfoliate, reverse with retin A, hydroquinone, vit C and Vit E, and protect with a good zinc sunscreen like Skinceutical or Obagi)
- Fillers. My favorite immediate fillers are Juvederm and Restylane- both of which now have lidocaine for less ouch. These will give immediate, when-you-leave-my-Palo-Alto-office-you-look-better effect. For a longer lasting, more elegant reversal, I like Sculptra. It stimulates your body to make type I collagen and lasts for 2 years. It is gradual in onset. I have patients out almost 2 years, and so far all of my patients are fans. As one told me, “It is great! Instead of waking up every morning looking one day older, you wake up looking younger.”
Women who have “good genes” and look good at 50 are DOING SOMETHING. It is just done well (as opposed to those creepy looking over plumped-lipped ladies who you know did something- they just didn’t do it well).