Aesthetics Unfiltered

One of the shiniest new shingles hanging in Beverly Hills belongs to board-certified head and neck surgeon Marc Levin, MD, who specializes in facial rejuvenation. On July 1st, Dr. Levin (pronounced luh-VEEN, like that other facelift surgeon) completed a year-long fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery with Andrew Frankel, MD, a deep-plane pioneer and rhinoplasty expert. Soon after, Dr. Levin announced the opening of his eponymous Beverly Hills practice.

For the past few months, I’ve been reporting on oral minoxidil, exploring the history of the blood pressure medication, how it works to grow hair, its minor and more serious side effects, plus, who’s taking it and what they have to show for it. In the story, I also give an update on a modified (and potentially more powerful) form of the pill, currently in clinical trials, which I first wrote about here.

I recently posted asking what readers wish they’d known before having facelift surgery—and I want to thank everyone who shared personal anecdotes. Your learnings (and, yes, regrets) spanned everything from qualities to look for (and look out for) in a surgeon to navigating the complexities of recovery to what to expect in the months following a facelift.

I’ve been tracking (and quietly cheering) the wave of transparency among plastic surgeons who’ve recently elected to have work done on their own faces. Perhaps the most famous example is London-based facial plastic surgeon Dominic Bray, who, last December, at age 50, had a deep plane extended facelift, deep neck lift, brow lift, upper and lower blepharoplasty, and more with Mike Nayak, MD.

Savvy readers, have you heard of the injectable Lipoderma (not to be confused with the medical condition lipedema)? I hadn’t either, until very recently. 📸: Courtesy of Carey Campbell, MD Touted as a nonsurgical alternative to traditional fat grafting, Lipoderma is an adipose tissue allograft—a sort of filler made from processed human donor fat.

In the field of facial plastic surgery, Dr. Mike Nayak is an influencer in the truest sense. When he speaks, his peers tend to listen. Last week, he posted about peptides—more specifically, their role in facelift recovery. As I noted back in March, some surgeons are recommending peptides to fast-track healing after tummy tucks and facial rejuvenation surgery.

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash If you’re curious about the nuances of facelifting—the distinctions between techniques, who’s doing what, and why—you’ll want to check out this new article, “Evaluating Facelift Outcomes and Technique Trends in the United States,” in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

In recent years, the upper blepharoplasty has emerged as a quick fix for tired eyes at any age. And in the grand scheme, I suppose it is a relatively low-risk, high-reward operation for those whose eyelids are naturally hooded or have grown heavy over time. Among its selling points, the procedure can be done awake, with numbing injections, in about an hour. As surgical recoveries go, this one is fairly easy. And the scars, best case, are barely perceptible.

Stacey Bendet, Jenna Lyons, Jennifer Fisher, Jenny Mollen—New York City’s coolest Gen X-ers are all seeing the same man… for their skin. The frequency of their visits (as evidenced on Instagram) makes me wonder if the doc’s schedule even allows for non-moguls. I did, however, find proof of him accommodating non-X-ers. Her name is Martha Stewart. The man in question is Dr. Dan Belkin, a board-certified, fellowship-trained dermatologist.

The submandibular gland debate Linda Evangelista, 1991, by Rohn Meijer The conversation around submandibular gland reduction (as part of a deep structural neck lift) has ramped up in recent years, moving from aesthetic-conference stages to social-media soapboxes.