red carpet dermatology article
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:21 am

Hi all,

I like to post these journalistic accounts of the kinds of things we discuss here on this forum... enjoy!

What was most interesting to me in light of recent posts about hesitations re: actives and acids--many celebrities apparently do almost nothing to their skin (i.e. they use nice creams, sunscreeens, cleansers, oils maybe) but they leave all the exfoliation and brightening/plumping to their dermatologists. That means that their faces are potentially less tortured than ours... also it is so interesting to witness how the beauty industry is evolving to embrace the medi-spa treatment.... Even the doc who takes care of my dad's diabetes in LA is offering botox in his office now. Needless to say, serious, non-botox-offering docs in LA are becoming harder and harder to find!

--avalange

*********************************
February 18, 2007
And Thanks to My Agent, My Skin Doctor ...
By NATASHA SINGER

THE weeks between the Golden Globe awards and the Oscars constitute a kind of Hollywood advent calendar for the doctors responsible for the care and feeding of celebrity skin.

For Dr. Ava T. Shamban, a dermatologist in Santa Monica, Calif., the countdown started five weeks ago when several dozen actors and agents, along with a few spouses and siblings, began coming in for laser procedures and facial injections, she said. And, in the days remaining before the Oscars next Sunday, two nominated actresses and one presenter are due in her office for last-minute facials or lip-plumping injections, Dr. Shamban said.

“Whoever is going to walk down that red carpet, actor, spouse, mother, sister, they all want to look like the burnished statuettes on the podium,” said Dr. Shamban, who herself became a minor celebrity after appearances on “Extreme Makeover,” “Extra,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Good Morning America” and the “Tyra Banks Show.” “They all want to look nice, smooth, glowing, untouched by woe and by time.”

This increased attention to the smallest details of the skin might be called red-carpet dermatology, a specialty spawned in response to the relentless scrutiny of celebrities by paparazzi, gossip magazines, entertainment shows, high-definition television, camera phones and Internet sites including awfulplasticsurgery, TMZ and YouTube.

Red-carpet dermatology involves scalpel-free procedures that create more temporary and potentially less detectable changes than a facelift, including Botox injections to paralyze the muscles underlying wrinkles, filler injections to pad lips and facial creases, or lasers for brown spots and broken blood vessels. These make possible the treatment of minutiae, like tiny crevices above or in the lips, about which actresses may fret more than civilians.

And red-carpet dermatology permits entertainers with augmented faces to utter stock lines like, “I only had Botox” — a little white lie that allows them to obfuscate a veritable arsenal of beauty interventions.

“Celebrities can’t afford to look like they have had something drastic done,” said Dr. Jessica P. Wu, a dermatologist in Los Angeles.

Dr. Wu said she has been working seven days a week for the last month ministering to actresses, agents and producers in her office and on movie sets, as well as making house calls. “But,” she said, “they are coming in for smaller procedures because they know that every inch of skin they show on the red carpet from head to toe is going to be picked over.”

Indeed, the increasing popularity among celebrities of less invasive procedures has turned the idea of cosmetic treatments into a kind of guessing game played with equal gusto by red-carpet commentators and couch potatoes at home. When Isaac Mizrahi reaches out, as he did last year at the Golden Globes, to squeeze the bosom of Scarlett Johansson — a wordless gesture that instantly translated as “Are those real?”— or Joan Rivers asks Sheryl Crow about the provenance of her teeth, the message conveyed is that the celebrity body has become a public document available for close reading and open to group interpretation.

“When all the smaller procedures became available, more people started to do them,” said Dr. Gary P. Lask, a clinical professor of dermatology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Then everybody became suspect because we knew there were more things available for them to do.”

Dr. Lask, who led a course for doctors titled “Cosmetic Dermatology: The Hollywood Perspective” at the annual meeting earlier this month of the American Academy of Dermatology, added: “Celebrities are so attractive to begin with that they may have had nothing done, or it may be all lighting and camera angles, or just a new hairdo, or new makeup, or weight loss or weight gain, but it is fun to speculate.”

None of the doctors interviewed for this article would name their celebrity clients because such a disclosure could constitute a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality. But they were willing to discuss in general terms the cosmetic treatments that are particularly popular in their practices during awards season.

Dr. Wu said an actor’s grooming process might begin a month before an awards ceremony with Botox injections to the hands and armpits, treatments designed to reduce sweating.

“Botox for excess perspiration is a must-have for the red carpet, for actresses so they don’t stain their dresses and for actors who don’t want clammy handshakes,” Dr. Wu said.

She recommends that some celebrities undergo what she calls a “Botox neck lift” about two weeks before an awards show. This involves injecting the jaw line and neck to relax muscles underneath the skin, she said.

“It temporarily gives you a sharper jaw line and a longer neck, which looks good if you are wearing a strapless gown or a low-cut dress,” Dr. Wu explained. “And it’s not likely to land the actress on the cover of In Touch with a headline like: ‘Did She Have Surgery?’ ”

These kinds of scalpel-free procedures are also popular among the entourages of producers, writers and stylists, she said.

“When they accompany celebrities to an event, they have to look good, too, because they might be shown on camera, they might be in the frame,” Dr. Wu said.

Up to one week before an event, Dr. Shamban said, she administers injections of temporary fillers like Restylane, a gel made out of hyaluronic acid, to pad lips and invert crow’s-feet. This week, she said, she will also give “superamped facials” to a few awards-goers; the facials involve an acid peel or microdermabrasion to exfoliate the top layer of skin cells, followed by an application of a moisturizing serum.

“If skin is hydrated, it plumps up more and looks glowing,” Dr. Shamban said. “It should last through a whole night of partying.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Botox Cosmetic to treat vertical frown lines between the eyebrows and Botox as a drug for underarm sweating, and Restylane to fill facial creases and folds. It is legal for doctors to administer Botox for neck wrinkles and Restylane for lip plumping, but these are considered unapproved, off-label uses of these substances.

Dr. Lask cautioned that every patient —actor, bride-to-be or mother-in-law — who has a special event on the horizon should plan at least a month ahead to give any bruising, swelling or skin irritation that might occur after a cosmetic procedure the chance to subside.

But just because some Oscar attendees have opted for the syringe instead of the scalpel doesn’t necessarily mean the interventions go undetected. Telltale signs include raised Vulcan eyebrows (ladies, you know who you are), fleshy platypus snouts (ditto), paralyzed expressionless gazes (gentlemen of celluloid, this means a few of you) and overstuffed moon pie faces (come one, come all).

As Jay Leno put it in a recent monologue: “For the first half hour, I didn’t even realize I was watching the Golden Globes. I thought it was Extreme Makeover.”

Dermatologists, too, are watching the red-carpet parade with a critical eye on the work of colleagues.

“Too much filler can eliminate the natural contours of your face,” Dr. Wu said. “You don’t want to look like you just had dental work or an allergic reaction.”

Dr. Shamban added that television viewers have visceral reactions when they see actors on the red carpet who look as if they belong in Madame Tussaud’s.

“You just watch and think: something bad happened here and the results are not good,” she said.

But if awards-show commentators and viewers are more attuned to and more critical of celebrity cosmetic transformations, it may also be chalked up to schadenfreude.

“Celebrities are so beautiful that people kind of enjoy it when they start to age,” Dr. Lask said. “They become human. It brings them back to being like the rest of us.”

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:28 am

*shakes head* Botox to stop sweating? Can't they just use a deodorant?

Thanks for sharing this avalange. Pretty fun read before bedtime.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:48 am

So the moral of the story here is whenever a celebrity comes out and states that he/she uses a certain skin care product or line (this has been a hot topic on threads here) we are not to believe them, at least not in full. They MIGHT be using a product or two but in reality that is not what is giving them a sleaker forehead, jawline, neck, undereye area, fuller lips and so on...no matter how much they would like the public to believe that. Rolling Eyes

Thanks for posting the article Avalange, I actually feel better now. Very Happy

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:30 am

Thanks for posting Avalange. I always assumed celebrities had work done and I don't believe in celebrity endorsed skincare.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:41 am

Wild Cat wrote:

Thanks for posting Avalange. I always assumed celebrities had work done and I don't believe in celebrity endorsed skincare.

I also have the same opinion. Wink

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 12:23 pm

I don't see why someone having botox injections would undermine your view of the value or effectiveness of a product they use. I don't place much stock in celebrity endorsements as I believe they're paid handsomely just as athletes are for lending their name to footware.

I've had botox injections to deal with the \/ between my eyebrows. But, that has nothing to do with the effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) of the products I use on my skin!

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:01 pm

katee wrote:

I don't see why someone having botox injections would undermine your view of the value or effectiveness of a product they use. I don't place much stock in celebrity endorsements as I believe they're paid handsomely just as athletes are for lending their name to footware.

I've had botox injections to deal with the \/ between my eyebrows. But, that has nothing to do with the effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) of the products I use on my skin!

True, to rephrase myself, I don't think celebrities look the way they are from using only the products they endorse. Wink

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:25 pm

I daresay any of us could look gorgeous for one night with the artists and stylists that are available to them. Well, bone structure has something to do with it, too. But I'm happy to report to you all that the inhumanly stunning Liv Tyler comes into my Trader Joe's regularly and I watched her from a discreet distance yesterday. She is no one you would look at twice. Tall, with straight mousy brown hair. Plump but very pale lips. And hands like a man. She does not smile.

The whole celebrity thing is our modern day version of fairy tales. Entertaining, but nothin to aspire to.

They have fairy godmothers.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:41 pm

Sidda wrote:

I daresay any of us could look gorgeous for one night with the artists and stylists that are available to them. Well, bone structure has something to do with it, too. But I'm happy to report to you all that the inhumanly stunning Liv Tyler comes into my Trader Joe's regularly and I watched her from a discreet distance yesterday. She is no one you would look at twice. Tall, with straight mousy brown hair. Plump but very pale lips. And hands like a man. She does not smile.

The whole celebrity thing is our modern day version of fairy tales. Entertaining, but nothin to aspire to.

They have fairy godmothers.

Agree with you Sidda,
Celebrities usually have a "Glam squad" following them around to make them pretty 247.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:47 pm

Very interesting Avalange. Thanks for sharing.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:12 pm

Wow! And I'm super lazy about basic skin care. It's amazing what they go through and how much $$$$ they spend and how much energy to upkeep the tiniest details of somewhat of an illusion. It's just weird. It's become so superficial, and partly to blame on the critical microscope and judgments to pick apart their flaws. They are still human and like everyone else, yet they have to go through such constant pressure to create the illusion that they are above all of that. While everyone keeps trying to pull them back down and apart. Strange thing. It's getting more and more fake. I would never want to be in the public spotlight like that. I'm self conscious enough as it is just around people or in snapshots of myself. Imagine the kind of self-image and body-image complex this can cause some of them who are not as flawless as some of their celeb piers. When I find some candid shots of celebs or even carpet photos of them now with digital cameras the resolution is SO high and the photos can be so huge and close up. A lot of them who from standard size photos you think have fab skin, don't at all when you see the real close ups. Like Nicole Kidman, Cindy Crawford etc. I've seen close ups of them and they didn't look very good, esp. Cindy. Then some other ones I see the closeups and I can't believe how amazing their skin looks that close up, like flawless. I don't know what I'm saying, you just never know who really has the best skin or why. From genetics, diet, some products, some procedures, good makeup or what.

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:25 pm

you are most welcome, everybody!

I'm from LA and I still cannot understand why he aesthetic of beauty is the way it is.

I cannot understand what is beautiful about a woman who looks like she is wasting away.
I just don't get why orangey tan skin is forever rampant on the red carpet, and why everyone always has to overdo their hair.
I love seeing personality and inner beauty shining through. For instance, I think Beyonce is just drop dead gorgeous, and even though she looks so done up, she's got presence and inner light that shows. On the other hand, recent photos of Eva Longoria and Christina Aguilera are just frightful--too many fke eyelashes, matte painted looking skin, and too much hairspray!!!! and then there are those minor treatments they've been having for a month that we don't even know about, like this article reveals...

--avalange

free skin care · Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:18 pm

Recently I was watching some movies from the 80's (going down memory lane Laughing

) and then turned to my boyfriend and said that if those women looked like that in films today Hollywood would consider them overweight. To which he agreed. We both thought that the women looked healthy and normal but in today's TV shows and films if one can't see ribcages or a collarbone people think they need to lose weight. Actresses today look very skeletal.

Here is a Dove commerical that I just love. It hasn't played here in Sweden but a friend in the US sent me this link... the video starts playing after about 5 seconds.

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp?id=6909

Amazing isn't it?

free skin care · Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:42 am

I just wonder if they get a big tax write off for doing all those procedures and spa visits since they could say it's all part of their profession.

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