By Appointment Only

“Tested on celebs, not animals” rings especially true for the latest in extreme dermatology. Ning Chao reports on the innovative, VIP treatments available around the globe

- Ning Chao

Blame silent screen-era director DW Griffith for the cult of perfection in Hollywood (and the rest of the world): his pioneering close-ups arguably led to generations of actors (supposedly everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo to Burt Lancaster and John Wayne) becoming plastic surgery guinea pigs, ready to try everything from cheek-plumping paraffin shots (precursors to today’s fillers) to painful hairline electrolysis. To help the most crinkled faces, early cinematographers started “Vaselensing”, coating the camera lens with Vaseline—a practice that seems both quaint and kind in this era of HD cameras capable of discerning every pore and all but the most undetectable dermatological interventions.

“People think that the true beauties of the world don’t do anything,” says Danny Holbus, founder of the beloved Los Angeles (LA) medi spa DMH Aesthetics. “The reality is that they just have a lot of subtle work—a little bit of everything. It’s only the bad work that we notice.” Indeed, New York City derm Robert Anolik, MD, reports that one noted perfectionist visited his office daily for two weeks, receiving micro droplets of lip filler until her mouth achieved its ideal shape. “My celebrity patients want very slow and steady improvement, rather than a dramatic change in one visit,” Anolik says.

Which is not to say Hollywood has become any less adventurous in its pursuit of perfection. In an industry in which billion-dollar franchises can succeed or fail on the power of an MVP’s star wattage (and beauty), the anti-ageing industrial complex finds no shortage of test subjects. LA continues to be ground zero for experimentation, full of medi spas devising new off-label ways to wield FDA-approved lasers and injectables. So exactly what are the A-listers getting done now? We quizzed their go-to doctors.

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