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

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 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, which are capable of discerning every pore and all but the most undetectable dermatological interventions.

“People think the true beauties of the world don’t do anything,” says Danny Holbus, founder of the beloved LA medi-spa DMH Aesthetics. “The reality is, they just have a lot of subtle work. It’s only the bad work that we notice.” Indeed, New York derm Dr Robert Anolik reports one noted perfectionist visited his office  daily for two weeks, receiving microdroplets 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,” he says.

Which is not to say Hollywood has become any less adventurous in its pursuit of perfection. LA continues to be ground zero for experimentation, full of medispas  devising  off-label  ways  to  wield  lasers  and  injectables. So what exactly are A-listers getting done  now? We quizzed their go-to doctors.

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