Nip This Tuck That

As we all know, Beverly Hills (greater Los Angeles area) remains the plastic and cosmetic surgery capital of the world because of the entertainment industry. celebrities look fantastic and one of the reasons for that is their acceptance of Facelifts, Rhinoplasty, facial fillers (Radiesse, Perlane, Juverderm and Restylane) as ways to keep them looking their very best.

Whether you’re here in California, across the US or from one of the many other copuntries from which our international clientele hail, you’ll find the level of sophistication, exeprience and aesthetic vision here that’s required to enhance your natural beauty.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

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Quick, when you think of a beautiful starlet that has undergone a facelift surgery procedure…you often think of Beverly Hills which in the greater Los Angeles area because of it’s proximity to and high number of celebrity clientele.

Celebrities have for many years undergone some form of facelift procedure as a way to look attractive to their adoring fans. We, as a society love our “beautiful stars” and require them to look “star-like” with an almost Peter Pan like youthfulness that seems to defy gravity, time and logic. Often that look comes from a brilliantly performed facelift surgery.

What is a brilliantly performed facelift surgery? Simple, one that creates a natural, beautiful face regardless of whether it’s for a woman or a man. The inspired facelift procedure will allow the face to appear beautiful (in a woman) or ruggedly handsome (in a man) in a natural manner without the obvious signs of poor surgical results like the “wind-swept” or “joker” look that seems all to prevalent in today’s tabloids and expose’ pieces on bad plastic surgery.

So, how do you get an inspired facelift procedure?

1. Everything begins with the realization that the face has an aesthetic shape when it appears beautiful in women and ruggedly handsome in men. Further these are not the same or inter-changeable which means that the facelift must have very different goals for a woman than a man’s face.

2. Shape always trumps symmetry. That means that when performng a facelift, the plastic and cosmetic surgeon must be sure to create a more youthful, naturally appearing shape to the face as a result of the facelift procedure. If this is overlooked, as seems so commonplace today, the result is a pulled, unattractive appearance. Another way to say this is: it doesn’t matter how tight the facelift procedure pulls the skin, but rather what shape is left behind that determines how good the face looks.

3. This will mean that whether you are 32, 45 or 68….your face must have the proper , youthful shape established in order for your face to appear youthful and naturally attractive. The facelift which is designed to lift and tighten loose muscle and skin alone can’t create the desired shape. There is another dimension that must be added to the facelift in order to acheive this all important goal.

4. The main area that needs to be focused upon, in addition to the tightening and removal of excess skin during the facelift, is the creation of the proper..more youthful cheek, jawline, chin and neck. The lips may also be enhanced and the nose refined
(Rhinoplasty or nasal surgery) all to add the finishing aesthetic touches to the face.

5. Shaping the cheeks may mean removing excess fat from the nasolabial folds and or creation of a more shapely cheek by using soft tissue fillers like Perlane or Radiesse or by using a
cheek implant.

6. The jawline is best shaped by using a soft tissue filler like Perlane or Radiesse. Jaw implants do exist but are somewhat problematic, in my opinion to the point that I prefer using the fillers for this effect.

7. Chin implants or fillers both work well at shaping and augmenting the chin area.

8. The lips can be augmented using Alloderm or any number of fillers that are applied to the borders of the lip. Alloderm is placed just beneath the red portion of the lip above the lip muscle through small incisions at the corners of the mouth.

So if you are looking for a softer, morre youtful face as a woman or a ruggedly handsome face as a man….be sure to
select a plastic and cosmetic surgeon who embraces the above aesthetic philosophy when it comes to shaping the face. Remember it all about facial shape and much less about how much skin is removed and how tight the face is pulled.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

The Cheeks can be augmented and their shape improved aesthetically by using Cheek Implants ( I prefer soft silastic ones…no screws or fixation sutures) or with various materials that are injected into the skin over the cheek area.  Of the latter, I prefeer Radiesse because I have found it to highly predictable and effective in allowing me to shape the cheeks.  I also use Radiesse to shape the chin and jawline. 

A few days ago a patient came from Dubai and mentioned that I was referred in Dubai as “the guy who does radiesse to shape the face”.  I found this flattering that I would be so regarded in a city that I have never visited.  I felt compelled to mention that I like Radiesse because it works in my hands and accomplishes what I want to d aesthetically on the face…and that’s to make a male face more angular and ruggedly handsome while making a female face soft, feminine and youthful in appearance.  I have no financial stock in the company that makes or markets radiesse…although they should at the very least thank mean for all the free advertising I do for their product…including an appearance on ABC’s “The View” where I had a Radiesse patient as well as my new “Celebrity Face Lift”….but that’s another story.  Rdaiesse works and in my opinion works quite well but so does perlane and Botox and restylane and i endorse all of those products as well.

In my almost 20 years of performing plastic and cosmetic surgery here in beverly Hills and London, I have always strived to get the very best and most out of every plastic surgeical procedure: Face Lift, Breast Augmentation, Rhinoplasty, Blepharoplasty, Tummy Tuck, Lip Augmentation…whatever instead of accepting whatever limitations those procedures had to offer.  The same can be said about the soft tissue fillers like radiesse, perlane and Even Botox.  I embrace the ones that I believe work and I don’t use or endorse the ones I think don’t work or have unwanted complications….silicone, artecol just to mention two.  This is my opinion and other plastic and cosmetic surgeons may have another opinion.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

Rhinoplasty in Beverly Hills (greater Los Angeles area):

Let’s conntinue with our discussion of Rhinoplasty with a look at some of the basic do’s and don’ts when it comes to seeking and having nasal surgery to refine the look of your nose, which is the definition of a Rhinoplasty.

Let’s start out with the Do’s:
1. Do your research and find a Rhinoplasty surgeon that has experience.
2. Make sure that you are armed with some basic knowledge of Rhinoplasty Surgery and the aesthetics of the nose….what does a beautiful, refined nose look like for a man, woman. Understand how your nose deviates form the ideal aesthetic size and shape and what general areas might be improved. It wouldn’t hurt to know a little bit about the differences in Rhinoplasty techniques, like a closed versus open, ear cartilage versus septal/bone/irradiated cartilage grafts. That way, when something is suggested to you, by a plastic and cosmetic surgeon, you will have an idea of whether, or not what is suggested is likely to make your nose more attractive.
3. Understand what the going costs are for a well-trained, experienced Rhinoplasty surgeon to do your surgery. You may also do a little research into what makes 1 Rhinoplasty more expensive than the next….that way you have some idea of what you’re looking at. This becomes more important in the next section of the Don’ts.
4. Have a realistic goal as to what the Rhinoplasty can accomplish.
5. Realize that if you see 5 different plastic and cosmetic surgeons about your Rhinoplasty, chances are that you will hear 5 different ideas about what to do to your nose and how to do it. Plastic Surgery is art and not cookbook and as such there are different ideas, values, aesthetics of beauty, techniques and skill levels of the various surgeons. No 2 surgeons will perform your Rhinoplasty in the same manner.
6. Use my easy to follow 4 – step guide on “How to Choose Your Plastic Surgeon“…don’t skip steps.
7. Be sure to see real before and after photos of Rhinoplasty patients and do not use imaging techniques that really have nothing to do with the skill and ability of that particular suregon to make those changes to your nose.
8. Do follow your gut instincts. If you’re uneasy, leave and see another plastic and cosmetci surgeon. If you get a complicated explannation of what needs to be done to your nose and the surgeon can’t explain it in simple terms…leave and see another surgeon.

Now for the Don’ts:

1. Don’t act like you are interviewing the surgeon and asking him/her to prove to you that they are capable of doing your surgery as this will be a clear turn-off to any well established surgeon who may take your tone as an indication that you are not emotionally ready for plastic surgery. If you follow my 4-step guide you can learn what you need and still be cordial. Overly aggressive patients are typically not accepted by the top plastic and cosmetic surgeons.
2. Do not use price as the final determination of how you choose your Rhinoplasty Surgeon….remember that you get what you pay for. You are unlikely to get a top rhinoplasty surgeon at a cut rate price.
3. It’s ok to bring pictures to your consultation but don’t ask to have some celebrities nose. This may make the surgeon feel that you are doing the surgery for the wrong reasons.
4. Don’t become creative after the surgery but follow your instructions to the letter. If you have questions about the post Rhinoplasty care, write them down so you can refer to the answers later if you forget.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book

Rhinoplasty (Nasal Surgery) is one of the most difficult plastic and cosmetic surgery procedure to master and takes literally hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of cases to become proficient in the techniques.

As we continue our overview of Rhinoplasty, I believe it’s wise to keep an eye on the aesthetic goals with which your Rhinoplasty is being planned. In other words:

1. Does the nasal tip need to be thinned, raised, lowered, enlarged or made more symmetric. Does cartilage need to be added to the tip for additional support or symmetry.

2. Are the nasal bones wide, to high (nasal hump) or to low (scooped…ski slope), straight, crooked or asymmetric. Do the nasal bones need to be broken or can they be rasped.

3. Is the mid section of the nose wide, narrow or asymmetric.

4. Can the aesthetic goals of the Rhinoplasty be accomplished with a closed Rhinoplasty or does the nasal tip work require a more direct approach that is accomplished with an open Rhinoplasty.

Once and only after all these questions are answered can the aesthetic plan be mapped out for your Rhinoplasty…which after all is the whole purpose for the Rhinoplasty.

Dr Francis Palmer
Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
What’s Your Number…the palmer code book