Social media sets ‘natural beauty’ trend

Contrary to popular belief that social media is the cause of the ‘over-filled lips and puffy faces’ that tend to dominate our Instagram feeds, Dr Ben Talei, a leading Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, argues that social media is in fact leading the trend towards “a more natural look”.

“Social media has forced plastic surgeons [and other aesthetic practitioners] to lift their standards and produce more natural results as consumers can now see and compare their work,” he says.

Renowned for his “very natural, long-lasting results”, Dr Ben Talei, was in Sydney last week to host workshops on Candela’s Profound RF treatment.

We asked him a few questions about ‘non-surgical trends’ in Beverly Hills – and Australia.

What are the biggest ‘non-surgical trends’ in Beverly Hills?

“In general everyone [practitioners and clients] is moving towards a more natural look. This is because we [plastic surgeons and other aesthetic practitioners] have been forced to improve our work as social media has exploded in the last three years and totally changed the market.

“Consumers can now for the first time judge our work and compare it to others – they can see what’s good and what’s not and that is lifting the standards substantially.

“There’s no more room for ‘I’m going to make you look fake and my reputation will let me get away with it’ so everyone is moving to more conservative, subtle and natural results (even if that’s not their personal aesthetic) as that’s what patients are demanding.

“They [patients] are moving away from excess fillers and over volumising as they have seen all the actresses with their overfilled gigantuous faces.

“They also want to avoid procedures and products that might scar their face like silicone, Bellafill and Artefill and are moving to more benign materials like hyaluronic acid and choosing RF and laser treatments for face tightening rather than surgery.”

Are there any differences between non-surgical cosmetic trends in Australia and the US?

“Australia is very similar to the US in its attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. Australia, like the US and Brazil, is very accepting of cosmetic surgery, and this is good for patients as the more accepting a country is of cosmetic surgery the faster the practitioners improve their techniques and offerings.

“Therefore the overall non-surgical cosmetic trends are similar for everyone in both countries – Botox, filler, RF and laser as well as at fat grafting, Kybella and thread lifts.

When/why did you begin using Profound?

“I wanted to offer a non-surgical alternative for patients who can’t afford the downtime of traditional surgery but couldn’t find anything that gave a substantial improvement.

“I saw a video on Profound and was impressed by the science so immediately contacted Candela. I spoke to a rep who told me that it had a ‘100 percent satisfaction rate’ but was not convinced. Nonetheless when it was finally launched onto the market four years ago I became the first client in LA as I believed in the science behind it.

“The first client I used it on was my cousin. It worked on him, and then on the next person I tried it on, and the next person I tried it on, and has since then delivered a ‘100 percent satisfaction rate’ on every one of my other clients who have had the treatment.

“Every single one says ‘OMG it looks better’. My other devices never came close.”

How is it different to other energy and laser technologies?

“It’s not magic. It doesn’t do what a facelift does. When you age you have drooping, skin quality changes and volume loss.

“Profound tightens the skin, improves its radiance and makes everyone look brighter.

“It is also safe to use and has a predictable down time and predictable results – there are no ‘horror stories’.

“I use it on young and old to tighten their skin.

“I also use it to slim over-filled faces and to correct bad facelifts as it reduces all irregularities and shadows so it make them look less fake and less weird.

“Everybody is always happy with their results.

“I have done four-year follow-ups with many of my patients and they look even better than when they had their treatment – so far I have not seen a single percentage drop off in results.

“I want to stress that I do not work for Candela or Profound but I use it simply because it is the best device that exists on the market today.

I still use other devices but the best for skin tightening on the face and neck is definitely

Do you think that devices like Profound will ever replace surgery for anti-ageing?

Never – unless we can create some sort of device that can move things around like surgery does rather than just shrink or tighten them.

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