Are you thinking about getting cosmetic work done, but don’t know where to turn? There are so many procedures and products to choose from, not to mention doctors. Surgical or non-surgical? Invasive, non-invasive or minimally invasive? And who’s the best provider for you? The dizzying amount of information can be very confusing indeed.
There are beauty consultants to be sure, but Olivia Falcon does one better — putting you directly in front of multiple cosmetic industry leaders, all in one place, so you can ask them your burning beauty questions. The former Health and Beauty Director of Tatler magazine has recently held an exclusive event in London — The Editor’s List Live 2023 — whereby approximately 200 attendees had their pick of 10 top plastic surgeons, cosmetic doctors and health and wellness experts for short but pithy consultations — a sort of speed dating with aesthetic pros.
“The idea is that you can come in here and shop all your beauty concerns head to toe,” says the award-winning journalist and founder of The Editor’s List, the UK’s leading service for expert advice on cosmetic procedures and practitioners. The cost was £58 ($72) — a very good value considering that “these Harley Street doctors charge £250 for a half-hour consult,” as the beauty industry veteran points out.
And that’s not all. Nutritious food and beverages were served and attendees were sent home with a valuable goodie bag. Keep a sharp lookout, for earlier this year Olivia held a similar gathering in Miami on Fisher Island and may soon bring more Live events stateside.
In the meantime, there were several participants that stood out to this American visitor — experts in the fields of liposuction, hair restoration, injectable fillers and collagen supplements. The first installment of this multi-part series is below.
Liposuction
Meet Miami-based surgeon, Dr. Aaron Rollins, whose minimally invasive AirSculpt promises optimal body contouring results with minimum downtime. The patented spinning technology enables surgeons to physically pluck fat cell by cell with a special canula. The fat is not being scraped out. There are no scalpels, surgical incisions or stitches. “Everything is done through a 2mm hole, which is the size of a freckle,” explains the doctor who was in London recently to open his newest Elite Body Sculpture clinic, adding to the 24 already in existence across the United States and Canada.
It stands to reason then that the downtime is minimal too with patients able to go back to work and resume normal activities within 24-48 hours. Full results can be seen after 3 months “and that’s very, very different from traditional liposuction,” according to the surgeon.
“I don’t care what kind of liposuction it is — and there are about 30 different kinds — because at the end of the day, liposuction is scraping flesh out with a cheese grater on a stick. It’s really what it is — a scraping motion — and it does get fat out and that’s great, but it’s painful. [With traditional liposuction] most people require general or twilight anesthesia which really changes the game.”
Not so with AirSculpt which utilizes only local anesthesia. “Most patients make a playlist and have fun during the procedure,” elaborates the doctor. We give you nice snacks to keep you hydrated.” One of the benefits of local anesthesia is increased patient maneuverability, ensuring balanced results. “When someone’s asleep,” explains Dr. Rollins, “you really don’t get all the angles you want so you can’t be as thorough as you want.”
Being awake during the procedure is also important because “you have a canary in the coal mine.” That is, the patient can alert the doctor if he or she is feeling any pain. This results in less bruising and thus, less downtime. With traditional liposuction, “you end up scraping some muscle which causes bleeding, which causes bruising,” imparts the surgeon.
Another benefit of AirSculpt according to Dr. Rollins, is the skin tightening effect. The very rapid motion of the robotic drill mechanism creates friction under the skin. This creates heat which helps the skin contract. “And that skin contraction, in my opinion,” says Dr. Rollins, “is second to none.”
In addition, for those with very loose skin, extra tightening can be achieved with a new technology called Renuvion, a minimally invasive treatment that combines helium gas and radiofrequency to correct sagging skin.
Fat transfer is another procedure offered at Elite Body Sculpture. The removed, unwanted fat is transferred to the buttocks, hips or hands with ostensibly optimal results. That’s because “each fat cell is kind of like a water balloon and we take out the water balloon without popping it,” explains Dr. Rollins.
“When you do liposuction, you’re exerting a sheer shredding force on the fat and it makes the balloon pop. You don’t want dead fat transfer because your body is just going to absorb it. And it could even get infected. You want live fat transfer because that lasts. We get extremely high fat retention rates.”
“Liposuction as we know it has been done since the late ’70s or ’80s. It hasn’t changed,” says Dr. Rollins. But with AirSculpt, “we’re basically painting people’s portrait and instead of using a broom, we’re using a fine paint brush.”
The participants of the Editor’s List Live 2023
Teresa Tarmey Clinic – Teresa Tarmey
The Harris Clinic – Dr. Steven Harris
Profhilo/Ha Derma – Dr. David Jack, Dr. Suha Kersh
Emerald Laser – Vanessa Brown, Dr. Nima Mahmoodi
Elite Body Sculpture – Dr Aaron Rollins
Hormone Hub – PCCA – Dr Martin Galy
Sofwave – Dr Rita Rakus, Dr Sophie Shotter, Dr Galyna Selezneva
Ingenious Beauty – Pupinder Ghatora
Calecim – Dr Munir Somji
Face Restoration – Professor Jonathan Roos, Dr Rachna Murthy
The Pure Package – Penny Paschali
