Actresses who've already hit 40 but don't want to look it have been
turning to Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, a plastic surgeon at the Beverly
Hills Body practice. He uses the Volumetric Face Lift, which makes the
face look young again by treating it like a deflated balloon. After
taking fat via a needle from a patient's abdomen, he inserts it under
the eyes, in the cheeks or between the nose and mouth to sculpt full
features. Ellenbogen sometimes also tightens the skin via small incisions
around the ears. The procedure's starting price is $15,000. Ellenbogen
recommends that people who are photographed for a living schedule the
procedure four to six weeks in advance of an event.
While some stars will plan major nips and tucks such as liposuction
months in advance, most go for easy touch-ups like injections of fillers,
which can give the skin a full, younger appearance, and which don't
cause a lot of tell-tale swelling or bruising. "In general, the non-invasive
or [minimally] invasive procedure market has expanded rapidly," says
Dr. Roxanne Guy, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
"It started with the Botox boom, and it's just built upon that."