OUT WITH THE GAUNT AND TIGHT,

IN WITH THE PLU.MP

AND JUICY. THERE'S A NEW FACE

IN TOWN-AND IT'S A BABY'S.

ABOUT-FACE

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HOWWEMADE T H IS

WOMAN

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Demi Moor e'sangular ja wlin e.

Angelina Joliessuper-straight nose

an d lush lips.

Madonna'splumped-up cheeks

an d wide eyes.

Michelle Pfeiffer'sunfurrowed

brow.

A WOMAN I HAVE KNOWN for many years did something to her face not all that longago, and for a few weeks afterward, I was not able to put my finger on it. Did she get hereyes done? Restylane injections? Botox? Then I thought, Oh dear God, shegot aface-lift.No one whom I consider a friend and a contemporary had yet gone that far. But there wasno denying she had done something major, and frankly I was worried. Had she ruinedher pretty face? As the curtain of hair slowly parted a little each week, I could see thather lips were bigger. Nowhere near overcooked-hot-dog-turning-inside-out bigger likeMeg Ryan's, and not even duck-bill bigger like Courteney Cox's-but big enough to makeme feel uncomfortable looking at her mouth when she talked. Don't look at her lips!

26 NE W YORK I AU G UST 11 , 2008 Photo-illustration by Nucleus Imaging

PAST A CERTAIN AGE, TO PARAPHRASE

CATHERINE DENEUVE, IT'S EITHER YOUR FANNY

OR YO UR FACE - UNLESS YO U

SPEND TWO HOURS A DAY IN THE GYM AND PAY

SOMEONE TO "VOLUMIZE" YOUR FACE.

Then one day, about a month later, I raninto her at a party and she looked stunning.The puffiness had settled, the fire underthe skin had gone out. Even her lips lookedlike they belonged on her face . They wereshaped just like her old lips, but ... juicier.Her whole face looked as if it had beenpushed out and plumped up-not unlikea slightly tired but still very stylish down­filled sofa that looks almost new ifyou keepthose cushions fluffed. I cannot say thatshe looked exactly like her old self-but soclose! A fantastic approximation! An un­canny resemblance! She looks like averyimpressive artist's rendering of her.

But there was also a faint likeness tosomeone else. She looked a little like ...Madonna? Strange, I know, since Madon­na and my friend have little in common, atleast physically. But when I sawthe Big Cic­cone on the cover ofVanity Fair a couple ofmonths later, I couldn' t help but notice thesimilarities: the Mo unt Rushmore cheek­bones, the angular jawline, the smoothedforehead, the plumped skin, the heartlikeshape of the face . Their faces didn't seempulled tight in that typical face -lift way;they seemed pushed out. Looking at Ma­donna, I kept thinking ofthe British expres ­sion for reconditioning a saddle: having it"restuffed ." Perhaps that's where she gotthe idea to have some work done.After thehunt, Madge dismounted her trusty steedand thought, My saddle needs restuffing.A nd, by George, so doesmuface!

Women h ave been availing themselvesof new faces since the dawn of plastic sur­gery, but suddenly it seemed that there wasa better new face to be had. There is a NewNew Face, very different from the old one,and both my frien d and Madonna now haveit . Once I starting th inking of it in theseterms-the face as the new handbag,say-Istarted seeing New New Faces everywhere:Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer, Liz Hurley,Naomi Campbell,Stephanie Seymour.Theyall have it! Even the Olsen twins seem tohave a starter version of the New New Face,with their big crazy doll eyes and plush lips.Just to be clear, I don't presume to know ex­actly what any ofthese women have doneto their faces, if anything at all. It's possibl e(th ough in some cases before-and-after pic­tures would seem to suggest otherwise) thatthis face is occurring entirely naturally­after all, these are women who are famous

for being beautiful. The point is that there isa noticeable aesthetic shift happening in theface, and that it's dovetailing with quantumleaps in plastic surgery and dermatology.

Through some unholy marriage of ex­treme fitness and calorie restriction (andmaybe a little lipo), women have figuredout how to tame their aging bodies for lon­ger than ever. You see them everywhere iriNew York City: forty- and fiftysomethingswho look better than a 25-year-old in afitted little dress or a tight pair ofj eans.But this level of fitness has created a newproblem to which the New New Face is thesolution-gauntness. Past a certain age, toparaphrase Cath erine Deneuve, it 's eitheryour fanny or your face. In other words, ifyour body is fierce (from yoga, Pilates, andthe treadmill), your face will have no fat onit either and it will be ... unfierce. It was onlya matter of time before a certain segmentof the fem ale population would figure outhow to have it both ways, even if it mean sworking out two hours a day an d then pay­ing someone to volumize their faces, asthey say in the dermatology business. As afriend of mine recently pointed out, thereis now a whole new class of women walk­ing around with wiry little bodies and ''big01' baby faces." And they look, well, if notexactly young, then attractive in a differentway. A yoga body plus the New New Facemay not be a fountain ofyouth, but it's afountain ofindeterminate age.

SYCHO LOGISTS

and anthropologists have long tried tonail down what makes us perceive oneface as beau tiful and another not. Thereare theories about the math of it, the"Golden Ratio"-how, ifyou take carefulm easurements of the lines and trianglesformed by a beautiful face , they will add

up to the same proportions firs t notedby the Greeks to be aesthetically pleas­ing. More recently, a scientist named Mi­chael Cunningham took it upon himselft o study the faces of 50 women, half ofwhom were finalists in an internationalbeauty pageant. In "Measuring the Phys­ical in Physical Attractiveness" (it alicsmine), he wrote that the width of an eye,ifit is to be part ofa beautiful face , shouldbe precisely three-tenths the width oftheface, and the chin ought to be just one­fifth the height ofthe face , while the totalarea ofthe nose had better be less than 5percent ofthe total area of the face or ...you is ugly!

In the end, the science of beauty seems topointto a few general parameters: We tendto like large eyes, high cheekbones, a smallnose, a large smile; and a small chin. Whatthe scientific literature doesn't mention isthat we like it all to be as young as poss ible.This was n't always the case. The GibsonGirl ideal of the early twentieth century,wri tes Daniel Delis Hill in Advertising tothe American Woman, had the featuresof a mature, fully formed woman: ''heavylidded eyes 'accented with thick lashes;fine, h igh eyebrows, pronounced cheek­bones and firm jawlines." In the fortiesand fifties , the most successful models ofthe day- Dovima, Lisa Fonssagrives, SuzyParker-were elegant, haughty, aristocrat­ic, especiallywhen photographed by IrvingPenn or Richard Avedon. The sixties andseventies brought a sea change that createda younger beauty ideal, but the aestheticwas more casual than adolescent.

But in the last ten years, perhaps withthe coming ofBritneySpears, the age of theideal has dropped precipitously. Now bothfashion and celebrity magazines are filledwith images of teenagers-whether they'reEastern European models or tanned Cali­fornia reality stars. Their faces are plumpan d dewy and flushed with youth. As thinas their bodies are, they still haven't enti re­ly shed the baby fat in their faces . This, it

. seems, is what women in their forties andfifties are now after: baby fat .

It 's impossible to pinpoint exactly whenor how a new aesthetic is born, but it seemsclear that once we became obsessed withthe baby face ofthe teenage girl, the worldof dermatology came up with more andbetter ways for us to achieve the plump­ness of youth . We've moved way beyondsimply injecting bovine collagen into ourlips. Today there's a dizzying nanotechno­logical world of hyaluronic acid and colla­gen fillers-Zyplast, Cosmoderm, Perlane,Juvederm, Evolence, Sculptra-each witha different ''bead'' size targeted to fill everywrinkle on the face (microscopic for thelines around the eyes, heavier gauge for a

28

FAYE DUNAWAYAge: 67

MEG RYANAge: 4 6

CHERAge: 62

MELANIE GRIFFITHAge: 50

{Figs. 2-S}

THE OLD NEW FACE

{Figs.6-9}

MICHELLE PFEIFFERAge: 50

ELIZABETH HURLEYAge: 43

NAOMI CAMPBELLAge: 38

lier, Rosenberg met with 50 people in thisroom,showing them pictures ofthemselvesas they are and as they could be. He is thebeneficiary of a whisper campaign amonga certain New York-Euro society-fashioncrowd for his subtle face-lifts and covetednosejobs. (He did three times as many nosejobs this year than last.) The fashion maga­zines have been writing about him. In fact,just a few daysafter I met him, I had dinnerwith a good friend who is the publisher ofone of those magazines. When I told her Iwas working on a piece about plastic sur­gery, she leaned in and whispered, ''Youmust talk to David Rosenberg:' Then myfriend, who will tum 60 next spring, con­fessed that she had just plunked down a

She's a very attractive woman, 54 years old.''What she's developing is descent; ' he says."The jowls have made the jawline moresquare. A little bit of hooding on the upperlids:' Descent. Falling. Your face is falling.The sk-y might as well be falling. "We allhave our pretty days, and some people aremore beautiful than others; says Rosen­berg. "But we all age the same way. Ournecks get loose, and our eyesget tired:'

Rosenberg is a fit, compact, and stylish41-year-old with a sweet, almost femininenature. He has three children with hiswife, Jessica Lattman, who is also a plasticsurgeon. And hilariously enough, he has acrooked beak-he needs a nosejob!

Today alone, starting twelve hours ear-

THE NEW NEW FACE

DEMI MOOREAge: 45

cheek or nasolabial fold). With these tools,a woman can dramatically alter her facewithout going anywhere near a surgeon'soffice.All that's required are twice-a-yearinjection appointments with a cosmeticdermatologist. And then, when a friendcomments on her appearance, she'll re­spond, without guile,"Plasticsurgery? Me?Heavens, no!"

TIME IS NOT KIND to a face. In Dr. DavidRosenberg'sconsultation room, ahigh-techmini-theater dominated by a big reclinerthat looks like a seat in first class, we arescrolling through women's faces on a flat­screen 1V. "Here's another one;' he says, ashe manipulates the screen from his laptop.

{Fig.lO}

THE DIAMOND NOSE

$4,000 deposit and Will be going underRosenberg's knife for.a face-lift later thisyear. All told, it will cost her $30,000, in- .eluding recoveryin a fancy hotel and a pri­vate nurse attending to her every need.

For many women, the New New Facebe­gins in their thirties and forties with a littleBotoxhere, a little fillerthere.Toextend thehandbag metaphor a bit further, it is thedermatological version of the mini-Birkin.A starter bag. But real, serious, grown-upNew New Face business cannot-at leastat my friend 's age-be achieved with fill­ers and Botox alone, something she's beendoing for years, with disappointing results.For women in their fifties and sixties,NewNew Face construction begins far below

{Fig.n}

THE ROSENBERG NOSE

the surface of the skin. ,A cursory history of the face-lift is prob­

ably necessary at this point. In about 1905,surgeons figured out that they could makean incision in front of the ear, cut away abit of skin, and sew it back up to make theface look less old. Then, in the twenties,the "skin flap" was invented, a procedurethat involves peeling the skin back like abedsheet, allowing for much more skin tobe cut away for a tighter result . In 1976,a surgeon discovered the SMAS (or su­perficial musculoaponeurotic system), acellophane-thin lining just under the skinthat is part of the musculature of the face.If you lifted the skin and tightened theSMAS, you got a much bigger correction

{Figs . 12- 25}

in the jawline. To this day, the SMAS op­eration remains the workhorse face-lift. Inthe mid-eighties, a Swedish doctor beganto go under the SMAS, the beginning of aprocess that led to the deep-plane face-liftof the early nineties.

But even as surgeons worked with deep­er layers of the face, the aesthetic was still asuperficial tautness. ''When I was in early'training;' says Rosenberg, "I kept hearingthe phrase , 'This doctor makes the neck re­ally tight: Andthat was a good thing.Thatwas the operative word. Tightest neck outthere! "The surgeries were obvious and, insome cases, seen as status symbols."It's likewearing a big shiny Rolex,"saysRosenberg ."'I have enough money that Dr. X did it:"But tight is no longer the operative word."Eighteen-year-olds, they are never tight.What they have is definition:' (Her again :that round-and-soft-and-also-somehow­perfectly-defined teenage girl!)

What has transpired in the pa st tenyears, says Rosenberg, is "further dissec­tion of the deeper layers"for a face-lift thatis almost entirely muscular. Rosenberg andsurgeons like him go under the cheek-fatpad and disconnect the platysma, which isa sheet of musele that supports the lowerface, then they resuspend it higher withstitches under the skin. "That's how youfix the surface-from below," he says. "Iam working on the undersurface, and ev­erything gently comes with it. So there'sa feminine quality, it's soft an d smooth.When it heals, you don't see tension onthe outer surface:'

Rosenberg is also subtly shifting theshape of the New Nose. "Unlike a face-lift,where you are restoring what someoneonce had, with a nose you are absolutelychanging it, making it completely differ-

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3,378 YEARS OF THE "IT" FACE

NEFERTIT I

A high, regalforehead,small.features,

andfinejawline.

VENUS DE M I L O

Aface like a balancedequation, with no partdominating the others.

BO TT I CELLI'S VENUS

A pronouncedoval wi th a longer,

less sharply definednose.

M A D A M E xAjutting chin andtip -tilted nose skewher otherunse clas sic

proportions.

CLARA BOW

An early exampleofwaifdom: plumpcheeks and afull,pou ting lower lip.

GRACE K EL LYTheorigin al nose thatlaunched a thousand

ski-jump rhinopl asties.

AUDREY HE P BURN

. A triangularf ace withcompressed.features;

her large, wide-set eyesare almost halfway

down herfac e.

{Figs. 26 and 2 7}

THE JOLIE NOSE

200 8

DECID ED TO E - M A I L Liz Rosen­berg, Madonna's publicist sincefuh-evah (and no relation to thedoctor), to see if she would havelunch with me and talk about ce­lebrities and plastic surgery. ''Ab­sofuckinlutely,' she wrote back."Though why you think anyoneI represent has done anything totheir faces is beyond me. Ha-ha.

Getting any artist besides Joan Rivers andKathy Griffin to go on record about thesubject is not easy. Of course one of thegreat quotes came from my gal Cher, whosaid in an interview, 'If! want to put mytits on my back it's my business.' Whatev­er Madonna has (Continued on page 86)

1991

Old New Face and New New Face."Meg may think she looks beautiful ,"he says carefully. "But what we arepicking up on is a sense that maybethere is an overinflation of the lips,there's an overabundance of fillersin her face." He pauses. ''What I seewith Demi is more of an operation.Let me say it this way: I see preser­vation of definition, a preservationof facial architectur e. Angularity. Verypretty." He mentions Madonna admir­ingly as well. "You see the architecture ofthe jawline, you see the architecture of thecheekbones."

"She didn't lose her face," I say."Shegained it," says Rosenberg.

ent," he says. The nose on the New NewFace is strong and architectural andstraight. Neither flared nor pointed. MoreGreek than Roman. It's also the kind ofnose job that you'd never notice withoutbefore and after pictures (note Ange­lina Jolie's very slightly slimmed master­piece). What it is most certainly not is thecute litt le ski-jump nose that was ubiq ­uitous in the sixties and seventies-andeven popped up again recently on AshleeSimpson's face. The "Diamond Nose," asit was known 30 years ago, was namedafter a Dr. Howard Diamond of Manhat­tan , who supposedly did more rhinoplas­ties than any surgeon before him.

When I tell Rosenberg that a promi­nent fashion editor told me that people inher crowd are talking about the "Rosen­berg Nose," he is visibly moved. ''Awwww.That is crazy:' He looks away for second,apparently misting up. "Nose surgeryis so ... hard. So technically difficult tomaster. Youhave to plan for adjustmentswith healing. Things settle, it's almost likemaking a ... a ... wine."He smiles broadly."This is the first time I'm hearing this. Youdon't know how exciting this is:'

Rosenberg didn't do Angelina's nose,although he wouldn't admit it even ifhehad . Plastic surgeons are very careful notto talk about their famous clientele, be­cause it is the last secret that celebritiestry to keep. The stars still require after­hours appoint ments with an empty wait­ing room and a special back entrance atManhattan Eye and Ear, where he does allofhis surgery.But it'sdifficultto talk aboutthe changing aesthetics of plastic surgerywithout, well, examp les,so reluctantly heagrees to apply his highly trained eye tothe faces of Meg Ryan and Demi Moore,

BRIG ITTE BAR DOT

A squarish chinoffsets her plush lips

and butt on nose.

TWIGGY

A n ooalfa ce, wi thwide-set eyes,

a long nose,and thatchild ishly plump

lower lip.

CHERYL TIEGSThe trapezoidalface:high cheekbones over

a squarej aw, wi thnarro w eyes anda broad mouth.

CHRISTYTURL INGTON

A long oval dividedalmo st perfectly inthirdstforehead to

wide-set eyes and highcheekbones tofull.

wide lips.

KAT E MOSSA squa re-trianglecombo

with unncrvinglywide-setey~;

the slightly squashednose and plush.mouth

counter thepointy chin.

LIYA KEBEDEAnother long

oval, but with aprominent, high

forehead and bowmouth .

ANGELINA JOL IEHigh cheekbones

and cushiony lip s,a long, sharply

angledj awline, anddeep-set eyes.

AUGUST 11 , 200 8 I N EW YORK 31