I was recently invited to attend a meeting of Canadian doctors practicing Aesthetic Medicine and Surgery and every participant was asked to present one slide with a pearl of wisdom or practical tip. At first, I couldn’t come up with any ideas but then I thought of a quote from a famous Italian actress of the sixties, Anna Magnani. She once said to her make-up artist: ‘’Please, don’t retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them!’’
I found that quote particularly a propos. You have to realize that I had to speak in front of the top injectors in the country, but, at the same time, I didn’t want to ruffle feathers by implying that they were over treating their patients. My approach, as a cosmetic physician with a background in general practice, is somewhat more conservative than some of my colleagues and I always have in mind to be respectful of my patient’s needs and to listen to their concerns. Less is better, most of the time!
A forehead completely frozen, eyes in a perpetual state of surprise, Spock eyebrows, chipmunk cheeks, overfilled lips, these are not synonyms of beauty! Quite the contrary, they indicate an insufficient knowledge of the facial expressions and attributes, and they do not enhance the intrinsic beauty of the face. They are, in fact, a caricature of beauty!
To be able to capture the subtle elements leading to a harmonious and balanced face requires great knowledge of the anatomy of the face, of the complex actions of all the fine expression muscles and of the mechanisms of ageing. But what makes the results outstanding? The artistic sense that allows the cosmetic physician to use his palette of colours to create a lovely portrait!