Porizkova’s Eyes. Cher’s Cheekbones. Basinger’s Lips. : A Surgical Search for the Ideal Face
Paulina Porizkova’s eyes. Jaclyn Smith’s nose. Cher’s cheekbones. Kim Basinger’s lips. Put ‘em together and you’ve got the ideal face. At least, the latest version. The physical features of these famous faces are on the current list of perfection among many women who want to change their own natural features through plastic surgery.
As few as 10 years ago, the list was entirely different. In 1980, the nose of note was slim and straight, inspired by one actress Candice Bergen was born with. Ten years before that, it was upturned with a pinched tip, based on that of super-model Cheryl Tiegs. Like fads in clothing, hair styles and makeup, trends in cosmetic surgery change regularly, doctors say.
Of today’s most desirable facial details, prominent cheekbones and pouty lips top the list. In contrast, Porizkova’s large, slightly hooded eyes and Smith’s narrow nose are considered classics that never really go out of style, experts note.
Doctors also say that the prized facial proportions are relatively easy to attain through cosmetic surgery.
High set, well-defined cheekbones, for example, are achieved with soft plastic implants inserted through incisions made inside the mouth or under the lower eyelid. The procedure costs about $1,800 in Southern California and takes less than an hour. Cheekbone, or malar, implants can be removed, but the surgery is generally thought of as a permanent procedure. Take out the implants and the face returns to its original form.
Requests for surgically inserted “cheekbones” started rolling in during the mid-’80s, when Cher’s film career took off and her highly articulated bone structure captured audience attention. Apple-cheeked actress Linda Evans of “Dynasty” had a similarly inspiring effect when her night-time soap was must-viewing during most of the last decade.
Ten years earlier, members of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons reported virtually no cheek- or lip-augmentation procedures. But in 1988, when the society last surveyed its doctors, more than 3,000 cheekbone augmentations had been reported. Although no figures are yet available, many doctors indicate that requests for cheekbone implants have doubled in the last year.
Augmenting the mouth is a temporary procedure done by injecting liquid collagen or human fat cells into the lips. The 15-minute treatment, which costs about $500, lasts about three months, or until the natural substances are absorbed by the body and the mouth returns to its normal contours.
Many doctors say they discourage permanent silicone injections into the lips, in part because they see it as a fad that will soon become dated. In 1988, society surgeons were not reporting significant numbers of lip augmentations. But last year, when actress Barbara Hershey appeared in the film “Beaches” with seductive, Basinger-esque lips--a mouth considerably fuller than in any of her previous films--the trend was born.
“It’s especially popular with women under age 30: They want to look like fashion models,” says Dr. John Williams, a clinical instructor at the UCLA School of Medicine and a plastic surgeon in private practice for 25 years. Williams is one of the doctors who predicts that the full lip look will soon be outdated. “That’s when many of the women who had injections will be glad it was temporary,” he says.
Although women are requesting augmented cheekbones, their goal is not to achieve the gaunt, hollow-cheeked effect that was in demand 10 years ago. “In those days, some women had their back teeth removed to create the sunken cheek look,” says Dr. Alfred Cohen, a facial plastic surgeon and partner in Beverly Hills’ Lasky Clinic. “Now they want fuller cheeks and stronger angles.”
For some women, fuller cheeks means fat or collagen injections directly into the cheek area; for others, small pouches of silicone gel are placed under the cheekbones to create a youthful fullness. “The young girls--the 20- to 30-year-olds--still come in for hollow cheeks, but the 40- to 50-year-olds want more fullness so they don’t look haggard as they age,” says Encino’s Dr. Walter Dishell, an assistant clinical professor of facial plastic surgery at UCLA.
The current most desirable chin, says Los Angeles plastic surgeon George Semel, projects slightly short of the tip of the nose--as seen in Jaclyn Smith’s facial proportions. The chin line should be firm, with the jawline clearly defined. In many cases an implant can achieve this look--at an average cost of $1,800.
To get rid of any signs of a double chin that may exist, the leading method is now liposuction, a fat suctioning technique introduced in 1981 that is used to slim body contours. “We can actually use liposuction to sculpt a jawline and neck, because instruments today are so refined,” says Semel.
In part, the trend toward implants and other augmentations, rather than removals, is a result of new technical advances in the field of plastic surgery, explains Dr. Richard Fleming, co-chairman of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery department at the USC School of Medicine.
“The ‘90s will definitely be the decade of augmentation,” he says. “For years we found ways to tighten skin over the existing bony structure, and we were limited by what nature put there. Now we can use implants to change that underlying structure.”
Jan Varner, president of Santa Barbara-based McGhan Medical, which supplies silicone implants to surgeons, says the trendy augmentation procedures “have increased sales of implants tenfold in the last five years.”
Although most augmentations are done with standard implants, many doctors are now ordering customized designs, shaped precisely to fit the patient and to achieve the desired look. Varner reports that customized implants are available for the cheekbones, forehead, nose, chin and jaw line.
Ethical surgeons are quick to warn patients that despite new technological developments, results are still limited by nature’s original design. “When they bring in pictures of Paulina or Jaclyn Smith, I’m frank,” says Dishell. “I tell them they’ve brought in pictures of two of the most beautiful women in the world, and that I can only work with what they’ve got to begin with. That sobers them. I call it the ‘doctrine of realistic expectations.’ ”
