Meet The Beauty Broker: The Personal Shopper For Plastic Surgery
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'Subtlety has become the new luxury. Patients are planning smarter interventions a bit earlier, rather than chasing fixes later on'
‘We charge patients for our time,’ she says. ‘Doctors do not pay us. We don’t take one penny from a surgeon. We’re not brokers — we’re advocates.’
While she’s discerning about the surgeons she recommends, she’s equally discerning about the clients she takes on. ‘They have to pass a litmus test. They should have reasonable asks. We won’t take on body dysmorphic patients. It has to be a procedure that’s going to make a meaningful impact in their lives.’
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Farina is brilliantly blunt, possessed of a straight-talking honesty that must feel reassuring to her clients, given the opacity of the aesthetics industry. ‘I think what the world is turning plastic surgery into is disgusting, to be very honest. It’s not why I entered the industry. I hate trends. Trends are dangerous in plastic surgery. When it comes to surgery and medicine, we should do what is right for each individual.’
‘If there is an aesthetic trend, I try to educate my patients not to follow. That’s very important, because they’re usually permanent changes that are very hard to undo if you’re not happy a decade from now. You could change your hair, clothes, nails, home. But it’s hard to go in and surgically change things once we’ve made those alterations to our face.’
Much as she might disapprove, trends exist in aesthetics just as they do in fashion. Which shifts has she noticed recently? ‘We’ve gone from “more” to “better”,’ she says. ‘There’s a move away from the overfilled, over-operated looks towards more structural, surgical precision and natural restoration. Subtlety has become the new luxury. There’s more attention to surgery with strategy. Patients are planning smarter interventions a bit earlier, rather than chasing fixes later on, which means fewer procedures, better timing, better sequencing.’
Another shift has occurred due to the huge popularity of GLP-1s. ‘With rapid weight loss comes rapid deflation, meaning people need lifts all over: breast, body, arm, thigh, brachioplasties, full circumferential lipectomies. We see it all.’
She’s also noticed an increase in medical tourism. ‘People are willing to travel further for better prices, because there’s been a lot of price gouging. A lot of patients are being turned off by this, and doctors are becoming more courageous to speak up about it, because it’s extremely unethical. South America is a hot spot. Brazil is a huge hub for destination plastic surgery. Europe has become very popular, but the European doctors are starting to raise their fees as well. There are phenomenal surgeons all across the world — it’s not just the seven people that we see on Instagram. That is why consultancies exist: to help people make smart decisions within their budget.’
One shift she disapproves of is the ‘copy-and-paste face’. ‘I don’t like it. I won’t work with people who are looking for that copy-and-paste aesthetic. I work with people who want to enhance their own natural features, because I believe everyone should look uniquely individualised.’ She’s equally against the ‘forever 35’ trend. ‘Everyone wants to find that fountain of youth, but you have to do it in a healthy way, and have a realistic outlook when it comes to achieving your goals. Doctors are not magicians. Doctors are also human.’
But her most vocal disapproval is reserved for fillers. ‘We don’t recommend any injectables to our patients. We’re a filler-free consultancy. We’ve had to undo so much catastrophe from injectables over the past few decades.’ Such as? ‘Lots of Malar Edema — an accumulation of fluid under the eyes that looks like bags — facial unevenness, people doing too much because the injectors don’t know the limitations. Sometimes it’s hard to undo these issues, because that material gets trapped in places where it’s difficult for surgeons to reach.’
Despite all the headlines to the contrary, she hasn’t noticed the age at which A-listers have facelifts becoming lower. Typically, she says, her clients start thinking about facelifts at 43–44, but only ‘pull the trigger up’ at 45–47. ‘What a lot of people are claiming to be facelifts are actually not facelifts,’ she adds. ‘People are claiming that actresses — who are actually our clients — have had facelifts, when they absolutely have not. There are a lot of “influencers” putting out posts on social media about these A-listers having certain procedures, when they couldn’t be more incorrect.’ Such as? ‘I hate these people with a passion, but I won’t name names.’
She’s equally tight-lipped about the identities of her clients, although when pressed for an example of a celebrity who’s had good work, she namechecks Gwyneth Paltrow. ‘She’s one of our clients, and looks phenomenal. She’s done tiny little things that make her look like her natural, unique self, and she’s never wanted to change the way she looks.’
Melinda Farina’s Five Accessible Beauty Tips
- Sleep: In terms of the bare basics, a good sleep really is essential. A lot of people overlook that.
- Diet: What goes in is what shows on the outside. I firmly believe that what you’re consuming on a daily basis will affect your appearance.
- Mentality: You have to have a healthy outlook in all areas — including what you’re feeding yourself mentally.
- Prevention: It’s crucial to use a good retinoid or retinol every single night, and a great SPF every single day.
- Research: When searching for a plastic surgeon, make sure that they’re board-certified. Look for consistency and results you can relate to from a full gallery of their work. It’s more important to look for the ‘before’ photo than the ‘after’.
