As we gather to watch the Oscars this Sunday, social media and television shows will be abuzz with commentary about every look that comes down the red carpet. Thanks to the near-instantaneous flow of information, it’s now easier than ever to find out the exact shade or product a celebrity is wearing. But here’s something the stars and their glam squads are a little less forthcoming about: their secret visits to dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and aestheticians weeks to months ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night to get their skin, smile (and some other surprising body parts) into the best shape possible. Below, a few of LA’s top beauty experts reveal some of the work they did…and on whom.
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Cosmelan peel and Clear + Brilliant laser
Who: A red-carpet correspondent
Where: Skin Care and Laser Physicians of Beverly Hills
Why: To clear melasma
“My patient came in with concerns of melasma (patches on her forehead and upper lip), says Beverly Hills, CA, dermatologist Jeanette Black, MD. “This is a very common condition in women, and evening out pigmentation can be extremely difficult. The Cosmelan peel is my favorite way to treat melasma. It is a brown-colored peel that almost looks like a mud mask that is left on for a set duration depending on the patient’s skin type and condition (usually 4-8 hours) and there is a a cream that is applied nightly at home for a for a week or two after the peel. The treatment is very effective and evens out pigmentation quickly,but there is redness and peeling that occurs as part of the process. This was a great treatment choice for her because of the urgency to clear her skin for the red carpet, but the treatment had to be done at least a month before the event. We followed up with a Clear + Brilliant laser to get that extra glow for the big night.”
Special teeth cleaning and whitening
Who: An Academy Award-winning actress in her 60s
Where: Rifkin Cosmetic Dentistry
Why: Immediate whitening
“The special teeth cleaning is a process of piezo ultrasonic cleaning along with warm irrigation of the gums for optimal removal of bacteria and enhancing healing potential of the gum tissues,” explains Beverly Hills, CA, cosmetic dentist, Laurence Rifkin, DDS. “We followed up with an hour-long, in-office whitening treatment where teeth are whitened with an enhanced, buffered, maximum-strength whitening gel after placing a removable barrier on the gum tissue. No light is needed and this process creates an immediate whitening instead of the take-home or over-the-counter teeth products, which take days to weeks to whiten teeth.”
MiXto Microfractional CO2 Laser
Who: An actress in her late 40s
Where: Skin Physicians and Surgeons in Upland, CA
Why: To remove hyperpigmentation and sunspots
“My patient has beautiful olive-toned skin, but struggles with the occasional unexpected pimple, and what I like to call ‘wisdom spots’—brown spots from the sun that increase in number, the ‘wiser’ we get,” says Upland, CA, dermatologist Sandra Lee, MD, also known as Dr. Pimple Popper.
“We prepared for the red carpet a full month in advance, treating the brown spots on her face and body at that time, because they need a week to fully disappear after treatment. I use a fractionated CO2 laser at a light setting to ‘peel’ off these unsightly spots that are predominate along her cheeks, temple and the forehead, chest and outer arms, because these are the areas that are exposed to the most sun. After ‘spot-treating’ these areas, I then treated her entire face with this same laser at an extremely low setting, doing what I call a ‘buff-and-shine,’ as it treats approximately only 5–10 percent of the skin surface with the laser beam allowing a quick recovery time, while penetrating deeply enough to tighten the skin and pores, and trigger collagen synthesis to plump the skin and make it more radiant and healthy-appearing. There is minor redness and swelling after this procedure, but no real downtime.”
Fillers in the foot
Who: An actress in her late 20s
Where: Rodeo Drive Podiatry
Why: To help with high heel discomfort
“This celebrity was complaining of pain along the balls of the feet when wearing high heels,” says Beverly Hills, CA, podiatrist Boddy Pourziaee, DPM. “ I decided that plumping up the fat pad along the ball of the foot using Radiesse [off-label] was the best option for her. It has no downtime and the patient is able to feel improvement immediately, making walking the red carpet in high heels effortless and painless.”
Veneers
Who: A supermodel in her late 20s
Where: Rifkin Cosmetic Dentistry
Why: To transform her smile
“This stunning supermodel had worn her upper front teeth down and wanted to be conservative and create new, but naturally shaped, teeth,” says Dr. Rifkin. “After whitening her teeth, we created a custom set of six veneers in porcelain. After loving this smile transformation, she agreed with my recommendation some weeks later to create four additional veneers to add to the width of her smile and whiter color transition from the front of her lips to the corners of her mouth. This often is the case when patients limit their veneers to just the front six teeth, but we know that a smile often displays 8–12 teeth depending on the width of the smile.”
Fillers in the eyebrows and ears
Who: An actress in her late 40s
Where: Skin Physicians and Surgeons
Why: To add lift
“This actress has beautifully groomed eyebrows, but we perked them up a bit by placing a little bit of a low-density hyaluronic acid filler (such as Juvéderm Volbella or Restylane Silk) into the arch of her lateral brow,” says Dr. Lee. “This lifts her brows and opens her gorgeous eyes ever so slightly to create a temporary, but immediate, brow lift. I used the cannula technique here, avoiding a needle so there’s no bleeding or bruising.”
“She also knows that she is wearing extravagant, expensive, heavy earrings, so I have placed some of the filler into the earlobes as well. This will prevent the earlobe from pulling downward from the weight of her jewelry and helps to support the earrings so they hang beautifully displayed from her lobes.”
A five-step facial
Who: An A-list singer/actress in her 60s and a supermodel in her 30s
Where: Veronica Malibu Skin and Body Center
Why: For radiant and lifted skin without downtime
“One of my favorite clients is one of the busiest entertainers on the planet and her skin has to look its best for the red carpet,” says aesthetician Veronica Barton Schwartz. “To get her skin ready for the red carpet I did our Five Step Red Carpet Facial—a layered treatment that includes the five steps to rejuvenated beautiful skin: peel, microdermabrasion, radio frequency, infusion and light therapy. I gently remove the dead surface cells using lactic acid (glycolic or salicylic acid can be used depending on your skin type). Then I gently resurface by doing microdermabraison, which smooths the texture of the skin. Next is the radio-frequency treatment to lift, tone and tighten the skin on the face, neck and décolleté. I then apply Vegan Stem Cells and a light treatment to brighten the skin. The result is healthy, firmer and younger-looking skin with no downtime and the perfect treatment to get her skin glowing for the Oscars. This treatment is one that works for all ages. I also gave the same facial to a supermodel and very successful businesswoman who is decades younger.”
Natura Bissé Mindful Touch Facial inside a Pure Air Bubble
Who: Actresses in their 20s, 30s and 40s
Where: Private Oscars Facial Suite
Why: For an immediate glow and instant relaxation
Natura Bissé’s new Mindful Touch ritual combines a meditative experience with a high-tech facial performed inside Natura Bissé’s Pure Air bubble. The facial begins with a virtual reality video that helps to clear the mind from stress, and throughout the treatment, audio techniques are used to deepen relaxation. During the week of the Oscars, celebrities from actresses and models to red-carpet presenters were given the opportunity to experience a custom facial using the latest cutting-edge products to ensure their skin is in tip-top shape for the big night.
