When the New York Post coined the term “quiet luxury plastic surgery” last month, it introduced the world to a new way of describing the wave of “undetectable aesthetics.”
“Say goodbye to the Brazilian Butt Lift and hello to the rise of the Topeka tush,” the Post wittily said. “Slimmed-down, fresh-faced celebs have ushered in a new wave of undetectable aesthetics, from covert facelifts to inconspicuous butt lifts that one doctor is calling the ‘Midwest BBL.’”
While he’s made an entire career on plastic surgery, Encino, CA plastic surgeon George Sanders, MD never likes to describe what he does as “plastic.” Instead, he attests that undetectable has always been the goal.
“Beauty has always been about imitating beautiful aspects of nature,” he says. “That’s why it’s called natural. As you look around the natural world, it’s filled with beauty, none of which is surgically induced. An excellent surgical result reflects nature—and it has always been that way. East Coast, West Coast, No Coast, it doesn’t matter where you are. Surgeons and patients sometimes stray from this truth, but the pendulum always returns with time to natural beauty.”
Featured Experts
- George Sanders, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Encino, CA
- Konstantin Vasyukevich, MD is a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in New York
- Sanjay Grover, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, CA
- Dr. Karan Lal is a dermatologist in Phoenix
Subtle, Not Significant
On the same side of that pendulum is New York facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich, MD, who consistently favors work that is “subtle, not significant.”
“As a facial plastic surgeon, the emphasis on subtlety has always been central to my approach,” he says. “The goal of procedures like facelifts, and eyelid surgeries is to rejuvenate the patient while preserving natural features. The best results often go unnoticed—people see a refreshed, youthful appearance but don’t immediately identify surgery.”
While he doesn’t necessarily consider “quiet luxury” an aesthetics trend, Dr. Vasyukevich thinks the focus on undetectable outcomes has increased over the past two decades.
“It’s a core principle of the field, grounded in preserving the integrity of a patient’s unique features while restoring or enhancing them,” he says. “Modern techniques, such as deep plane facelift, have only refined this approach, making subtle, natural results easier to achieve. Ultimately, ‘quiet luxury’ in plastic surgery simply reflects an ongoing commitment to achieving discreet, effective rejuvenation.”
Natural Is Now
Recent stats confirm the commitment, too. As Merz’s new Pillars of Confidence study links external appearance to internal self-concept, not surprisingly, the desire for natural-looking results hit high on the list. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they prefer “treatments that enhance, rather than alter” their features, with 49 percent worrying about unnatural results.
“Natural surgery is not necessarily a new trend, as many of us board-certified plastic surgeons have, for years, strived to deliver natural, undetectable results—especially when it comes to facial rejuvenation surgery,” says Newport Beach, CA plastic surgeon Sanjay Grover, MD.
However, Dr. Grover says techniques have improved over the last 5 to 10 years, as has access to better technologies.
“With regards to facial rejuvenation, improvements in our deep-plane facelifts and fat grafting have allowed for a much more effective and natural result without the pulled, overdone look,” he says. “The advent of newer cohesive gel, gummy bear, silicone implants utilizing a dual-plane subpectoral augmentation, sometimes with the aid of an internal bra and the addition of fat grafting, have allowed for much more natural results as well.”
Anything But Loud
Whether you call it “quiet,” “undetectable,” “subtle,” or “natural,” dermatologists have also seen a patient preference for anything but “loud.”
Simply put, Phoenix, AZ dermatologist Dr. Karan Lal says: “The natural look is in.”
“Patients do not want to look younger or different,” he says. “Gone are the days when people want to look ten years younger. Most people want to look like themselves, just refreshed! This same trend is why patients are opting for facelifts earlier. I had a patient who was 62 and looked amazing for 62. She still looked 62 but got a facelift at 45. She said it’s best to get the lift before you need it so you don’t look drastically different. I never heard that before.”
Dr. Lal says the same goes for injectables. “More and more people are opting for less volume and lower doses of neuromodulator. I think it’s fair to say the focus is changing to prevention rather than correction. And that is a good thing. To do less is always easier than rewinding.”
