Every month, we strive to bring you a balanced mix of breaking news (for example, which celebrities are using Ozempic) and advice you can always use, like which under-eye filler is right for you. Invariably though, there’s an intriguing headline or viral post that doesn’t make its own stand-alone story yet is still worthy of a share.
Which brings us here, to the latest installment of This Month in Aesthetics, an ICYMI recap of industry-molding moments that we’d be remiss not to acknowledge—from Linda Evangelista’s recent Vogue cover reveal after her CoolSculpting complications to Sarah Jessica Parker’s favorite cosmetic treatment.
New research shows Wegovy may prevent heart attacks and strokes
Wegovy, the brand name for the semaglutide injection that’s FDA approved as a weight-loss drug, may have the added benefit of preventing heart attacks and strokes. This is according to a study funded by the brand’s parent company, Novo Nordisk, conducted at UC Irvine. The research, which piggybacked on findings from clinical trials conducted in 2021, found that Wegovy use could result in more than 40 million fewer Americans with obesity—and prevent up to 1.5 million heart attacks and other cardiovascular events over the course of 10 years.
Britney Spears says Botox is “horrific”
In a recent video posted to Instagram, Spears spoke about why she’s anti-Botox (and prefers these wrinkle patches instead). In her caption for the Reel, she wrote, “For probably 10 to 15 years, I haven’t had mine done right, and what’s with the times when one eyebrow is up and one is down? I can’t even be seen for 2 weeks. My friend’s sisters think it’s funny and laugh but I’d like to see what they would do if someone did that to their face. OK … so maybe in a movie like “Just Go with It” where that girl’s eyebrows are messed up, that’s funny. But not in real life when one eye is black and blue and way higher than the other. I cried and then I’m like, when is this gonna go away? “Oh, just give it a week or two.” Sometimes the nerves act that way and have a reverse effect, and I’m like, “I look like somebody beat the sh*t out of me”!!! So of course, I go back and show the doctor. She says that’s completely normal, and I said, “then why can’t I go anywhere for two weeks?” and my friend’s sisters laughed. F***BOTOX, it is horrific!!! Sio is unbelievable.”
Jax Taylor reveals why he’s had multiple nose jobs
The Vanderpump Rules alum’s nose jobs have long been the butt of jokes; he’s now explaining exactly why he’s had so many (three, to be exact). “The reason I’ve gotten so many is not because the doctor was terrible but because I’m an idiot and I didn’t listen to my doctor. I was filming at the time. I did everything that I wasn’t supposed to do,” he told People. (That list of banned activities included swimming and having sex with his wife, Brittany Cartwright.) The 44-year-old reality star also told the outlet that he’s all about regular cosmetic procedures (“I’ll tap into Botox every four or five months. Just a little touch-up on my forehead,” he said) and very pleased with the veneers he recently had done.
Linda Evangelista appears on the cover of Vogue after her well-publicized CoolSculpting complications
The iconic supermodel reemerged into the public sphere in early 2022—several months after first talking about the CoolSculpting complications that “left her brutally disfigured” and living in hiding for years, as she told People. She also appeared on the cover of British Vogue last summer; now she’s on the cover of the American magazine’s iconic September issue, alongside fellow ’90s legends Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington.
“I couldn’t live with it anymore. I wanted to go outside,” Evangelista told the magazine of her decision to stop hiding. She also shared her candid thoughts about aging and injectables. “I don’t mind and I never did mind aging. Aging gets us to where we want to be, and that’s for me a long life…I want wrinkles—but I Botox my forehead, so I am a hypocrite—but I want to grow old.”
Raven-Symoné shares she underwent plastic surgery as a teenager
The former Disney Channel star revealed that weight shaming and pressure from her father made her decide to undergo liposuction and two breast reduction surgeries—before she even turned 18. “My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced,” she said on an episode of The Best Podcast Ever with Raven and Miranda, the podcast she hosts with her wife. “He was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’” She also revealed that she suffered a seizure after the first breast reduction. “I actually had a seizure when I woke up from the surgery. I remember waking up and seeing everything. I was like, nah. I started to have this dry mouth and couldn’t breathe, and then [I woke up and] they were like, they were like, ‘You had a seizure.'” Still, she went on to have a second surgery even after that scare, explaining that she felt that her breasts were too big after gaining weight.
Christy Turlington speaks out against plastic surgery
Don’t expect supermodel Christy Turlington, 54, to go under the knife anytime soon. In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Turlington lauded women like Jane Birkin for aging gracefully. “Women who have stayed away from augmentation of themselves—those are the women I really admire. I love seeing a real face. A face of someone who’s lived life. I would say my beauty icons are people like Jane Birkin. They have the kind of faces I like to see, and we don’t get to see as many of those in the world anymore. Jane aged in her way. She was as beautiful at the end of her life as she was early on. I will be one of those faces. I am one of those faces,” Turlington said.
Sarah Jessica Parker raves about Sofwave
In a recent interview with Real Simple, the And Just Like That… star said that, despite her somewhat lackadaisical take on aging—“I don’t give it any thoughts unless I’m doing interviews and people ask me about aging”—she isn’t entirely blind to the topic. “It’s not that I don’t care, and it’s not that I’m without vanity, but I don’t know what to do except I have a great dermatologist. I like getting some lasers—they are helpful. They do that thing over time where they build—my derm just used this thing on me called Sofwave, and it was amazing.” (Sofwave is a noninvasive treatment that relies on ultrasound energy to lift and tighten the skin.)
A patient secures a $13 million verdict against a doctor who botched her plastic surgery
@kellykilleenmd #plasticsurgery #plasticsurgeon #medicalnews #cosmeticsurgery ♬ original sound – Kelly Killeen, MD, FACS
Dr. Kristine Brecht, a family practice doctor in Burien, Washington, has had her medical license suspended and been ordered to pay $13 million after a patient sued her for leaving her brutally disfigured following several severely botched surgeries. Allegations against the doctor include cutting off too much skin during a tummy tuck, breast lift, arm lift, and liposuction as well as failing to advise her of the risks she had as a poorly controlled diabetic. According to the lawsuit, Brecht also used “Cinderella anesthesia” (a mix of oxycodone and lorazepam), coupled with handcuffs and weights to restrain the patient, in lieu of general anesthesia.
Emily Simpson details her eyelid surgery in real time
The Real Housewives of Orange County star has documented and talked about a variety of plastic surgeries on Instagram, including her breast implant removal and lower facelift. She recently filmed a series of Instagram stories with her doctor, Dr. Siamak Agha, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, California, immediately before and after undergoing an upper blepharoplasty. “I’ve noticed recently that every time I take a photo, you can’t see my eyes anymore. Dr. Agha said it’s because when you get older, the skin up here gets heavier and falls down over your eyes,” she said, pointing to her marked up eyelids. The two went on to discuss how it would be a minor surgery that would take less than an hour and be performed under local anesthesia. “It’s a small surgery but it does have a significant impact because you’re removing a good amount of eyelid skin,” said Dr. Agha. Simpson posted again post-procedure, with Dr. Agha detailing how it went. “We removed one centimeter of skin from her upper eyelids and it’s going to create a much cripsier and tiger upper eyelid,” he said. “I like the words crisp and tight because when you’re 47 not much is crisp and tight, “Simpson laughed, noting that she could see a difference already, despite the bruising and swelling.
