When considering the seismic moments and discoveries that have altered the course of human history, certain things spring to mind: the invention of the wheel, the fall of the Roman Empire, electricity, refrigeration, space travel, social media and…Kris Jenner’s facelift. Strategically filtered or not, it’s the face that launched a thousand jets—many no doubt from PBI and Opa Locka—straight to Teterboro for the plastic surgery world’s equivalent of the Holy Grail: a consultation with the momager’s Manhattan-based surgeon, Dr. Steven M. Levine. He now enjoys pop-idol status and reportedly charges just south (and sometimes well north) of half a million dollars per procedure if you can get in. It’s enough to make even a billionaire blanch.
Of course, the global power players who call South Florida home are accustomed to seeking and splashing out on the ne plus ultra of, well, everything: the perfect waterfront home, the perfect car, the perfect wardrobe, and the perfect new face. You’ve probably seen them in the wild, cocktailing at Coco’s, dining at Swifty’s, shopping at The Royal Poinciana or Bal Harbour. Suddenly it seems like everyone looks so fresh, so dewy, so ageless, but, crucially, not so different or “done” than they looked the last time you saw them. More frozen in time than frozen in place. Exaggerated features and filler dependence (I’m looking at you, duck lips and pillow face) are out. The most sought-after facial plastic surgeons and practitioners are serving up restored, refreshed, and natural.
Because for a certain set—and certain mindset—it’s more about an intelligent approach to aging than a total rewind. Most women don’t want to look like someone else, or how they did in their twenties. Rather, they want to look as vibrant, confident, and young as they feel.
Between celebrities like Jenner outing their every nip and tuck on Instagram and the dramatic skin laxity that can result from GLP-1 accelerated weight loss, it’s no wonder plastic surgery is having a moment. Especially since today’s top surgeons work in the deep layers of the face and platysma to shore up underlying structures, instead of merely pulling skin taut—a telltale sign of old-fashioned or bad work. The modern lift is subtle, almost undetectable. Meanwhile, the surgery-adverse (or just hesitant) are opting for less invasive “tweakments” like fat transfer and lasers and injectables that prompt the body to regenerate its own collagen, elastin, and fat. And get ready to hear a lot more about peptides, exosomes, and secretomes, the buzzwords du jour in the rejuvenation conversation. You practically need a science degree to keep up.
Marilyn Minter, “Edwina,” 2015. Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94
Which might actually be easier than booking a top-notch lift at the moment. All the chatter has created the surgical version of a supply chain shortage. “A lot of doctors have closed their lists because they simply cannot take more clients onto their schedules,” says plastic surgery consultant and patient safety advocate Melinda A. Farina, aka The Beauty Broker. “Surgeons are human beings. They can only do about 300 cases per year, meanwhile they’re getting about 2,000 inquiries each week.”
Not everyone is interested in waiting months and paying ungodly sums to see Levine or other titans of tightening in New York and Beverly Hills. Luckily, there is high-quality work happening all over the country, including right in sunny Florida, where an increasingly sophisticated demographic has helped shape a beachside beauty scene that goes way beyond Brazilian butt lifts and boob jobs. It wasn’t long ago that maintenance-minded Northeast transplants would flee Florida for their highlights, facials, injections, and surgical procedures. Now, a reverse commute is not uncommon.
“We have prominent clients from all over who are doing everything here now—including plastic surgery,” says star colorist Reyad Fritas, who, together with his wife and business partner, Kylie “Jax” Fritas, recently opened a Palm Beach outpost of their super-stylish hair salon Suite Reyad, a magnet for socialites, models, and magnates with satellites in New York City and Aspen. “They want New York level quality in everything, but don’t want to have to go up north to get it.”
Marilyn Minter, “White Out,” 2015. Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94
Robin Levine Shobin, a 48-year- old writer (she describes her popular Substack, Charlotte’s Book, as “raw notes on beauty, tweakments, and modern aging”) who splits her time between Manhattan and Australia’s Gold Coast, zigzagged the continental U.S. to consult with 12 doctors (including bold-face names like Levine, Nazarian, Karam, Talei, and Timberlake) before finally finding her man in Dr. Mark R. Murphy, a double-board-certified facial plastic surgeon based in Palm Beach Gardens. “I never thought in a million years that I would get my facelift in Florida,” says Shobin, who, after lengthy conversations with Murphy (in front of a mirror, something she found immensely helpful from a collaborative standpoint) and a lot of poring over before- and-after photos (patients in her own age range were key), opted for a deep-plane face and neck lift, temporal brow lift, fat transfer, and chin implant, with plans for a lip lift and blepharoplasty two or three years from now.
“Dr. Murphy and I were on the same wavelength—he really got that I wanted to reverse some of the aging, but also make other improvements,” she says. “I wanted the lift to be natural and subtle, but not so subtle you can’t tell I did anything,” pointing to her incredibly crisp new jawline. “I’m only a month out, and I already love my results,” she says. “I’m so happy I did it, and now I’m a total facelift pusher.” Two other Northerners who flew south for surgery with Murphy in recent months: Tatiana Boncompagni, a 48-year-old beauty journalist and consultant who wrote glowingly about the experience for Harper’s Bazaar, and Dr. Larisa Kayserman, 62, a New Jersey ophthalmologist who specializes in retina surgery. “He’s down to earth and real, and tells you as it is, no sugarcoating,” says Kayserman. “His suturing technique is unbelievable—so meticulous and precise. They’re just gorgeous.”
Another surgeon making waves in the area is Boca Raton–based facial plastic surgeon Dr. Elbert Vaca, whose own chiseled features could act as a billboard for his services.
This is an excerpt from PALMER Vol. 11. To read the full story, click here to purchase the issue.
