A Top Dermatologist Revealed the Treatments NYC Models Get
When you’re a kid, you look at models in magazines and think, sigh, they’re so perfect.
Then you grow up a little and realize it’s mostly Photoshop.
And then you grow up a little more and realize it’s not even that simple — it’s actually a combination of Photoshop, great genes, and an ever-broadening variety of peels, lasers, lifts, and procedures you’ll never be able to afford.
Models not only hit the genetic jackpot, but they have whole teams of people to elevate them to goddess status, all the better to sell clothes and beauty products to plebes like you and me. And one member of that team has to be a swanky dermatologist.
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One such dermatologist is Dr. Macrene Alexiades, a swaggering Park Avenue medicinewoman who revealed way too much to W magazine recently. She says she “likes challenges a lot” and “has very high standards,” which is what led her to become the doctor known for being able to bestow absolutely flawless skin on any woman in 30 days or fewer.
“I had had a few of the IMG models come to me with really terrible skin,” she told W. “At that time, I wasn’t thinking ‘Oh, I want to take care of all these models.’ I was thinking, ‘Wow, here’s a woman who needs this fixed ASAP for her work.'”
Très feministe, Dr. A!
She had one model with what she solemnly described as a “really, a very bad situation,” and fixed it in less than a month.
Sadly, the doc didn’t name names. But she did spill the treatments most of the girls on IMG Models’ board pay her for.
And no, I’m not exaggerating — IMG Models, as an organization, is a client of hers. I’m far too classy to speculate on which specific supers she’s treated, but the answers are out there *cough the answers are here cough*.
Anyway, here’s the important part: all of the models’ gorgeous little faces are maintained with a combination of lasers, peels and injections:
“What are your tricks?
“Lasers, usually, and occasionally, I’ll do peels. With injections, I can get them flat the same day, but extractions usually leave a droplet of blood. The problem with the peel is it isn’t a same-day treatment, but by the next day or the day after, they would look superb, and then by a week, they would look even better than superb, like flawless. So that’s why I like the peel a lot. It’s a quick, low-cost, but highly effective clearing tool.”
So there you have it: the secret to photo-shoot-ready skin doesn’t come from a jar. It comes from a doctor’s office and is deployed by a woman who had to go to college for at least eight years for the privilege.
Dr. Alexiades went on to explain the insane levels of detail she goes to when concocting a peel or laser for one of her gorgeous clients:
“I have 6,000 patients, so I’ve seen every type of acne, every type of situation, every type of brown spot. So I already know what kind of cocktail would really work well instinctually. I usually use a mix of peeling agents, and they could be anything from glycolic and other alpha hydroxy acids, to chemical acids like trichloroacetic acid, to brightening agents or anti-acne agents like sal acid, mandelic acid, some brightening agents or like amino acid derivatives, and I do a cocktail depending on what the patient needs, and I do it in a certain sequence so that I don’t end up with scabbing. All of these are just tricks and things that I’ve accumulated over the years.”
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This knowledge may come as a relief to anyone who’s kept trying and trying new cocktails of lotions and potions to get better skin, and seen scant results. But it’s also frustrating. These treatments cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Plus, just because a doctor knows how to do them doesn’t mean they’ll do them well — if you’re gonna try any of these, make sure you do your research on a doctor first, because Dr. Alexiades is probs to def out of your price range.
Click here to read the full W mag interview.
