Cosmetic Surgery Costs The Wealth Factor Examined

If you are one of the 134k followers of ‘Injector Bunny’ on Instagram you will probably be near the front of the queue when cosmetic surgery clinics swing back into action.   Whether you just need a modest Botox top up or a ‘re-plumping’ of the lips or a long overdue ‘mommy makeover’ the lockdown has been a long and arduous period for you.  So let us look at cosmetic surgery costs and how they affect the market.

Our increasingly curated digital existences have fuelled demand for plastic surgery. But while procedures themselves may be becoming more commonplace and even affordable, there is an exclusive, high-end market segment emerging in parallel and it teaches us what luxury really means – extreme value creation.

rich girl face
Rich Girl Face.

This is the market that has given us the  ‘Rich Girl Face’ with the perfect skin and impossibly luscious lips , a look that is at home in Mayfair and the Hamptons’ and sees its reflection in the shop windows of  Via Condotti in Rome and Rodeo Drive in LA.  This is the beautiful sister of the ‘Resting bitch Face’ that we were all talking about last season.  It is a demographic where cosmetic surgery costs are paradoxically, a chance to flaunt wealth in a discreet way.

Plastic surgeon, Dr Dirk Kremer, has coined the term “rich girl face” after noticing a massive increase in female patients seeking certain procedures.

Apparently  Women aged 20-29 have been requesting face-shaping cosmetic procedures such as fillers, chemical peels and Botox.

“The puffed and plumped ‘rich face’ aesthetic is practically the new Louis Vuitton handbag in certain circles – an instant, recognisable marker of wealth and status,” Dr Kremer explained in a recent interview with Glamour.

wealthy cosmetic surgeon
Celebrity Cosmetic clinics with glamorous websites.

In this aspect plastic surgery follows the exact same pattern as other categories. There is a large mainstream segment where everything is about efficiency and low prices – the ‘Shopping Mall Spa’ This is contrasted by an exclusive luxury segment. Typical aspects that also determine cosmetic surgery costs are the location of the clinic (think: Beverly Hills), the architecture, or the interior design of the practice.  The web pages of celebrity cosmetic surgeons are nowadays an extension of websites like Vogue and Tatler where we are invited to view the inner sanctums of impossible wealth and confected beauty.  The average consumer is not being invited to join the doctor’s client list they are just being given a glimpse into a world of privilege that they can only hope to mimic at a clinic in Istanbul or Mexico.   The ‘rock star’ cosmetic surgeons  are there to service a ‘rock star ‘ community and sometimes give their opinions and judgements  on reality TV shows.

For many celebrities, plastic surgery is still something not to talk about openly – despite it being quasi-ubiquitous in A-list circles. As a result, discretion becomes a driver of extreme value and a means of differentiation – it’s this that turns the mainstream into luxury, creating a network of luxury services around the procedures.  There is indeed, a boom in exclusive hotels where ‘Celebs’ can recover in total privacy from their cosmetic procedures.

Here at ‘Best Cosmetic Surgeons, we cast our net far and wide to list and review the ‘top scalpels’ of the beauty world.  

 

Many of our readers browse our listings of top clinics in Paris, London and Beverly Hills to see what is new, trending and possible.   They can then check out clinics in less fashionable destinations that can match their budgets.  It is like so many areas of consumption.  People read ‘Wallpaper’ magazine but shop at department stores or order less expensive versions online.  The ‘Rich Girl Face’ is aspirational.    Less expensive procedures can provide a version of the look but to get the full heady experience that lets you stroll casually into an exclusive night club or look the part on a red carpet, cash will always  be a key factor.

“Cost is always a consideration when considering an elective surgery,” said Dr. Matarasso. president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons “However, the least expensive procedure is the one done correctly the first time.”