HEALTHY LIVING

Which beauty treatments don’t work? Why do

so many celebs look worse after their cosmetic

procedures? What’s the next big thing in beauty?

Dr Patrick Treacy, one of the world’s first

aesthetic doctors, tells it like it is …

By Clio Stevens

“T

here are probably about five people globally who

made the aesthetic industry, well, what it’s today – many recognise me as one

of those five,” Dr Treacy tells me. We’re sitting in the lounge area of a small

boardroom at Rosebank’s Hyatt hotel; Dr Treacy, dressed in a blue suit, shirt

buttons casually open at the neck, relaxes into a deep couch. He’s here, all the

way from Ireland, as a headline speaker at The Cosmetic Medicine Congress of

South Africa, where some of the biggest names in aesthetic and preventative

medicine have gathered to brainstorm new ways to delay ageing.

Dr Treacy owns award-winning aesthetic clinics in Dublin, Cork, London and

the Middle East; he’s an advanced aesthetic trainer who’s taught more than 800

doctors and nurses from around the world; his expert opinion is as sought after

by magazines and TV shows as by the aesthetic industry; he’s nipped, tucked,

lasered and injected lots of celebrities; and he spoke with Madiba and called

Michael Jackson a close friend. Yet he seems unaffected by the glossiness of the

beauty world and by his own reputation.

Theof glossother side

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TheWhat about needle-free “Botox alternatives” like one that

combines microdermabrasion, LED light treatment and an

infusion of peptide-rich serums? “The three treatments as a

combo do have a role, but it’s a marketing trick to call them

alternative Botox. LED light with a wavelength of 633 will

take away wrinkles on its own. It regenerates fibroblasts.

If you used LED 633 light and dermarolling instead of

microdermabrasion, you’d improve collagen production –

and believe it or not, that’s possibly a better treatment than

Botox. They both take away lines, but with Botox you’re left

with the old skin you had before; this treatment will grow

you new skin.”

What worksFrom dodgy doctors to faux-tox, it appears we need to keep

our eyes wide open when attempting to prettify ourselves.

To make this less daunting, here’s Dr Treacy’s pick of effective

anti-ageing and body-contouring procedures:

• Renew “The top anti-ageing procedures stimulate the

body to regenerate itself, through a process we call

biomimetics. We aim to get the body to fix itself by

injuring it. The best technique for achieving this will

always be fractional CO2 laser resurfacing; nothing will

ever compete with it.”

• Tighten up “As for body contouring, I see lots of

competing machines – from CoolSculpting (cryogenics)

to UltraShape (ultrasound). Then we have high-intensity

focused ultrasound and radiofrequency devices. If

we look at them, UltraShape is nice for a couple of

Perhaps this is because of his humanitarian side. Often

working with other philanthropic personalities, like Bono,

Michael Douglas and Jay-Z, he’s started several initiatives to

help needy children across Africa, as well as people in war-

torn areas.

An insatiable adventurer, Dr Treacy has many stories to

tell. But I’m after the beauty authority’s verdict on aesthetic

treatments that deliver and trends to watch in 2016.

What to stay away fromWe chat about beauty gimmicks, with their enticing

promises and disappointing results, and I get the feeling

that this is one man who doesn’t hold back when giving his

take on controversial issues.

He gets quite worked up while talking about ineffective

treatments and the many unscrupulous, fame-hungry

aesthetic practitioners on the prowl. “An awful lot of doctors

in our industry aren’t that talented, even though some of

them are well known. They’ll do any attention-grabbing

procedure, just to get in the limelight. Take the vampire

facelift: the scientific evidence isn’t really there to support it;

those who’re performing it, particularly for rejuvenation, just

want to get their names out there.”

What also gets his blood pressure up is the mass

availability of “faux-tox” (fake – and dangerous – Botox), as

well as the frequent headlines announcing the discovery

of needleless Botox, with catchy names like “no-tox”.

To avoid bogus Botox, he says, go to only reputable

aesthetic doctors.

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HEALTHY LIVING

What’s behind the celeb shockers?Renée Zellweger, Donatella Versace, Madonna … Dr Treacy weighs in on celebs’ aesthetic procedures gone wrong: “I think many female celebrities have body dysmorphic disorder, and the sort of look they’re going for isn’t what most people would consider aesthetically pleasing. They allow themselves to be overfilled, often by someone with a poor aesthetic eye. Several celebrities come to me to reverse bad jobs – I’ve needed to book two women into hospital to remove fillers from their faces.”

To find out more about Dr Patrick Treacy’s colourful life, read his memoir, Behind the Mask. Available

from Amazon.com

reasons. Two being that it gives quick results, and it’s

nonthermal, so the patient doesn’t end up with burns.

The radiofrequency devices are getting there; no doubt

about it when you look at VelaShape III.”

But can any of these machines banish cellulite? “VelaShape

III works fine for cellulite, but only temporarily. You’ll

probably need a treatment every six months. Nothing that

I’ve seen removes cellulite, takes it away and that’s that.

Maybe we should accept that since about 80% of women

have cellulite, that’s the way women are supposed to look!”

What’s to come Dr Treacy’s beauty forecast? “Treatments using true stem

cells have major potential. Ethical issues have held back this

area of research, but I hope it’ll start picking up. It’s much

better to grow your own fat cells for breast implants, for

example, than to put in implants made of silicone or saline.”

And for everyone who longs for thick, luscious tresses,

hair cloning may soon be an option. “While still in the

developmental phase, the procedure of extracting healthy

hair follicle cells, multiplying them and then re-implanting

them into balding areas of the scalp, where they would

grow hair, has potential if done by proper doctors

and biochemists.”

The beauty authority has spoken. HI

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