Thursday May 21, 2009
Miracle worker: Dr Jean-Louis Sebagh
By PATSY KAM
The Wrinkle Slayer comes to town.
IT’S like having fashion maestro Karl Lagerfeld make you a gown. Or, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay drop a secret ingredient into your soup.
No wonder when Dr Jean-Louis Sebagh arrived in Kuala Lumpur, his loyal fans clamoured for an audience with him just so that he would touch and analyse their faces.
“I’m no genius or miracle worker. I just take certain ingredients and formulate them, much like cooking,” said the aesthetic surgeon.
Botox king: ‘Asians don’t speak with their faces as much as Europeans do, which is good as you get a lot less age lines,’ says Dr Jean-Louis Sebagh. Coming from someone who’s been dubbed the “Wrinkle Slayer” and crowned “King of Botox”, Dr Sebagh seemed unfazed by all the excitement he has generated.
He is said to be responsible for the youthful visages of some the biggest stars in entertainment and fashion, So what does he make of those labels?
“In life, people are always giving you a ‘sticker’. They call me ‘king of Botox’ but I’ve done so much more – face reconstruction, cutting-edge surgeries, pioneered ground-breaking techniques ... My boss called me ‘king of lips’ at one time because I did so many lip jobs!”
Indeed, Dr Sebagh’s credentials are impressive: He pioneered the use of cosmetic procedure in Europe in the 90s, led the way in volume restoration with hyaluronic gel and helped Cindy Crawford create her own skincare line, Meaningful Beauty.
Born in Algeria and brought up in Paris, Dr Sebagh earned his medical degree from the University of Paris. He honed his skills with the best plastic surgeon in Los Angeles before returning to Paris, where he popularised the syringe as an alternative to the knife.
“When I was young, during my time, the dream of a young surgeon was to conduct surgeries without scars. Now the dream of the new generation is to have surgeries without cutting,” he said.
These days, he works his magic shuttling between Paris and London where his clinic days are fully booked.
You could say we journalists were privileged to have him dispense his expensive advice. In the three of us, he instantly observed three very different facial structures and predicted how we would age, which places would weaken and sag first.
Just when I thought I should start setting money aside for Botox injections, he remarked that all of us weren’t good candidates as our faces weren’t expressive enough and as such we didn’t need to erase deep set lines!
“Asians don’t speak with their faces as much as Europeans do, which is good as you get a lot less age lines. Botox is not for everyone, you know,” he explained, adding that animated expressions could cause facial lines and wrinkles, and weaken facial structure.
For “age maintenance”, Dr Sebagh advocates vitamin injections to hydrate, protect and firm the skin, and Botox, injected into the muscle, to relax and depress the muscles on the face which create lines. And then, there are the “miracle” fillers in the form of collagen and Restylane, which are used to restore facial volume.
“There are four main active components in the face – the bone, muscle, fat and the skin – and they all age differently.
“In the past, cosmetic surgery only concentrated on the upper layers. Now, the latest development has made it possible to also work on deeper layers, both at the fat and bone levels to restore volume by putting in fillers at the places where it matters most. This is the latest development in the field,” he explained.
Administered by the right hands, Botox can be applied to good measure giving a clever balance of both fat and bone restoration, and the effects can last up to 18 months.
“You start ageing at 35 onwards and the challenge is to maintain how you look right up to age 70. If a woman comes to me early for treatment, I can keep her looking young for the next 20 years. But if she comes at 50, I can only do so much,” Dr Sebagh, 54, proclaimed.
Aesthetic surgeries are not miracles because, “if you perform a facelift at that age, you’re still lifting old skin”.
A person could opt for procedures like laser but one of easiest ways to maintain your features is to use cosmeceutical products.
“One should have a healthy lifestyle and good skincare regimen which will go a long way in helping to restore face volume and prevent sagging muscles,” he added.
However, in no way does a good skincare regimen replace Botox, as they work hand in hand.
“You’re talking to different layers of the skin and no one size fits all. What’s most important is a good moisturiser. And you need powerful antioxidants, strong hydrators and anti-ageing peptides,” said Dr Sebagh, who admitted using Botox on himself since he was 39 (as he was his own guinea pig).
Dr Sebagh’s own skincare line, launched in 2004, is available in 40 countries worldwide, including Malaysia.
He was in town to launch his latest serum, Supreme Maintenance (The Youth Serum), touted to infuse the skin with vital nourishing ingredients which work to improve elasticity, tone and radiance. Containing the “youth molecule” Resveratrol, the serum also has three anti-ageing peptides and is said to protect, rejuvenate, hydrate, replenish and retexturise the skin.
“The serum is a good example of an ‘all-you-need’ product if you’re the lazy sort,” he recommended.
The price tag is hefty, at RM1,300 per 60ml bottle but Dr Sebagh maintains that there’s a price to pay for quality ingredients.
“If I find some interesting ingredient, then I will come up with a new product. I try to improve the performance of skincare but I’m not looking at changing the physiology of the product.
“But there are some mass market products out there such as Nivea and Oil of Ulay, which are very good value for money,” he said.
He also observed that European women tended to focus more on anti-ageing treatments, while Asians know a lot about ingredients and the science in skincare.
But is it so bad to let nature take its course, to want to age grace- fully?
“It’s your choice but I’m a doctor and this is what I do. My job is to find new techniques to help women look better.”
So what is the biggest stumbling block in a woman’s eternal search for youth and beauty?
Ignorance, he said bluntly.
“You have to be able to understand your skin type. People are attracted to some brands because they think they work miracles, but there is no miracle cream.”
Dr Sebagh is available at Isetan Suria KLCC and Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur, and Kens Apothecary at 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
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