These days beauty junkies are puckering up to make the cut for the cosmetic house call. But entrée into the medical company of the moment isn't exactly easy: their phone number is unlisted. For the aging beauty, finding the coveted 10 digits to Los Angeles Concierge Aesthetic Medicine is proving harder than getting into Studio 54 back in the day. Let's just say you have to move in certain circles to get it.
Maybe the operation is so clandestine because the clientele includes some of Hollywood's A-list actresses who prefer not being seen leaving a doctor's office with unsightly needle marks -- a telltale sign of Botox or Restalyne. "Given the caliber of people we're treating they want their privacy," says 38-year old C. Auden Mallas, the porcelain-skinned physician assistant frequently dispatched throughout Los Angeles to the homes of the rich and famous.
Ms. Mallas is tight-lipped -- and not due to a recent procedure -- about the operation and her client list. After all, she's seen her share of paparazzi lurking about having worked for a number of high profile dermatologists and plastic surgeons on both coasts.
In the era of celebrity weeklies and insta-Internet embarrassment, paparazzi are relentless in their quest to get celebrities in compromising and vulnerable positions, which one certainly is when leaving the plastic surgeon's office. So for a simple office procedure it may just be a bit more civilized to do it in the privacy of one's home to avoid the unexpected close-up and the ensuing tabloid spread.
To combat those aggressive cameramen even one of the city's top plastic surgeons, Dr. Raj Kanodia is willing to make the occasional house call. And who can blame him: outside his office building is a paparazzi hotspot.
Although he's known for shaping some of the best noses and careers of Hollywood's A-list, he also injects his patients with fillers and Botox once a week. "The injection patients sometimes never make it inside," explains Kanodia, as he masterfully injected Botox into the forehead of a patient on a Thursday afternoon. "They're not able to dodge the paparazzi so sometimes I have to make house calls."
But with a thriving business where he does up to 300 noses a year, he doesn't always have time to make house calls. And, quite sensibly, he prefers the office because of the lighting and medical equipment at his disposal. When a high-profile patient comes in they try to find ways to throw off the paparazzi. "We have to figure out decoys," says Kanodia. "The celebrity comes in a certain car and we have to change the car." He is quick to add, "Once they come in the building they are fine."
But its not just celebrities seeking the house call, certain social women like the convenience of it as well. On a recent Monday afternoon, Ms. Mallas was summoned to the home of a Westside socialite. Clad in a pair of capri pants, a cardigan sweater, and toting a large, black (50cm) Birkin bag, Ms. Mallas made her way into the estate. She was greeted at the door by a blonde 30-something client who was dealing with a host of vexing social problems. "My husband doesn't know I do this," she confesses, then adds, "And I need to go out in four hours and look like I haven't done anything."
Mallas shakes her head knowingly and then throws open her Birkin which is filled with such items as Botox on ice, numbing solutions and Restalyne. Next, she picked up a black Prada make-up case and removed a 20-percent solution of glycolic peels.
Then the two go up a marble stair case and begin a 20-minute suite of procedures which includes Botox, Restalyne and a glycolic peel. They emerge with big smiles, as they head back down the stairs. "I love it," the patient says her face a just a little red from the injections. "I never have to sit and wait in a doctor's office and she's amazing."
After a little more chatting, the physicians assistant gives her the $1,000 bill, which, incidentally, is right about what a top Beverly Hill doctor would charge if not a little less. After getting her check, Ms. Mallas gives her patient a warm embrace and heads out the door. She has another few house calls. She fits in between 8 to 10 patients a day.
When asked why they keep their number unlisted, she sighs, "We don't want people calling all the time," she says while getting into her black Porsche Cayenne. "It is strictly by referral." Well, their number may be unlisted, but if you're desperate to book an appointment Beauty Undercover has found their email.