Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Inside The Life Of A Plastic Surgery Concierge

Lynda Barens is the woman the rich and famous call when they need cosmetic surgery done in total secrecy.

An A-list movie star with a new facelift was worried about scaring her young daughter with the post-op bandages. The solution: Mom turned it into a game and pretended she was going to be in a horror movie.




A Beverly Hills socialite with an aversion to the color yellow requested a call be made to ensure that the offending hue would be nowhere in her line of vision before, during or after her cosmetic surgery. Even the yolks were discreetly removed from her breakfast eggs.

A world-famous actress, upon discovering that paparazzi were waiting to photograph her leaving the clinic of her surgeon, had a helicopter arrive to ferry her back to her hotel unseen.

The women at the heart of all these scenarios, fixing the crises behind the scenes, is Lynda Barens, whose reputation as the preeminent cosmetic surgery concierge in Los Angeles has put her on the speed dial of royals, industrialists and celebrities. "I handle everything," she says, and that is no exaggeration. Barens has become the first point of contact for women and a growing number of men from around the world who are considering cosmetic surgery—whether for the first time or the tenth. After three decades of being entrenched in cosmetic surgery circles, she knows the best doctor for a particular kind of nose job and the most competent surgeon for a specific style of breast augmentation.

At a starting fee of $3,000, she schedules appointments, takes care of travel arrangements, books hotels for post-op care, lines up private chefs and nurses, and otherwise deals with the myriad details that accompany a Brazilian butt lift or delicate eyebag removal for those whose privacy is first priority. On top of that, she plays the role of hand-holder, confidante, personal assistant and morale-booster.

"I've seen celebrities, socialites, politicians—you name it," says Barens over lunch at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "I'm all word of mouth. I've worked with the top plastic surgeons for years, so I know which doctors are the true artists and which ones are to be avoided."

Barens looks like the sort of well-heeled woman she is called upon to work with. On the day we meet, she looks trim and sophisticated in a white Max Mara pantsuit, a Louis Vuitton scarf knotted smartly around her neck and an Hermès Kelly bag on her arm. Inside the Polo Lounge, she's a regular, stopping often to exchange pleasantries with diners at other tables. She's lived in Los Angeles all her life, and been in beauty her entire career (she got her start running top hair salons in the city). After catching the eye of a cosmetic surgeon, who was impressed with the ease in which she dealt with customers, she was hired to run his clinic and head up patient services, which she did for years before making enough connections to strike out on her own and form her company, Beauty Realized.

These days, she liases with clients from Russia, China, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East. They email her photos of the areas of the face and body they want worked on, and she sends them information on the best doctors for those areas. Subsequent Skype, FaceTime and phone chats later, she hones her recommendations further to set them up with doctors whose personalities are the best fit. Once she books the appointments, she sets up limo pick-ups at LAX, and rooms at the Beverly Hills Hotel, L'Ermitage or the Peninsula. "I'm there for every appointment and on the day of surgery," she says. "Once the bandages come off, I then arrange for that post-tummy tuck bikini wax, or a consultation with a celebrity makeup artist after a facelift."

Barens always keeps in mind that getting work done, especially for the first time, is a profoundly emotional experience for many women. "They have given everything to their families for years, and are now ready to do something for themselves," she explains. As a result, choosing the perfect doctor is her biggest priority. "I really feel like it is my duty to hammer this point home," she admits quietly. "Bad plastic surgery doesn't just ruin your day, it ruins your life. I can't tell you how many women I see with their faces pulled too tight, or their breasts disproportionately large. I feel badly for them because they went in with the hopes of looking better, spent a lot of money, and their results leave a lot to be desired."

How her clients look and feel after the surgery is her ultimate calling card and what has sealed her reputation and led to her services being increasingly sought-after. "My clients don't have triple-D cups or blown-up lips. They are the people you see and think, 'I want what they've got.'" And that, in itself, makes her feel like she has the best job in the world. "I love what I do. Everyday I wake up and know I'm going to help make someone feel beautiful today."

Megan O'Brien


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