The Demi-God of Dermatology Dr. FredericBrandt

By Stacy Scott

When you first see him, you do not know quite what to think. Has he never been out in the sun? His skin is flawless -- unmarked, unspotted which is quite an impossible feat here in South Florida. And why does his face look all dewy and moist? His cheekbones are plump and bravely standing out of the curves of his face.

His eyes are wide and spread apart. Literally, there is not a wrinkle on his face. Who is this person? He is Dr. Frederic Brandt, 60, the demi-God of Dermatology. Routinely described in the press as Madonna’s dermatologist
(though he won’t confirm it). His nickname is the Baron of Botox. Brandt is the Miami and Manhattan based dermatologist who is known for championing the NEWNEW face.

To understand, let’s start with the old face (think Cher or Faye Dunaway) taut skin pulled behind the ears with no character or fullness. The look is smooth but not always very youthful. The NEWNEW face (think Demi Moore,
Michelle Pfeiffer or Madonna) restores the youthful curvatures, structure and fullness to the face. “What we notice when people start to age is that the fat pads start falling, the cheeks start drooping and we begin to lose the volume in the upper face. It causes the lower face to sag,” said Brandt. The NEWNEW face recreates the inverted triangle your face had when you were younger. It is wrinkle free, moist and plump.

In medical school, Brandt was interested in internal medicine. “I was actually hoping to go into oncology. I did a lot of work at Sloan Kettering on leukemia,” he said. But in the middle of it all, he decided to go into dermatology. Brandt finished his residency in the mid 80’s when all the cosmetic enhancements were not yet available. “We had a little collagen, peels and dermabrasion but that was the limit,” he said. Times have definitely changed.

Brandt uses science and research to substantiate his aesthetic findings. He has been involved with hundreds of FDA trials for procedures and products. He currently sits on the advisory board of two of the largest producers of
cosmaceuticals Allergan and Medicis Aesthetics and consults for medical companies such as Dermik, Johnson & Johnson and Merck Pharmaceutical.

He is also one of the first dermatologists enlisted by the makers of revolutionary products such as Restylane, Perlane and Evolence to conduct FDA approved clinical trials. Brandt has also developed his own high-end
skin care line.

Q: In your book 10 Minutes 10 Years: Your Definitive Guide to a Beautiful and Youthful Appearance you talk about the ravaging effects of the three S's--sugar sun and smoking. Are these the ultimate enemies we need to fight to prevent aging?
Dr. Brandt: Besides the sun, I think cigarette smoking is the worst thing you can do. I think if you want to age
yourself - cigarettes and the sun is the perfect recipe.

Q: You use Botox on other areas not just the face, why?
Dr. Brandt: I developed the Botox neck lift and Botox nose lift. I discovered that the neck muscles pull down the face. If you inject the neck muscles, the facial muscles don’t have the opposing force pulling them down, so they lift up. Also by injecting the neck, you eliminate the lines called the cords (taut muscles that look like rubber bands). With the nose lift--you injecting the muscles in the nose.

Q: What are the first signs of aging that you notice?
Dr. Brandt: The first thing you notice is pigmentation on the face. Instead of being one smooth color, you start to
see lots of brown or red discoloration, and then fine lines develop. This is really related to sun exposure.

Q: How can you treat the pigmentation?
Dr. Brandt: There are a lot of different lasers you can use to eliminate brown spots, blood vessels and improve the texture. You can use some Q-Switch lasers to eliminate brown spots and fractional lasers to eliminate wrinkles and smooth out the surface.

Q: What is the best way to get fuller and plumper lips?
Dr. Brandt: The problem with the lips now is people are overdoing it and are walking around with the ridiculously
oversized trout-like lips. You’ve heard people call them “trout pouts.” You want to make sure you don’t over do
it and just add a nice enhancement to the lips. My favorite filler for the lips is hyaluronic acid because it is
very natural and soft. You can also use Restylane or Juvederm. Restylane gives a more crisp definition. Juvederm gives the lips a more plumper look.

Q: People hate the lines that go from the nose down to the mouth, the marionette wrinkles in the nasolabial folds, what can you do about them?
Dr. Brandt: I always tell people that these wrinkles are a symptom. The real problem is the falling of the fat
pad in the face. You can fill in those lines; but I prefer to lift the cheek with filler and eliminate them. It gives you
a prettier look. You may get a little wrinkle under the eyes from that, so we may need to use a little filler in the
eye area too. Everybody looks prettier with a fuller cheeks.

Q: How can you make dull skinappear more youthful?
Dr. Brandt: Dull skin is usually caused by sun damage and smoking. So you want to increase the cell turnover rate by exfoliating the skin. This can be done using microdermabrasion or a chemical peel. You want to use
products, like peptide cream, glycolic acids or salicylic acids, to speed up the skin’s cell turnover rate.

Q: What can you do about large pores?
Dr. Brandt: Pores are something that enlarge with age because you have less collagen in the skin to keep them tight, allowing the sebaceous glands to enlarge. What you can do is keep the pores clean. It is good to use a salicylic acid cream that is lipid soluble so it goes into the pores and dissolves the oils. In the office we do laser treatments on the pores to stimulate collagen production which shrinks the oil glands and that helps to shrink the pores.

Q: If you could only use one skincare product, what would it be?
Dr. Brandt: Sunscreen! So many people don’t put on sunscreen unless they are at the beach.

LASER TREATMENT FYI
As far as laser treatments go, you must talk to your doctor about your skin. Lighter skinned people tend to have better success with laser treatments than darker skinned people. There are certain lasers that are specifically for darker skinned people that you can use safely. People who have olive or darker skin must be very careful with lasers.