You might recall pre-Covid 19, when Zoom meetings were reserved for the occasional need to connect with international colleagues, or put in facetime with long distance clients. But since March of last year, Zoom has become an unavoidable, ever-present part of our daily work-from-home routines, and along with it – an increasing sense of urgency to touch-up or improve those perceived flaws that are now staring us in the face on a daily basis. Have virtual meetings and our computer screens replaced our mirrors? By the time that most U.S. cities had moved into the early phases of reopening local businesses last Summer, plastic surgeons across the country were already noticing a sudden spike in elective surgeries, most notably for complaints in the face and neck regions.
The volume of requested procedures and complaints about imperfections led to the most commonly performed procedures being dubbed “the Zoom neck lift,” or “the Zoom lift,” according to the country’s top surgeons from coast to coast.
“We call it the ‘Zoom neck lift,’ ’’ says Arlington plastic surgeon Talal Munasifi, referring to requests he has fielded for face work after people have suddenly stopped mid–virtual gathering and thought, holy crap, they could use a touchup. “They say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize things look like this.’”
Named the “buzziest procedure” by ELLE Magazine, MyEllevate, referred to as the “Zoom Lift” by many surgeons offering this groundbreaking procedure across the US, offers a minimally invasive solution to patients complaining about their lower face, jawline and “zoom neck”. This facial rejuvenation procedure created by Dr. Mueller has observed exponential growth in the last year as it caters to this new “Zoom Boom” trend while also targeting patients looking for non-invasive solutions.
CNN called “Zoom Face” one of 2020’s biggest beauty trends, noting that interestingly, as our perspectives on the importance of beauty and self-care evolved through 2020, lipstick sales had gone down, while online searches for cosmetic surgeries had increased. It would appear that, while we may no longer need to arrive for our AM board meetings in full presentation attire and game faces on, we have since inadvertently narrowed our visual focus to that all-important region just north of our shoulders, putting every wrinkle, sun spot, or double chin on full blast to anyone joining our meetings.
Unsurprisingly, once forced to live 80% of both our personal and professional moments out on video platforms, “many of us became more aware — and sometimes insecure — about our appearances,” says Dr. Sheila Nazarian, star of Netflix’s “Skin Decision”, according to CNN Style. Last August, when Nazarian’s clinic resumed regular appointments, “lots of people came to get lower face work … because, with Zoom, the camera points up from below.”
Indeed, “The “Zoom effect” (or “Zoom boom”) saw growing demand for neck liposuctions, lower facial tightening facelifts and under-eye fillers, Nazarian said — but also tummy tucks, breast lifts and more.”
As Dr. Munasifi pointed out, before Quarantine, extensive post-operative recovery time wasn’t an option for most clients. But now, with so many having made the shift to working from home, recovery time is no longer an obstacle to his clients scheduling long-desired procedures, and they are eagerly taking full advantage of their Covid 19 lockdown time to accomplish their glow-ups, from facial rejuvenation and skin tightening, to breast augmentations and liposuction.
During a time of such uncertainty, one might consider this increased emphasis on physical appearance superficial. But another way of looking at it is that when people are at home, and spending more time than usual reflecting on the things that matter most, they are able to zero in on the things that will truly add to their happiness, things that would make them feel good in the long-term. That kind of self-care and self-improvement can help us to stay positive during the challenges of Covid 19, and will inevitably offer us a collectively brighter future, as we move into lighter days ahead.
Articles sited:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/2020-biggest-beauty-trends/index.html