“Extremely successful people are used to getting what they want, when they want it,” top New York plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Levine told the Cut, which has made it difficult for many of his clients to understand that they literally cannot get the lifts, fillers and augmentations they’ve been begging for during lockdown.
While Levine told the Cut he’s only been performing virtual consultations, he said he’s been “shockingly busy” throughout lockdown as demands for quarantine-breaking procedures continue to mount.
Plastic surgery interest has reportedly been on the rise since lockdown began, which many surgeons attribute to the fact that staring at ourselves on Zoom all day has put us face to face with all of our flaws and aesthetic shortcomings. But as lockdowns drag on, particularly in some of the country’s wealthiest cities, the demand for plastic surgery appears to be reaching new heights of quarantine-crazed desperation.
While Levine told the Cut he was no stranger to “unimaginable requests” even before the pandemic took hold, the “intensity” of COVID-era bargaining is even higher. “Almost every virtual consult ends with ‘How quickly can you do this?’” said Levine, adding that one client offered four times the usual fee for a facelift, in cash, and promised to have her lawyer draft a nondisclosure agreement so word about the quarantine-violating procedure wouldn’t get out.
Other drastic requests from desperate clients include offers to send Levine on a private plane to perform plastic surgery overseas, or to let the surgeon leave an in-mansion appointment with the client’s car.
“The pent up demand for plastic surgery is off-the-charts crazy-high right now,” said Levine.
Unfortunately, coronavirus doesn’t make exceptions for even the world’s wealthiest, meaning the rich and famous will just have to get ugly in quarantine like the rest of us.
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