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Um, ‘Selfie Sculpting’ Is the Latest Beauty Craze—Here’s What You Need to Know

“Doing it for the ’Gram” has moved beyond snapshots of athletic challenges and shots of fancifully plated foods to—you guessed it—cosmetic procedures. And, of course, it started in Los Angeles, the land where a lot of sun damage meets an imperative for superficial beauty. Dr. Alexander Rivkin, head of Westside Aesthetics, has seen an uptick in patients asking for facial improvements in order to take better-looking selfies—and none of them require general anesthesia or more than an in-office appointment. Scope out the big-payoff, little pain treatments below.

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redhead woman with turtleneck over face
Twenty20

De-Emphasize Your Nose

In his so-called “15-minute nose job,” Dr. Rivkin injects Voluma filler to even out and shape the nose. It’s instant, looks natural, lasts a year and a half and is reversible at any time. (Need proof? We tried it.)

Fill Out Your Lips

The trend is away from overly inflated lips and toward a look with nice fullness, color and smoothness. (Dr. Rivkin turns away patients who want anything overdone.) The secret to a pretty mouth? Use a conservative amount of the filler Juvaderm so that lips move naturally and make sure that the lips are symmetric.

woman wearing sunglasses in a cornfield
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Define Your Jawline

The straight, tight jawline of youth makes for a really beautiful three-quarter-angle selfie. Rivkin creates it by using Voluma or Radiesse fillers, as well as Profound, a micro-needle radiofrequency device that visibly tightens the skin of the jaw and neck and stimulates collagen growth. And that little pocket of fat under the chin? An injection of Kybella melts it away.

Strengthen Your Chin

Since so many selfies are taken head-on, a strong, evenly proportioned chin does wonders for balancing your face. The exact combination of procedures varies—perhaps a bit of Botox for smoothness and Voluma filler to project it out a bit more. Voluma can also be used to shape the chin to be more square or pointed, as well as even out any asymmetry.

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Even Out Your Skin

Oh, glorious SoCal sun, why can’t we quit you? We don’t have to when we can eliminate brown spots with an IPL photofacial, which uses pulses of high-intensity light to fade them. Fraxel laser skin resurfacing can smooth skin, get rid of acne scars and reduce pores, while a Cosmelan chemical peel also does a great job of evening out color and getting rid of brown. Finally, that #iwokeuplikethis hashtag can be the truth.



dana dickey

Senior Editor

Dana Dickey is a PureWow Senior Editor, and during more than a decade in digital media, she has scoped out and tested top products and services across the lifestyle space...