As of February 2011, the unemployment rate for adult men was 8.7%.  With more male candidates fighting over fewer job opportunities, landing work in today’s economy is more than a resume boasting professional experience and a college degree. Economists Daniel Hamermesh and Jeff Biddle discovered that attractive men and women enjoy hourly earnings 5% higher than those with average looks in a paper entitled, “Beauty and the Labour Market”.  Simply put, looking good pays.

In 2010, 1.1 million cosmetic procedures were performed on men according to a recent report released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.  The number of cosmetic procedures is up 2% from 2009 and experts believe fierce job market competition is driving men to seek everything from Botox to chemical peels to CoolSculpting ™.  Men in their forties, fifties, and sixties are getting passed over for job raises that are going to their younger colleagues.

Below are the five most popular male minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures for 2010:

1. Botox (337,000)

2. Laser Hair Removal (165,000)

3. Microdermabrasion (158,000)

4. Chemical Peel (90,000)

5. Soft Tissue Fillers (78,000)

Males account for 5-10% of patients Dr. Zimmet sees each year, with the number of visits growing.  The top reasons male patients seek out Dr. Zimmet are Zeltiq Coolsculpting ™ fat removal treatment, Botox and pulsed light rejuvenation.

Women are quick to forget that men, too, are judged by their appearance and physique.  Whether a trimmer waistline, a wrinkle-free forehead, or a rejuvenated face, a more youthful appearance has been proven to boost a man’s salary level, self-esteem, and love life.

Photo:  Noii

It’s Day 7 and I am going about my normal activities. So far, no one has pointed and/or gasped. Without the ointment now my face feels tight and very, very smooth. Still a tiny bit of peeling and the one bruise over my right eyebrow still slightly visible. I’m obsessed with being covered with sunscreen, and yet still, for the few minutes I’m in really intense sun walking to my car between meetings, I’m paranoid about my tender new skin. I put on sunscreen at 6:30 in the morning to walk the dog–that’s new. I’m carrying sunscreen in my car in case I need to re-apply, or ever forget to put it on in the first place (unlikely).

Read the rest of this entry »

No ointment, yay!

Night 5 was the worst. It was the first night that I didn’t sleep well, I tossed and turned so much that I rubbed most of the ointment off and had to get up in the middle of the night to re-apply. I also managed to get lots of it in my hair—so much so that when I washed my hair the next day it didn’t come out completely. I also realized last night that I was really  not going to be able to go to my morning meeting. Not only was my face still too red, I’d developed a bruise around my right eyelid. I emailed Dr. Zimmet about it, he said that it was probably from one of the nerve block shots, and that bruising was rare but not unheard of. I agonized all evening about whether to call in sick for my 8 a.m. meeting, and at 11 p.m. decided to email my client and reschedule. I never do that—unless I’m contagious I’ll go to meetings when I’m sick to avoid rescheduling—but I just didn’t see how I was going to able to sit across from my client in the bright light of Starbuck’s at 8 a.m. Read the rest of this entry »

Post-procedure Day 5

I’m definitely not ready for public consumption yet. And I’m about to see only the second person I will have allowed to see me since this began—an ex-boyfriend from college, now friend, who is in town from Fort Worth. I’ve over-warned him about how I look. I look better than yesterday, even, but there is still a very obvious line at my jaw where the procedure began and my face is red and peeling. A couple of places look kind of yellow-ish, almost like old bruises healing. I’m trying to think positively about tomorrow, because I don’t think I can call in sick for these meetings in the morning. I’ll be able to wash my face three times between now and then, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be OK to wear makeup yet. The instructions say to keep using the ointment until I’m not peeling anymore. But I definitely can’t go to the meeting with my face all covered with ointment—that just isn’t an option. I’m supposed to go for one more follow-up visit at Dr. Zimmet’s tomorrow but that won’t be until after my two morning meetings. I’m just going to have to suck it up and go, I guess. I’m having an early dinner tomorrow night at Uchi with friends—at least it’s somewhat dark in there and I can try to have my hair down around my face. Thank goodness I have long hair!

Yesterday I was super-excited about how tight my skin looked, especially my eyelids, around my mouth and eyes. Read the rest of this entry »

If anything I look worse today. The white area around my eyebrows is very visible in the sea of red/brown that is my face. Pictures are not doing it justice. I’ve tried to get close-ups but with or without the flash it’s just not showing how crusty I really look. I can totally see why the instructions repeat several times to use old sheets and pillowcases. My pillowcases are totally gross when I wake up. I’m going through lots of washcloths and towels as I’m washing my face four times a day as instructed. My face feels a little bit sore, mostly when I touch it. My skin is tight—I can really feel the tightness when I frown or wrinkle my nose. Also itchier today.

Here is a video about the procedure:

Here is the Active FX post-procedure regime (given to me in writing the day of the procedure): Read the rest of this entry »