Las Vegas Review Journal Secret Shops Dr. Pancholi
BEAUTY QUEEN: Facing the Knife
Fashion reporter Xazmin Garza discovers that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder
By XAZMIN GARZA
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Dr. Samir Pancholi’s recommendations included lip injections, cheek pads removal and a chin implant: $6,095. To correct Xazmin Garza’s facial imperfections, Dr. Stephen W. Gordon advised a left cheek fat graft, rhinoplasty procedure and lip injections: $6,185. Ariana’s Dr. Tracy Hankins wanted to lift Garza’s brows, fill her undereyes with injections and Fraxel her skin: $8,561.
Editor’s Note: “Beauty Queen” is a monthly column that sends fashion reporter Xazmin Garza out into the field to anonymously test the latest beauty products and services.
I visited a cosmetic surgeon’s office for the first time six years ago. Acne scars escorted me there; a bruised ego ushered me out.
The office’s laser treatments would do more harm than good to my olive tone skin, the doctor told me, but a good chin implant would take care of that other issue.
Say what?
I arrived with one complex and left with two. That experience created my opinion of the cosmetic surgery industry. The uglier patients feel, the prettier the doctors’ profits.
I discovered the term “weak profile” in Salt Lake City, a result of that fun appointment. I figured the scrutiny at a Las Vegas office in comparison would make me long for the warm compassion of my Utah doc. To test the theory, I took on a project with the potential to give my self-image the kind of nose dive only known to “American Idol” rejects, junior high outcasts and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Similar to a homeowner calling in an appraiser for home improvement recommendations, I asked three cosmetic surgeons in town for aesthetic suggestions. The approach wasn’t a blatant, “What’s wrong with my face, doctor?” but something close to that.
To ensure a brief laundry list, I made my body exempt, keeping the nip and tuck ideas above the neck. Although the doctors pushed, some harder than others, I never pinpointed a single source of grief. Rather, the spiel consisted of a desire for a new year, new me. Nothing on my face causes me to cry myself to sleep or avoid mirrors, I told them, but let’s be honest, there’s always room for improvement.
And the flaw citations flowed.
DR. BEDSIDE MANNER
I visited Dr. Samir Pancholi, a doctor of osteopathics at Cosmetic Surgery of Las Vegas first. Of the three doctors, his bedside manner impressed me most.
“I don’t want to start making all kinds of suggestions and give you a complex,” he told me from behind his large cherry wood desk. “That wouldn’t be the healthy way to approach things.”
That said, Pancholi rattled off “a good starting point” for me. His approach impressed me because he put things into a makeup context. As in, “Many women use makeup tricks to make their lips appear larger. You could do something there.”
Apparently my right lip line extends further than my left. Further shaming my left lip, the right one is also fuller. Lip injections would take care of that.
Removing my inner cheek pads, which resemble an egg yoke, would give my cheekbones prominence. And that would be it, he told me, nodding.
Oh, wait. “Turn to the left,” Pancholi directed. I thought this was the rhinoplasty test, but to my surprise: “Yes, a chin implant.” Because it would give my face balance. Just when I thought I’d grown out of that eye-straining habit of checking out my profile in mirrors.
The short, dark complected doctor added he wouldn’t touch my eyes; those are nice. Just to see if he’d take the bait, I started fondling the silicone and saline bags on his desk and asking questions. Pancholi answered every one of them and didn’t attempt to sway me once. Great, now I have to like this guy, I thought.
The total damage at Cosmetic Surgery of Las Vegas came to $6,095.
DR. TO THE POINT
Whereas Pancholi made me feel like the only one in the room — because I, in fact, was the only one — Dr. Stephen W. Gordon made me feel, well, less special.
The gray-haired, middle-aged doctor greeted me with his nurse, Misty, an hour and 15 minutes after my appointment time. Gordon is a busy doctor, which could be a testament to his work. His generous waiting room had plenty of occupancy during my visit. Albums brimming with thank you letters decorated his coffee tables and a beauty magazine article featuring the doctor met you at the sign-in desk. As the time-pressed tend to do, Gordon didn’t beat around the bush.
After expressing the reason for my appointment, he brushed the hair off my brow and started a full, forehead-to-neck analysis. I listened as Gordon pointed out, to Misty not me, a medical condition that apparently ails my face. It happens when the skull twists, causing imbalanced “orbits” in the area from your brow line to the sides of your nose.
Whatever it was, Misty could detect it, too. She jotted down notes and nodded yes.
A fat graft in my left cheek would solve the freakish problem. Moving right along, he could de-bump the bridge of my nose and inject my lips with plumpening Juvéderm at $650 a syringe. He pondered a chin implant for a half a second and decided it would be excessive. The total came to $6,185.
OK, but back to this skull twist that was, quite frankly, twisting my skull. “I don’t want it to sound like a bad thing or a scary thing,” Gordon said. “And I don’t want to come off pompous, either.”
Too late.
He assured me my case was completely microscopic. I tried to smile. “You asked for my opinion so I gave it to you like I would to my cousin in L.A.,” Gordon said. “If these things bother you, you can do them. But I don’t think you need any of it. You’re good looking as you are.”
My self-esteem slowly reared its head back up and then Gordon touched my wrist. “You really don’t (need surgery),” he said just before exiting.
DR. RUSH
The final doctor to evaluate me was Dr. Tracy Hankins at Ariana Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center. I only waited 15 minutes to see him. Hankins seemed rushed as he handed me a mirror and asked me to tell him what bothered me. I repeated the speech that I’d grown tired of hearing myself deliver about not necessarily being bothered by one thing but certainly wanting something better. “Well, this is how I like to do things,” Hankins said, adjusting the mirror so I could better see my reflection. I acted stumped.
Rather than continue the dance, Hankins took control. The handsome, young, bald-headed doctor explained the three dimensions of a face: forehead, cheeks, mouth area. My eyes concerned him. He recommended a brow lift and undereye filler injections.
“You don’t think 30 is too young for a brow lift?” I asked.
“I’ve done them on women your age,” he answered before adding, “You’re losing your eyelids.”
Add five Fraxel laser treatments onto the tab to smooth out my skin’s irregularities, and Ariana’s recommendations totaled $8,561.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Surprisingly, the doctors all expressed hesitance when asked to offer their opinions. Without some direction, each seemed confused and some even uncomfortable. I found that refreshing. No one made me feel small. Furthermore, no one aimed for that.
The best part about visiting three cosmetic surgeons in one week, however, came with the variety of “problems” cited. It sounds odd at first but each doctor gave three clashing evaluations. At the end of the day, I didn’t interpret that as needing a cocktail of procedures. Rather, it affirms the adage that beauty truly lies in the eye of the beholder.
A twisted skull, crooked smile, weak profile and lost eyelids never bothered me before talking to these surgeons, and they still don’t. My heart still aches when I see someone with porcelain skin but that comes from my mind, no one else’s.
Dr. Samir Pancholi is located at Cosmetic Surgery of Las Vegas, 8068 W. Sahara Ave., Suite G, 363-0240; Dr. Stephen W. Gordon is located at Complete Cosmetic Surgery Center, 7110 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 102, 242-6900; Dr. Tracy Hankins is located at Ariana Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center, 5876 S. Pecos Rd., 733-1333.
Contact fashion reporter Xazmin Garza at xgarza@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0477.
