Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

We hadn't seen Bruce Wasserstein—billionaire financier, Lazard chairman, owner of New York magazine—for quite some time until he made this appearance yesterday at a breakfast for Fortune. We're very happy to see he appears to be keeping up New York's "Best Doctors" issue: The new Bruce is trimmer, his skin looks is taut and smooth, and those unsightly bags under his eyes have completely vanished. We don't know who deserves the credit for this impressive transformation (Sherrell? Dan? Pat?), but whoever it is, please know that we fully approve of Bruce 2.0!

♦  A first look at Charlotte Ronson's line for JCPenney, I Heart Ronson, and her new $30 dresses. [Nylon]
♦  Details on the cuts at Men's Vogue: The mag will be published just two times next year and publisher Marc Berger is leaving. The fate of other staffers is unclear. [Mediaweek]
♦  Damien Hirst's latest collaboration with Levi's includes pairs of jeans for $230 and $83 t-shirts. [WWD]
♦  Plastic surgeons report interest in cosmetic procedures is dropping fast. [NYT]More

Guys: Were you under the impression that sticking needles into your face in an attempt to stave off the inexorable march of time was just for the ladies? Still buying into the myth that for men, aging confers a distinguished authority? Well, the manufacturers of Botox and their willing footsoldiers, cosmetic doctors, would like to remind you that staying on top professionally in this economic climate is a young man's game, and don't you want to be competitive? A certain "45-year-old publisher of a New York-based magazine" does: He confesses to the Times (on condition of anonymity!) that he's been getting Botox for years.More

It's going to take more than a major economic crisis to keep women from their Botox appointments, say dermatologists who have seen absolutely no slowdown in business. The same goes for high-end skincare products, which have witnessed an increase in sales compared to the same time period last year. How could this be possible, you ask? "Women have a basic belief that they save on the things they have to buy in order to spend on the things they want to buy," opines an ad exec who works on beauty accounts. "It's like men and booze." And even easier to conceal: Whereas it's obvious what a man's been spending his money on when he arrives home slurring and smelling like a bar, a woman might have thousands of dollars worth of injections but no one has to know. "Most husbands," says plastic surgeon Robert Guida, "don't pay attention to what their wives look like."

Surgery Tourism Boom | As we heard a while back, foreigners are taking advantage of the weak dollar to come to New York and LA for plastic surgery. Now doctors are getting into the act, too. With fewer wealthy local patients to nip and tuck, "reverse medical tourism" is a growing trend, reports WWD, and "a number of top-tier practices have started acting as de facto travel agencies." So if you were hoping that the crumbling economy might result in cut-price boob jobs and facelifts, well, don't get your hopes up. But you can always turn to a reality show for your bargain surgery needs. [WWD]

Celebrity dermatologist Nicholas Perricone—who has become as well-known for his scandalously acrimonious divorce as for his shtick that eating salmon keeps wrinkles at bay—is concerned about the popularity of Botox and fillers. No, it's not that their effectiveness makes his potential customers much less likely to pay outrageous sums for his skincare products, perish the thought. It's just that cosmetic procedures "all cause inflammation and trauma and I'm not sure this is the best strategy for maintaining a youthful face. The problem with science is that there's a flavor of the month and people get excited, and a lot of it is driven by economics." Whereas he is driven solely by an altruistic desire to help people look pretty, and if that means building a multimillion dollar cosmeceuticals empire and writing bestsellers, well, so be it.

Back Bulges Begone | Believe it or not, there's an area of your body you may not have developed a complex about yet, but plastic surgeons have anticipated (created?) your need to have it corrected anyway: The back lift is here! Yes, it leaves a huge scar, but it's under the bra line, so it'll be $10K well spent. [MSNBC]

Nothing makes us drop our guard and fall for an expensive and dubious new beauty product more than a clever marketing coinage. The latest? Skingestibles! Naturally, this means something you swallow to make your skin youthful, smooth and generally look like you've never smoked a cigarette, drank bourbon straight from the bottle, and rebelliously foregone SPF. (Or that's the idea, anyway.) "Glowelle," which launched at Bergdorf's and Neiman's this week, is a powder containing various antioxidants that you dissolve in water and drink for an alleged, well, glow. The catch is that it's $112 for a month's supply. Much more economical is a product from our friend Dr. Fredric Brandt (left), the man responsible for tending to the facial needs of Madonna: His "Antioxidant Water Booster" is only $35, and while it probably won't actually have a discernibly different effect from a bottle of Snapple, on the plus side you won't risk looking like Dr. Brandt himself. After the jump, a totally unrelated video of Dr. Freddie in all his plasticky glory. Just in case you're falling asleep at the office this afternoon and a shock to your nervous system.  More

It's not clear which is the greater mystery: Why women flock to dermatologist-to-the-stars Fredric Brandt when his wildly askew aesthetic judgment is displayed on his smooth, shiny visage for all the world to see, or why the good doctor himself chooses to ignore the evidence of his own mirror to self-administer amounts of botox and fillers that, he admits, would require a payment plan were he not getting them at cost. As a journalist discovers when she spends a day at Brandt's East 34th Street clinic, these are not questions that trouble the patients—27 in a typical 10-hour day—who joyfully submit to multiple injections, lasers, and Brandt's more-is-better attitude.More

Plastic surgeons used to worry about "problem patients" who were getting surgery for the wrong reasons, or who might be psychologically vulnerable. Now problem patients are the ones who might publicly vent their dissatisfaction with a procedure and impact their doctor's practice. Since these days anyone can set up a website or post on cosmetic surgery message boards, allowing forever Googlable mud-slinging, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is making videos of "the kind of patients to avoid," an example of whom would be "the cloying patient who butters you up with compliments."More

It's bad enough when bridesmaids are picky about the cut of the peach satin dress they're asked to wear. But now it seems that some horribly insensitive women are unwilling to have a bit of surgery to make sure everyone looks their best on the big day. Don't they know they probably need it done anyway? Today the Times reports on the alleged trend for women in a wedding party to have group cosmetic enhancements at the behest of the bride:More

We could just about cope when British people were colonizing the West Village, infiltrating the media, and seducing our musicians, but this is much, much worse: Now they're commandeering our plastic surgeons! The WSJ reports that the weak dollar and the high price of surgery in Europe has led to an influx of patients from the UK, who combine affordable facelifts and nosejobs with shopping and vacationing:

Some U.S. plastic surgeons are promoting themselves through in-flight magazines read by international travelers. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in Manhattan, one of the U.S.'s oldest specialty hospitals, is preparing to launch a marketing campaign in London. The initiative is "capitalizing on the value of the dollar" as well as a recognition that New York is "very much a destination," says Allan Fine, a hospital vice president.

So, now you can not only blame the British for sending us Simon Cowell, it will also be their fault when nipped-and-tucked socials can't get a quick appointment with the doctor of their choice.

Your Body Part, Online | Would you be okay with having your boob job or cosmetic dental work videotaped so your doctor can put up the gory film on YouTube as part of an ad? How about if you got a freebie like Botox, tooth-whitening or a Juvederm shot? In that case, many people are perfectly happy to go along with it, so says today's Times. Points to editors of the Styles section for concocting a story that combines two top traffic-drivers: that everyone is having work done these days and the Internet can be scary! [NYT]

Been toying with the idea of a little surgical enhancement? Now's the time, apparently: Plastic surgeons are being hit by the recession, meaning that whereas a couple of years ago you'd have to wait months (or years) to get an appointment with a top scalpel artiste, now you can waltz right in—and presumably haggle on price, too! Dr. Sherrell Aston, however, denies being less busy than usual, but perhaps that's because his particular demo wouldn't dream of economizing on their nips and tucks, even though some of them would benefit from aging a little more, um, gracefully.

Married To the Knife | You wouldn't think there'd be a down side to being married to a top plastic surgeon—after all, what could be better than facelifts and boob jobs on tap? But apparently it's not quite that simple. Muffie Potter Aston and Mary Ann Tighe no doubt empathize. [Telegraph]