“Beauty can be in many things, but to continue being one seems fundamental to me,” he says. Velia Lemel, from his clinic in Recoleta. And it is that Lemel, a member of the Argentine Society of Dermatology, seeks in the evolution of technology applied to aesthetics the possibility that its patients can continue to look good over the years, without losing the features that identify them. The dermatologist is convinced that looking good empowers you and that skin care begins at home.
NEWS: Why did you decide to pursue aesthetic medicine?
Velia Lemel: When I finished medicine, the first branch I went to was Cardiology, I loved it, I had two young boys, I almost finished my Cardiology residency, but I always liked aesthetics a lot. I discovered that my true passion was dermatology and I started at Hospital Fernández. In the mid-90s, at an international conference, I learned about the laser for resurfacing, to improve pores, scars, blemishes, and I loved it. In 1998 we bought the first hair removal laser and the first resurfacing laser.
NEWS: How did your journey continue?
Lemmel: At first I had two small offices, we were among the first. In 2001 we moved to a large clinic. That’s where we started with the revolutionary device for cellulite. I discovered my fascination for technology and science applied to aesthetic technology. In 1998 we started with injectables, at that time with collagen and botox, it was a novelty. From then on, no one stopped me. I like to go to conferences, often as a speaker, I learn, I am also a teacher at the UBA, I love teaching. I can’t stop admiring the evolution in all this. Before it was all surgery.
NEWS: What is sought with these advances?
Lemmel: That the treatments are outpatient, that they do not leave scars, that we preserve our natural features, that you recognize yourself in the mirror. In my mom’s time, if you wanted to do something to yourself it was stretching, now you can do more subtle things to preserve your features.
NEWS: Sometimes aesthetics can be seen as something superficial, what stories do you find?
Lemmel: When we started with the lasers we received people from the hospital, with marks that made them self-conscious. Today it is not seen as something frivolous, we are living more than 30 years more than our grandparents lived, but the battle is to keep the body healthy and aesthetic. Older people go to the gym, go running, and they want to accompany it with a good physical appearance. Aesthetics is in everything, not only in wrinkles, but also in improving the skin.
NEWS: Is there more awareness about skin care?
Lemmel: Much more and from very early ages. People know that you don’t have to go to sleep with makeup or the day’s dirt on your face.
NEWS: And regarding skin cancer, is there more awareness?
Lemmel: Our task is fundamentally preventive, when it is necessary to remove a cancer it is different. It is a cancer that warns, that can be seen and can be prevented in 80 percent of cases. Every two hours, hour and a half, you have to repeat the sunscreen.
NEWS: Do you have many inquiries from young girls?
Lemmel: Re young. Generally we have two types of treatments, one that is to improve problems of age, and the other is with young girls who want to improve the lines of the nose, straighten the septum, which today can be done with hyaluronic acid, bigger mouth, raise eyebrows, some detail.
NEWS: In NEWS there was a cover that spoke of “cloned beauty”, at what point do you put the limit on the patient?
Lemmel: At one point, for example, “fox eyes” began to be used, which everyone wanted, but it does not look good on all faces. First you have to put a limit on the girls when they ask you, for example, the Russian lips that are very fashionable, but it is not for everyone. They see it on Instagram. I like natural things. I set the limit when they ask for something exaggerated.
NEWS: Do patients give in?
Lemmel: If you give them logical explanations they listen to you, not everyone looks good on some of the things that are used. Don’t ask me to do something I don’t like, it’s not in me. I am the doctor and I say: this is as far as we go.
NEWS: Do many men attend?
Lemmel: Increasingly. Everyone is alert to aesthetics.
NEWS: What’s next in aesthetic technology?
Lemmel: There is much more awareness of body treatment, much more body treatment equipment. The last thing in body is the treatment of the muscle, having a strong muscle is not only aesthetic but healthy.
NEWS: You have a clinic in Miami, what are the differences between the patients there and the Argentine ones?
Lemmel: There the fashion is more Latin, they want Russian lips, big tails, voluptuousness, here we have a more natural wave, like the Europeans.
NEWS: At what age should you start taking care of your skin?
Lemmel: It depends, if you have skin with acne, from the age of 13 you have to start, if you are lucky enough to have healthy skin, at 20 is the key age to start with facial hygiene every night, go to the cosmetologist every Therefore, use a moisturizer, a Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid. At 30, some little things are added, retinol, a good exfoliant. They ask me what I do, I put a little botox, I had a very marked frown, she seemed angry, every once in a while I like to put something to improve the texture of the skin, but skin care goes through home care . It is very easy to go for a treatment and at home do nothing. The important thing is to educate, so that people know what to use and what is suitable for each skin.
