Farhad Ardesh, MD
Dual Board-Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon
Beauty Mark MD™
Beverly Hills, CA
About Dr. Ardesh
Dr. Ardesh of Beauty Mark MD is a double board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon known for delivering thousands of refined, natural outcomes. With an academic background that includes teaching in head and neck surgery, ophthalmology, and dermatology at Loma Linda University, he later transitioned into private practice to focus on patient-centred care. His philosophy emphasises subtle enhancement rather than obvious alteration, earning him recognition as a leading plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach.
Looksmaxxing is broader than just plastic surgery. What I see is people becoming much more intentional about small, visible details that affect how they see their overall appearance.
I think there has been a shift from "what procedure should I get?" to "what specific thing about my appearance bothers me, and what can I realistically improve?" I think that is important for brands trying to understand this trend.
Beauty Mark MD is actually a good example of that. Our practice is focused solely on cosmetic mole removal. It sounds like a very small thing, but patients fly from out of state to Beverly Hills to have a mole removed by a board-certified facial plastic surgeon. A mole can be medically insignificant but still have a significant impact on how someone feels about their face or how they look in photographs.
And it is completely individual. Cindy Crawford's mole became part of her identity and her look, as did Marilyn Monroe's famous beauty mark. Enrique Iglesias, on the other hand, chose to remove his. Neither is right or wrong. It really comes down to how someone sees that feature on their own face.
That is what I think some brands may be missing about looksmaxxing. It doesn't necessarily mean people want more products or more procedures. They are becoming more specific about what they want. With a mole, it may be the projection off the face, the color, or even a few stubborn unwanted hairs growing from it. Something that seems insignificant to someone else may be the first thing that person sees every time they look in the mirror.
Younger patients also come in much more educated than they did five or ten years ago. They know the terminology, treatments and trends. Social media started that, and AI has accelerated it because people can now learn about almost anything in seconds. But more information doesn't always mean better information. There is still an important role for an experienced physician in separating what is real from internet hype.
I think the opportunity for brands is to be more specific and more credible, rather than just trying to sell people more things.
I have actually seen fewer patients bringing in celebrity photos and asking me to give them somebody else's nose during rhinoplasty consultation. More often they want to look like the best version of themselves. I see the same thing with facelift patients. They want to look younger and better, but they don't want to look like they had a facelift. They want improvement, but they still want to look like themselves.
At Beauty Mark MD, I spend a lot of time talking to patients about the different ways we can treat a mole. We offer procedures such as Shave Moleplasty™ and Excision Molectomy™, depending on the mole and what the patient is trying to accomplish.
We even have patients who don't want their mole completely removed because they feel it is part of their identity. They may just want it smaller or less noticeable. For these patients, I developed my signature Beauty Mark Reduction™ procedure, where we reduce the size of the mole rather than completely removing it. The goal is really based on what that individual patient wants.
