Plus The fashion editors’ Valentine wishlist
Looking to update your skincare regime, find a new facialist or take a surgical leap? Olivia Falcon can help. Fiona Golfar looks inside her little black book
Last June I made the decision that I wanted to get my neck surgically lifted. The problem was, I had no idea where to start looking for the right person for the job. Although I worked as an editor at Vogue for 25 years and like to think I know about everything that matters – my phone is always ringing with people wanting to know where to find the best of things from haircuts to handbags – I am no expert on cosmetic surgeons.
So I called my friend Olivia Falcon, who spent 12 years editing the Tatler cosmetic surgery supplement and knows everything worth knowing about not only the best surgeons but also the most up-to-date treatments. She spends at least two days a week personally road-testing treatments, from Profhilo collagen remodelling skin boosters for the face to the newest dermatology-grade power pedicure with glycolic acid peels thrown in. In her 15 years in the business she has been injected, peeled and lasered. She’s tried it all, from cryotherapy to radio frequency skin tightening; she really is the oracle. If you want to know the doctor who fixed Cameron Diaz’s nose when she broke it on a surf board, Falcon has Dr Raj Kanodia of Beverly Hills on speed dial. Likewise, if you want the facialist who also offers the newest techniques in injectables in Leeds, she is evangelical about the talent of Dr Julia Sevi. By the end of the afternoon Olivia had bypassed the waiting list and booked me in to see Rajiv Grover, and I knew the moment I met him I was in safe hands.
I took Olivia, a 43-year-old (she looks 10 years younger) fresh-faced blonde beauty with luminous skin – no exaggeration – to lunch to thank her for having done my research for me. “Oh, I get calls like that at least three times a day,” she laughed. She described how she spent at least a morning a week helping either her own friends, who – like her – are in their early middle age, to find the best person for Botox, facials and fillers, to her mother’s friends, who wanted more in the line of facelifts and cosmetic surgery. I told her over our sushi that she was crazy not to be providing this service for more than a slice of raw fish as a thank-you; it was the right conversation at the right time.
Olivia walked out of the restaurant and into a new business. Three months later she launched The Editor’s List. Her website (editorslist.co.uk) offers a range of personalised consultation services, from a bathroom shelf edit – where she will update your skincare routine over a Skype call – to a face-to-face, top-to- toe consultation. Her first client was a former supermodel (let’s call her “X” because discretion is a vital component in this business) now in her 50s, who wanted to maintain her natural looks. From lasering away a bulging vein in her temple to a Profhilo treatment – an injectable hyaluronic acid filler that improves skin laxity – on her face and neck, to tooth whitening, Olivia spent an hour with her discussing every tiny detail of her requirements and then carefully curated a list of the best practitioners. She fast-tracked her into the appointments, some of which she accompanied her to.
Where many magazines are beholden to the brands who advertise with them, Olivia takes no commission from the doctors and practitioners she recommends. “I want to be able to be completely impartial so that I can recommend the things I 100per cent believe in,” she explains from her office in her light-filled house in north-west London. Her phone rings off the hook while I’m with her. While she gives her full attention to a client, I investigate her bathroom cupboards to check out her current beauty favourites – FYI, her shelves are colour coded. “You need a facial with Anastasia Achilleos,” I hear her tell her client who has called with the New Year blues. “She’s like a white witch, with hands that can reset your whole body. Her solar plexus massage will reboot your system and boost your energy, she will also sculpt your cheek bones just with her amazing hands. I’ll call her and get back to you in an hour.” Olivia explains: “Even though I recommend cosmetic surgeons I always look at all the alternatives. The woman I just spoke to needs something lovely and holistic. My job is to recognise that and not recommend a facial peel!”
Olivia’s philosophy is that good research leads to good results. “I wouldn’t send anyone to do anything I wouldn’t be prepared to do myself.” Although this doesn’t necessarily mean Olivia is rushing out to have breast surgery any time soon, she did try the new Crisalix 3D virtual reality imaging with Marcos Sforza that lets patients experience what a bigger or smaller bust looks like from all angles. “They looked amazing!” she admits with a chuckle, but adds “thankfully I already have pretty perky boobs…”
Are there any treatments she really doesn’t rate? “PRP,” she responds, without missing a beat – “AKA the ‘vampire facial’.” She screws up her pretty nose. “I’ve tried it and I don’t rate it. Also, all those body slimming machines are a waste of time and money,” she adds emphatically. “I’ve tried them too and they just don’t really work, except Coolsculpting, which does help target stubborn areas of fat but only if you are on the slim side already.”
Right there is the beauty of The Editor’s List. Someone who has done all the work for you. And if I say so myself, that is a very good idea.