The quest for eternal youth has taken a perplexing turn. Suddenly there are myriad choices for those who seek to mitigate the ravaging effects of time, from glycolic acid-peels to fat transfers, Botox injections to laser resurfacing, browlifts to liposuction. But exploring the plastic-fantastic realm can be a stab in the dark, and with increasingly devastating results.

A new professional has emerged to help patients make sensible choices: the cosmetic-surgery consultant.

Wendy Lewis has been called "the Zagat guide to cosmetic surgery", yet she acts more like a Sherpa to this decidedly complex world, helping individuals locate Dr Right, arranging private nurses and post-surgery treatments and smoothing over any accompanying anxiety with her winning bedside manner.

Unlike some consultants, Lewis is not affiliated wit

Confessing to some, if not all, of your procedures ?can give you the upper hand,? says Wendy Lewis, a New York plastic-surgery consultant. ?If you deny everything, people will assume it?s worse than it really is.? She advises downgrading every procedure and being consistent with the story - lest friends compare notes.

TRUTHFace- and neck-liftFace-liftUpper- and lower- eyelid liftLower-eyelid surgeryNeck liposuctionBrow lift FIBMini-tuckFat injectionsFat bags removedLower-eyelid laser peelPersonal trainerBotox

Whom can a woman trust with her face these days? When HMOs started cutting into medical revenues in the Nineties, many physicians turned to elective procedures as a way to pad their paychecks. Today, staggering numbers of cosmetic operations are done by doctors specializing in everything but plastic surgery. The results can be devastating, as in the case this year of the exotic dancer who wanted to round out her rear end - and was mistakenly given breast implants in her buttocks. According to Daniel Morello MD, president of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS; www.surgery.org), ?For every board-certified plastic surgeon, there are eight to nine other ?cosmetic surgeons? who are not certified.?

Some common words found in the essay are:
Goldberg American, Wendy Lewis, Helen Bransford, Lewis Company, Madison Avenue, Magazine Mention, Salvador Dal''s, Hilary Clinton, Friend Plastic-surgery, Finally Lewis, plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, wendy lewis, aesthetic plastic, professional emerged help, emerged help, guide cosmetic, york london, london office, aesthetic plastic surgeons, plastic surgeon, emerged help patients, zagat guide, choices cosmetic-surgery consultant, guide cosmetic surgery,
Approximate Word count = 1996
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)