H E A LT H & B E AU T Y
DR . MARIE V. HAYAG FIFTH AVENUE AESTHETICS By Chris Cameron Photography By Vital Agibalow
ARTISTIC PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY Dr. Marie Hayag has built one of the most respected dermatology practices in the city. Her clients are New York’s best-known public figures. The most discreet slip in unnoticed through her Fifth Avenue office’s VIP entrance for cutting-edge treatments. Specializing in aesthetic procedures, Dr. Hayag says she often thinks of herself as a sculptor as much as a medical professional. Artistic principles of beauty guide her hand, while science informs her decision-making. “When I evaluate someone it’s like looking at a canvas,” she says. “Most of my patients are seeking facial consultation, so I evaluate their whole face, their three-dimensional face. I look at different angles and shadows. I talk to them about beauty and its relationship to proportion. It is never just one thing. The answer is not just Botox or a filler, but is usually multiple approaches and treatments that give one the optimal look. My happiest patients are those who come in for regular maintenance treatments.” INTRODUCTION TO DERMATOLOGY The good doctor might never have made her mark on Manhattan nor found her calling if she hadn’t contracted a severe case of the
chicken pox. “It really sucked,” laughs Dr. Hayag, who graduated from Florida State University with magna cum laude honors and then attended the University of Miami School of Medicine, where she conducted multiple clinical research studies, including sunscreen’s effects on UV-induced immunosuppression and the early trials of Botox. Dr. Hayag says, “I had an incredibly itchy rash all over my body and, as I suspected, was diagnosed with chicken pox by Dr. Richard Taylor, an attending physician in the dermatology department. Shortly after my visit, I ran into Dr. Taylor, who inquired about what specialty I intended to choose. When I told him I still had not decided, he suggested that I might be interested in dermatology, and he ultimately became my mentor during the rest of medical school and my dermatology residency. The only benefit of having chicken pox was it led me to selecting dermatology as my specialty. How lucky was I!” GO SEMINOLES! Dr. Hayag was raised in the small town of St. Marys, Georgia, just across the Florida state line. Her family still calls St. Marys home, and she still considers herself first and foremost a Southern girl. Social Life