or many, there has been good reason these days to pretend the video cam is broken.

That’s, of course, because when the coronavirus hit, millions of people took to their computers for video work calls and virtual visiting with family and friends. But it wasn’t always a pretty picture. There it was, sagging necks, eye bags, and wrinkles. All were magnified, or so it seemed. There’s even a name for it: It’s called “Zoom face” and “Zoom neck.” And it wasn’t the image we wanted to project—or stare at—call after call, day after day. One reader even found a meme suggesting that Zoom’s slogan should be, “It’s you, but ugly.” And it seemed everyone was experiencing it.

Maryland resident Tracey M. Lankford works with high-end brands and clients. “So, it’s very important for me to always look my best. I’m very expressive and have been getting Botox for my forehead lines and eyes since I was 42,” says Lankford, who just turned 52. A few years later, she started having fillers to add volume to her cheeks and take care of the nasal labial folds. When the pandemic hit and everything was on lockdown, she had to postpone her doctor appointments and worried about looking tired and stressed. So as soon as her doctor could accept patients, Lankford was there for her Botox. “I felt very comfortable, since I didn’t have to remove my mask and the office took so many precautions.” But for the fillers, she waited until October, since she had to remove her mask. “After getting the injectables, I felt healthier, like I was managing the pandemic, not the other way around.”

Dr. Paul J. Carniol, president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) and clinical professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, says, “In addition to virtual meetings and being home, people were spending more time looking at themselves in the mirror. As such, they had plenty of time to decide what they would like to have done to improve their appearance.”

Rockville board-certified plastic surgeon Gregory Dick says, “When we reopened, we saw that half our patients couldn’t wait to come in, while the other half were hesitant.” In addition to some fearing the virus, others worried about job security. Then there were some patients who found they had extra money since trips were cancelled, they weren’t going to restaurants or buying clothing, and they were ready. “And it wasn’t just women coming in. It was men, too.”

 

Past president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) plastic surgeon Lynn Jeffers says, “When the pandemic hit and we shut down, ASPS put out two surveys. The consumer survey told us the top three things people were thinking about were Botox, breast augmentation, and fillers. Our members’ survey found the same three procedures. Today, we find people want to look better. Not four decades younger, just how they feel inside—a better version of themselves.”

► Botox and Fillers to the Rescue

Even after elective surgery was allowed, Dr. Carniol found many patients seemed to prefer procedures that were in the safety of the office, rather than a surgery center or a hospital. “Botox and soft tissue fillers topped patients’ wish lists.” And with people wearing masks, if they happened to get a bruise on their lower face from an injectable, their mask would cover it. Sunglasses took care of the eye area.

Botox, by temporarily “freezing” the muscles, can soften stubborn horizontal lines on the forehead and take care of the “elevens,” the entrenched lines between the brows. “Today, it’s all about looking natural,” says Dr. Jeffers. Done correctly, patients will not have that frozen, expressionless, robot look that so many people had years ago with Botox.

Soft-tissue fillers are used to elevate and fill deep folds, soften and smooth wrinkles and creases, fill shallow contours such as sunken cheeks, and improve the appearance of imperfections. Fillers, too, helped correct the Zoom-face flaws. Most fillers contain hyaluronic acid, a natural compound that aids in the production of collagen and elastin. Two of the more popular, Juvéderm and Restylane, have several different products with varying thicknesses that match the areas to be treated.

Dr. Dick remarks, “Being conservative, I may try fillers before suggesting surgery. Sometimes, that’s all they need, or it may buy them time. Today, we are seeing many celebrities having fillers in the cheeks, but many have gone way too far. Remember, you can always add more later. And if a patient feels the filler is too much, there is an enzyme that can remove it.”

When out in public and with our face masks on, the eyes are the main focal point. And they can reveal it all—tiredness and stress.

According to Dr. Jeffers, Botox can help with crows feet and raise the eyebrows for women. Another option is skin resurfacing with lasers such as fraxel, for “crepeyness” around the eyes. Fillers, too, can be used for the hollowing out of the upper eye region. “And there are many other possibilities,” says Dr. Jeffers.

And our necks have never gotten more attention than now. Laxity and jowls are what people are noticing on those Zoom calls. For that, Dr. Dick uses the thickest filler of Juvéderm and injects it in front of the jowls, making for a more rounded appearance that’s associated with a younger look.

Rockville laser specialist Dr. Shirley Olsen notes, “Fractional laser can help with lines and some tightening of the neck, but only if you don’t have real loose skin. And for those who have enough fat in their waddle, CoolSculpting can remove the fat and help tighten the skin.”

Another problem many people have faced with the lockdown was the “Covid 15.” With baking bread, cooking more, and so many happy hours, people were experiencing weight gain. Next, they took to their exercise equipment. “Then they came in for CoolSculpting, which helps get rid of the fat and does some skin tightening. And with being able to keep your mask on, everyone felt very safe. Who knows, you might just get back to the skinny side of your closet,” says Dr. Olsen.

► Nips and Tucks

If there is excessive skin, Dr. Dick sometimes does a little snip. “I’ve found that men don’t seem to be bothered by deep lines but are very disturbed by the ‘turkey neck.’ Usually, they don’t want to undergo an extensive face and neck lift, so this procedure is ideal. There is a scar, but if the patient cares for it properly, the results are good, and they can get fractional to make it even better.”

But back to those precious eyes. “What you do to the eyes depends on the problem,” says Dr. Dick. “If eyelids have extra skin, we trim it. An eyelid lift can be done in the office or a surgery center. There’s a short recovery, and I think that’s the biggest bang for the buck. If there is a hollowness to lower lids, we can add filler. If there are bags, it may require some surgery to trim them.”

► The Perfect Time

According to ASPS, breast augmentation comes in as the number two most popular procedure, right after Botox and just before fillers, when elective surgery is allowed. Twenty-two-year-old Lexi Schwartzberg of North Carolina wanted boobs since she was 16. “Being an A-cup, I always felt I looked like a boy. I realized with my job still closed and living with my parents, who would help me while I healed, it was the perfect time for the surgery. I’m now a C-cup and love how they look,” says Schwartzberg.

► What’s New

According to Maryland dermatologist Dr. Robert Weiss, in October 2020, the makers of EMSCULPT, a non-invasive aesthetics procedure that builds muscle without doing sit-ups, introduced EMSCULPT NEO, a device that combines two body-sculpting treatments into one. It is the first FDA-cleared machine that non-invasively tones muscle and burns fat at once. It uses radiofrequency heating to induce fat reduction. The excess fat cells are destroyed and eventually are eliminated through the body’s natural process. For best results, four treatments that last up to 30 minutes spaced five to 10 days apart are recommended for best results.

On Monday, dozens of local artists were evicted from Bell Foundry—a community arts space in Station North that is home to theater, gallery space, and recording studios. The city sent in fire marshals to condemn and board up the building, concluding that there were “numerous safety violations as well as deplorable conditions.”

Though the announcement came just days after a fire in Oakland, California warehouse arts space that killed nearly 40 people, the city says the eviction is not related. Inspectors cite four building violations: no valid permit, unsafe conditions, use of flammables and combustibles, and unlawful removal of beams from the ceiling.

Still, residents of the Bell Foundry found themselves displaced earlier this week and we interviewed artists Qué Pequeño, Ava Pipitone, and Person Abide to hear about their experience and where they go from here.

Those of us born before a certain year remember the idle pleasure of browsing your local video store, hoping the newest release wasn’t sold out, discovering hidden gems on the shelves, and buying sour candy at the register.

The passionate film lovers who make up Baltimore Video Collective certainly share those sentiments, too, considering they joined forces after beloved store Video Americain closed in 2014. After an impressive Kickstarter campaign, support from people like John Waters and Beach House, and collecting 10,000 titles from various sources, BVC is ready to open its new nonprofit video rental store Beyond Video.

Located on Howard Street in Remington, Beyond Video is using the modern streaming service model and applying it to its collection of vintage and rare VHS tapes, Blu-rays, and DVDs—ranging from rom-coms to campy horror to cult classics. The store’s founders include Joe Tropea, Liz Donadio, Scott Braid, Dave Barresi, Greg Golinski, Albert Birney, Kevin Coelho, and Eric Hatch.

As they prepare to open their doors on Friday, we spoke with Hatch (formerly director of programming at the Maryland Film Festival) about his love of movies, the origins of the project, and what makes this all oh-so-Baltimore.

Where did your love of film first begin?
Ironically, I grew up without a TV in the house, but my dad was, and still is, a big fan of old Hollywood movies—Marx Brothers, Humphrey Bogart, that kind of stuff. I grew up in Columbia and he would take us up to the Senator, the Charles, and places in D.C. to see these old Hollywood movies. That sort of gave me the bug. In my late teens, he relented and we got a TV/VCR, but strictly so we could watch old movies.

How did that passion translate into the opening of a nonprofit video rental store in Remington?
Well, it’s really a collective of us. A group coalesced one by one as Video Americain started closing. Initially it was to see if we could literally keep the store open, but that wasn’t viable. So we kept meeting over the years, looking primarily for a sympathetic landlord who would let us open another space. This nonprofit video store started forming in our mind. Things took a turn for the better almost two years at this point when we were able to start renting this space on Howard Street.

I know you got a lot of support from the local community. What was it like to see that outpouring?
It was very heartening to see the response on Kickstarter. Our goal was $30,000 and we ended up exceeding it. Looking back, I think that just the right amount of time had passed after Video Americain had closed. It wasn’t just nostalgia, it was a palpable loss. The hardcore cinephiles who were looking for foreign, documentary, and experimental things, they weren’t finding what they wanted online. They realized they had a broader spectrum at the video store. And maybe they realized that they missed talking to the people that work there. Sometimes algorithms on Netflix are great, but they don’t compare to the real world.

Do you think the younger generation understands the appeal of a brick-and-mortar video store?
Honestly, it isn’t taking a lot of work to show a new generation this world. We’ve done a low-key, invite-only opening the last few weeks to make sure we remember how to run a video store. There’s a wide sector of people coming in. The overwhelming majority are either people old enough to remember video stores and younger people who’ve never been. I think that’s actually how culture works. I grew up in the 1980s, so I had a fascination with the ’60s and ’70s. Kids that grew up in the ’90s or 2000s, they’re fascinated with the generation right before them. It’s a window into something they couldn’t have experienced before.

Talk about the unique model of Beyond Video.
The payment system is similar to a streaming service. You set up a recurring donation and you pick one of two plans: $12 a month that gives you three items at a time or $20 where multiple people can have have six items at a time. Once you’ve set up that recurring donation, there are no rental fees or no late fees whatsoever unless you’ve smashed one of our DVDs [laughs]. You hear about projects like this from around the country, but mostly it’s venerable institutions the have shifted to nonprofit status. All of them were pre-existing stores and they use the old business model of pay-as-you-go. The fact we’re building it from scratch and have 10,000 titles is unique.

How did you build out your collection?
The initial period we were accepting donations and we had a social media presence. We would take any commercially issued tape, DVD, or Blu-ray. And then, as things got a bit more serious, we did the work of laying out the collection, scanning everything in and seeing what we had and didn’t have. It was sort of this mental game of identifying where the holes in the collection were. That was actually super fun. We created a shared Google Doc and people started sending items we were missing from that list. Even though there’s something old-school about a video store, we’re using all the best aspects of the internet like social media and crowdsourcing to make this happen. I got a great response from A24, Criterion, and other distributors, who gave us freebies or big discounts. They loved the video store era, too.

Any titles you’re especially excited about?
I myself donated from my collection a copy of my favorite movie Posession, a 1981 very over-the-top arthouse horror movie that is only available in a super expensive velvet box. We’ve also had a lot of people donate a ton of out-of-print titles. But we want to be a full-service store. We have two floors in our store, upstairs there’s one room organized by director and then there’s another that’s comedy, drama, horror, and romance and those are very well-stocked with a lot of recognizable films.

What’s in store for this weekend?
Friday is going to be our first day open to the public. We’re open just on weekends through December and going to scale up in January and February. We’re hoping eventually to be open four or five days a week. On Friday, no balloons or popcorn I don’t think, we’re just opening the doors to the general public for the first time. I’m sure this type of thing could happen in other cities, but this has had a very DIY spirit that reflects the Baltimore sensibility.

For Scott Braid, the love of film began with his childhood video stores. Growing up in Perry Hall, the lifelong Baltimorean had a weekly ritual: scour the shelves, explore the horror section, and take chances on movies he’d never heard of. 

Years later, in 2000, he got a job at the eclectic Video Americain in Roland Park that cemented his fascination with cinema. He worked there for 10 years and claims to have learned more at the store than during his time at film school.

Eventually, Video Americain started to struggle, ultimately closing in 2014, at which point Braid joined forces with fellow Maryland Film Festival staffer Eric Hatch to form the Baltimore Video Collective. Now, with five other members, BVC plans to bring nostalgia back to Baltimore with Beyond Video, their own nonprofit video rental. Thanks to a push from Kickstarter, the store is set to open on Howard Street this fall. 

“Working in a video store taught me so much about both film culture and people,” says Braid. “They are places to share ideas, make friends, and learn.”

Beyond Video will feature everything from vintage and rare VHS tapes to Blu-rays and DVDs, ranging from rom-coms to cult classics with an overall goal of 10,000 titles. They also plan to include screenings, discussions, and workshops at this long-incubated project. 

“We want it to be more than just a video store,” says Braid. “We want it to be a community gathering space and resource.”

With such a diverse collection, BVC hopes to provide the kind of personal experience that streaming services can’t. 

“Like bookstores and record stores, video stores give people a browsing experience unlike anything online,” says Hatch. “There are films that were life-changing to me that I only encountered because video-store employees put them on the ‘house favorites’ wall. We want film-lovers old and new to have these experiences, and make these kinds of discoveries again.”

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Recipe: Potato, Apple, Sorrel Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 Yukon potato
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 3 French sorrel leaves
• Fleur de sel (French sea salt)
• Butter

Vadouvan: Vadouvan, which means “sun-dried spices” in French, is a unique blend of aromatics and curry spices that originated in Southern India. The key ingredients are onion, garlic, and shallot, to which we’ve added our special curry blend for a rich complexity.

Slice the Yukon and green apple with vegetable slicer, then assemble onto the working space the layer of Yukon potato (seasoned with sea salt), then the layer of green apple, then the sorrel leaves. Roll it and tie it with butcher twine. Cook it for 20 minutes in a pan with butter on one side until golden brown on the bottom. Serve with the vadouvan butter.

For more on Baltimore’s 50 “Best Restaurants,” pick up our March issue, on newsstands now.

Half-Up Top Knot

1. Comb hair back and pull half up in a scrunchie*, loosely breaking up bumps.
2. Make a loop out of ponytail, twist and pin down.
3. Twist and pin down loose ends.
4. Use a second mirror to look at the back, pin down any loose ends.
5. Spray hairspray on a fine tooth comb and comb hair back to get rid of fuzz or bumps.

*Don’t use elastic hair tie—can even be made from old tights!

Beach Waves

1. Spray crown of head with hairspray.
2. Take a small section of hair and spray it with hairspray to “laminate.”
3. Using 1.5-inch curler, wrap entire strand around (including tail) and curl into lip.
4. Hold curler on hair for 30 seconds.
5. Be gentle as you take hair out of curler, releasing the lip a bit as you go.
6. Alternate sections by using hairspray on some and none on others for natural look.
7. Don’t be afraid to comb and curl out and redo if you’re not happy with it.
8. Once all sections are curled, pull hair back, lift up, and hairspray a bit inside hair.
9. Take hands and shake curls from the scalp.

Low Bun

1. Divide the hair into sections.
2. In middle section, twist hair around three middle fingers and secure down with pins to create base.
3. Wrap section by section, using three fingers, around base and secure with pins.
4. Alternate wrapping both over and under bun.
5. Hairspray from high angle to create a looser look.

Baltimore Beehive

1. Divide hair into three main sections.
2. Leave two sections out in the front of your ears.
3. Spray the hair with hairspray from afar.
4. Take smaller sections of remaining hair and start backcombing*, spraying as you go.
5. Layer by layer, make big loops, pinning them each into the teased hair.
6. Form a giant base.
7. Take front sections, tuck behind ears, and pin into base.
8. Finish off with hairspray from afar, all over hair.
9. In order to get beehive out, let water run on teased area for a while, then apply a lot of conditioner.

Read more about Baltimore’s best salons in our January issue, on newsstands now.