Air Mail: Mayhem at the Med Spa

On a sweet piece of East Hampton real estate next to SoulCycle and Carissa’s the Bakery—and just behind Sant Ambroeus, Staud, and Isabel Marant, is a med spa called The Beauty Edge. It offers everything an East Hampton resident would want if having an edge on beauty were the objective.

There’s the usual brow grooming, waxing, and facials, along with the cosmetic treatments that have become increasingly commonplace in med spas: Botox, Xeomin, and Daxxify to relax furrows; fillers to plump up lips and soften wrinkles; liquid rhinoplasty, something called a “vampire breast lift,” and IV drips to relieve hangovers or the blahs.

With The Beauty Edge, Paula De Larrea, who wields the syringes, lasers, and microneedles, entered a thriving sector of the service industry. Med spas are booming across the country—with a 20 percent increase from 2020 to 2023, becoming a $17 billion business with some 10,000 in operation around the country. As the industry grows, so does the number of complaints about quality and safety. These spas have become vivid examples of what can happen when enterprise and medical treatments collide.