On Thursday, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Francis Palmer. Dr. Palmer recently released a book titled: “What’s Your Number? The Palmer Code: The Whole You Approach to Personal Transformation.” Unfortunately for me, this interview did not include free Botox as I had hoped, but Dr. Palmer did let me in on a few secrets of the beauty industry.

First of all, it’s important to know that Dr. Palmer knows his stuff. He has performed his nip/tuck magic on well over 20,000 patients in both Beverly Hills and London. However, he really stressed to me that his book is, “Painfully honest,” about beauty and teaches people not to reply on plastic surgery as a means to be pretty. He explained,

“Roughly 2% of the population gets plastic surgery…this book is meant for everyone.”

Well, more like it’s for anyone who has $13.00 and some change to pay for it. But, that is a far cry from the thousands you would spend on a tummy-tuck.

“The Palmer Code” consists of a number between one and one hundred. This number is a result of different out and inner self factors that determine how others view you. Someone with a low number is viewed as unattractive and someone with a high number scores in the high nineties to one hundred. There are many factors that make up your number, but as you can imagine, your outer number is based on your physical presentation: your looks, height, weight, hygiene, clothing, and make-up.

However, you number isn’t a constant, explains Dr. Palmer:

“Numbers fluctuate from moment to moment.”

For example, on a red carpet, celebs are at their best looking thanks to the help of professional stylists and make-up artists. But when they’re home, have the flu, are caught by the paps without make-up on, etc. their number drops. Angelina Jolie can score a 100 one night, and be an 85 the following morning. Unfortunately for the rest of us, if we score a 100 one night, we are likely looking more like a 50 in the morning!

Palmer also expressed to me that was it viewed as beautiful is pretty consistent from one culture to the next. According to the good doc, nearly all men like curvy women and full lips. Trends that say otherwise come and go, “fads are not persistent.”

Since I look out for all of you, and because I was morbidly curious, I decided to test Dr. Palmer’s theory and spring the ‘Model Myth’ on him, as I like to call it. If what he was saying is true, then why are models often curveless?

“High fashion is not the same as true beauty,” explained Dr. Palmer. “Models are hired because they are photogenic and can morph themselves into the demand of the designer.”

Hmmm….So what you’re saying is someone like Uma Thurman isn’t as attractive?

“Uma Thurman scores maybe in the 80’s, she’s too symmetrical and not that attractive,” according to Dr. Palmer.

Dr. Palmer also continued to explain how satisfied he was that Miss Australia was heavily criticized for being rail thin (read about that story by clicking here.)

“Five years ago, no one would have said anything about how skinny she is…[she] obviously has some kind of eating disorder.”

Despite Dr. Palmer’s belief that “beauty is not esoteric,” I had to question why some people, like my beloved Robert Pattinson, can go from average guy to my love slave the next. Dr. Palmer informed me that there are certain “trump factors” that make people more beautiful:

1. Fame: This is why my beloved Sparklepants is hotter now that he’s a vampire than he was as a wizard. The more famous someone is, the more attractive they become to people.

2. Wealth: This is why Donald Trump is able to land hot chicks. He has money. This may also explain why I have a crush on Bill Gates.

3. Power: Dr. Palmer explained to me that President Obama, though nice looking is not “movie star beautiful.” However, because he is the president and is very charismatic, people are more attracted to him.

So what do we think? Is Dr. Palmer onto something here? Can we really improve ourselves to achieve our highest number possible without the use of plastic surgery?

According to the doctor, “Daily decisions affect how you look; the lipstick you buy, for example. You cannot separate anything you do from being connected to your appearance…if given a choice, most everyone would choose to improve themselves.”

You can read more about Dr. Palmer and “The Palmer Code” at his website: http://www.drfpalmer.com You can purchase his book, “The Palmer Code”, by clicking here.