Nestled in the heart of Greenwich Village, Telo Labs has quickly established itself as NYC’s ultimate beauty and wellness destination since its debut this past fall. Co-founded by renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Ken Rothaus and healthcare innovator Ilan Szekely, Telo Labs redefines skincare with its personalized, science-driven approach. From signature laser facials and the innovative Telo-12 skincare protocol to Botox and more, this cutting-edge studio offers a curated experience designed to deliver radiant, lasting results. Curious to learn more? So were we. Here are the questions we just had to ask.
Photo Credit: Telo Labs
Haute Beauty: What inspired you to create Telo Labs, and how does your approach to aesthetic care differ from traditional medspas or clinics?
Ilan Szekely: I had an eye-opening experience a few years ago when my older brother (by nine years!) visited me in NYC, and people kept assuming I was the older one. That made me laugh, cry a little, and reconsider the role of skincare in lifestyle alongside sleep, diet, and exercise.
But when I looked around, I couldn’t find a medspa that felt science-driven, subtle, and welcoming of all genders. What I did find was Dr. Ken Rothaus, a highly respected plastic surgeon and pioneer in the field of non-surgical aesthetics. Dr. Rothaus always employs the latest technology in his practice and believes that small interventions over time lead to the best results 10 or 20 years from now.
Together, we envisioned Telo Labs as a place that prioritizes skin longevity and healthy aging in an environment that’s sophisticated, welcoming, and designed for everyone.
HB: You mention the goal of preserving skin longevity. What does that look like in practice at Telo Labs, and how does it benefit patients over the long term?
Ilan Szekely: What makes Telo Labs different is our commitment to lasting, natural-looking results, embodied in our Telo-12 Protocol and our Essentials Membership.
The Telo-12 protocol is a 12-month roadmap prepared after each new patient consultation that’s personalized and shared as a written handout for free. The roadmap illustrates how we combine treatments like preventative botox, biostimulators, lasers, and advanced devices to ensure the effects build on each other and address the patient’s goals in a sustainable, natural-looking way.
The patient can take the protocol, reflect and do their own research, and even take it elsewhere if they like. To us, it’s the beginning of an honest partnership with the patient, one that emphasizes transparency, longevity, and skin health and eases the pressure to do too much in one visit and end up with an “overdone” look.
Our Future-Proof Membership combines preventative botox, 4x per year, in the upper face, with monthly laser facials. These treatments are quick easy, can be done in the same session, have zero downtime, and have extensive clinical research backing up their benefits. In the case of preventative botox, we target relaxing dynamic fine lines & wrinkles, and in the case of the laser facial, we target creating a more even skin tone, clearing out impurities, and improving overall complexion. Together, the treatments can get you pretty far in terms of slowing down the visible signs of aging, and the membership price makes it much more affordable than purchasing the treatments individually, ad-hoc.
HB: How does the Telo-12 Protocol help guide patients in achieving their skincare goals over time? Could you share an example of how this might look for a new patient?
Ilan Szekely: You’ll have to come in and try it!
Say, for a busy patient in his 30s who has some acne scars and a soft jawline (any resemblance to myself is purely coincidental), the Telo-12 protocol would probably recommend a combination of RF microneedling - 2 sessions in the summer, fractional CO2 laser - 1 session of light skin resurfacing in the winter, one syringe of jawline filler in the fall, and preventative botox 3x a year. Acne scars are hard to address, but combining two types of devices that target different depths of the skin is very effective. In addition, we like doing RF microneedling before doing fillers, and we like doing it in the summer months as it does not make your skin as sensitive to the sun as lasers. Conversely, that’s why we prefer doing deeper laser treatments in the winter. These treatments would make the patient look better while still looking like himself, all with minimal downtime (less than 48 hours after any session).
Photo Credit: Telo Labs
HB: Dr. Rothaus, with your extensive background in both surgical and non-surgical aesthetics, how do you ensure that each patient receives a treatment tailored to their unique needs?
Dr. Ken Rothaus: Each provider at Telo Labs undergoes extensive training, which covers how to perform the treatments in a way that is safe, efficacious, and precise. But that is not all we cover. We spend time practicing listening skills with our clinicians. To be successful in plastic surgery, you need to be a great listener. Otherwise, the patient will be unhappy with their results - there are a million ways your nose can be made to look after a rhinoplasty!
We imbue the thoughtful listening part of my surgical practice’s culture into Telo Labs, and we rehearse new patient consultations. It’s our first opportunity to make the patient feel comfortable and heard, and if we don’t, we won’t get a second chance.
HB: What are some of the most popular or standout treatments at Telo Labs right now? Are there any specific laser facials or advanced techniques that patients are especially excited about?
Ilan Szekely: The Signature Laser Facial has been a huge hit in the short time we have been open, and it’s unique to Telo Labs. We designed a treatment that gives you immediate results, is safe for all skin types, has zero downtime, and takes about half an hour. Patients will see a glow and a more even skin tone the very next day.
Dr. Ken Rothaus: We are also very excited for more people to experience how we inject Botox in the face. My technique, which all of Telo’s providers are trained on, differs from most providers’ in three ways: (1) we spend time analyzing each patient’s facial anatomy, and we inject exactly where we need to; (2) we use the skinniest needles to minimize discomfort, and (3) because we employ a microdroplet injection method, you will have less swelling and lower likelihood of spread of the active.
HB: What trends do you see in the future of aesthetic care, and how is Telo Labs staying at the forefront?
Ilan Szekely: There are so many exciting developments, both from the pharmaceutical side and also from adjacent technologies, that can be applied to aesthetics. One technology we are excited about is a newly developed methodology to take a sample of your skin using only a special tape, which gets sent to a lab for DNA methylation analysis, which gives you a good sense of your skin tissue’s biological age. This should be much more accurate than photography-based tests.
The big innovation is that doing that analysis used to require a skin biopsy, which is invasive and has prevented this type of analysis from being done in big numbers. By employing technology like this in the future, we will be able to show, not tell, our patients how our treatments are "reversing" their skin age. In an industry that can have a lot of empty promises, using data to shine the light and prove results is like a holy grail.
With its dedication to transparency, innovation, and skin health, Telo Labs is setting a new standard for beauty and wellness in the heart of NYC. To get a head start on glowing holiday skin or a New Year’s skin reset, visit www.telolabs.com.
