"You look like you're ovulating."

In Vivo: May edition with Emily Dawn Long, Susanna Friedman, and me.

May 31, 2026

∙ Paid

In this send:

Platelet-rich fibrin, Emsculpt, Dr. Yael Halaas, Dr. Macrene Alexiades, PRF, Yale, cannulas, Helen Phelan, Shou Sugi Ban House, Dimes Deli, Lyma Laser, Remedy Place, the RICE method…

Welcome back to High Touch. It’s the final day of our launch week takeover and the inaugural edition of In Vivo, a monthly column about the procedures, practices, and products my circles and I are testing. Literally, what the group chats are doing.

Below, you’ll hear from me about Emsculpting my ass and PRFing my face. EMILY DAWN LONG heals her boyfriend from a visible facial injury in a week. Susanna Friedman got married yesterday (!!!) and shares what beauty prep looks like for the modern bride. But first, some things we’ve seen, heard, or otherwise happened upon this week.

A touch of High Touch

Another oral peptide targeting the GLP receptor pathways has hit the market, but this one’s not actually a GLP. Evolv’s GLP-1 Biomimetic is basically designer baker’s yeast, engineered to engage the body’s natural GLP receptors. It’s mechanistically shaky and the company-run trials’ best-case evidence is still weaker than that of true semaglutide or tirzepatide (it claims “up to 12 pounds lost” in 8 weeks), but the upside here is ostensibly that it’s in pill form, not technically a drug (though somewhere between supplement and drug), and costs $125 a month with a monthly subscription—less than non-insurance GLPs.
David (of protein bars) is launching a protein ice cream tomorrow complete with a staged pap opp of Bella Hadid eating out of a tub on a boat in Cannes. (If the formula works, don’t fix it.) Ice cream as a protein vehicle feels quaint in this era of protein-fortified soda, gummy candies…water, but will probably do fine. Earlier this month, it came out with Cod 2, a tinned fish product—just two ingredients: cod and salt—demonstrating its colonial urges to own protein on both sides of the real food divide.
Day after that, Withings is rumored to be releasing its Body Scan 2, the most advanced smart scale in its lineup. It uses a new scanning mechanism that allows it to “directly measure cell membrane health,” resulting in better body composition reporting by area and incorporate new readings around heart and metabolic health.

Face

PRF with Dr. Macrene Alexiades

It stands for platelet-rich fibrin, and it’s basically a dermal filler derived from your own blood. I had one of the most successful appointments of my cosmetic career with the delightful Dr. Macrene, an insanely accoladed dermatologist / scientist / Yale professor, etc, whose background as an ARTIST became extremely apparent in the way she surveyed my face and balanced all of my minor asymmetries and early signs of aging. They draw blood, put it in a centrifuge, and inject the fibrin matrix with a tiny needle you can barely feel (not like a filler cannula at all). I could see the results while still sitting in the chair, but your body’s own injected material will continue to promote growth factors in the areas over weeks. A friend I saw the next day told me I looked prettier, imperceptibly, “like I was ovulating.” But actually, this is me in luteal. The highest compliment!!