There has been some clamping down with regards to the Advertising Standards Agency, (the body that monitor what goes on advertising-wise.)

So you are possibly going to notice, if you are eagle-eyed, that there is more and more vagueness in the terms that we use when we are talking about some of the aesthetic treatments we offer. This is not a new legislation. Most of us have been adhering to it for years but there are some very naughty clinics and practitioners out there that have not. So you will just notice that advertising campaigns are more cautious in their wording going forward and that is the reason why. Nothing has actually changed at all, I just thought I would clarify as a few of you have been asking me what the secrecy is about and whether it means that treatments themselves have changed.

The clamping down is not a bad thing at all, if for no other reason than it emphasises and reminds you all, that there is a differentiation between some of the treatments that you can have in a beauty salon and some of the treatments that are carried out by a medical professional. In this circumstance, all you need to know, or all you need to really focus on, is that slightly different categorization is down to the fact that we are talking about a prescribed medication and there are rules that apply.

In that way, it may help to remind you that:

‘If it is a prescribed medication, then perhaps I should have it administered by somebody who is qualified to prescribe medication.’

The ‘Be’ Word

However I would like to move away from this as it is quite a dry, boring subject.

What I am more interested in is other ‘B- Words’

B is for

Brave

Bold

Blossom

The motivations for aesthetic treatments, to feel braver, bolder, more blossomed.

Certainly most of the clients that I see, the treatments that I provide, are around feeling better about yourself, and feeling more confident, and going into the world with a bit more “I can do this.” Mentality.

I am not suggesting that people walk into the clinic and say, ‘I want to feel bolder’, ‘I want to feel braver.’ But often, when we chat in a consultation, these kind of emotions are the essence of the motivation.

There are still so many negative stories in the press, and so many sort of negative connotations around people who have these kind of treatments. Only this week in clinic, I discussed with a client who had stopped having treatment because her friends had said she was injecting ‘poison’ into her body.

I actually do not see a lot of ‘my’ clients represented in the press. I see the extremes, the Geordie Shore types, the really overdone types. Generally, I feel that there is still a lot of negativity around aesthetics treatments.

So I just wanted to put it out there that this representation is not what I see on a day to day basis. So here I am thinking about my ‘B-Words’, and trying to come up with more in my mind. And then it just struck me that it was simply ‘Be’.

We are talking about ‘being’, about being more confident, being more self-assured, being more positive in our outlook.

I have talked about this lots of times before, but for me, there is a real connection with body and soul, and how you feel, your place in the world, when you are starting to show little signs of aging here and there, how that does affect the way you feel and the way you feel that people perceive you.

That ‘be’ factor. That is what I am really interested in. That is what I really like dealing with or treating. This is very much touched upon in some of the training that I am really lucky to have access to because I choose to work with Juvéderm products. Juvéderm (made by Allergan) is the industry ‘gold standard’ for lots of injectable treatments.

Juvéderm have been quite innovative and creative in moving away from treating the wrinkle,  the flatness, the lines, to treating ‘being’, to treating ‘feeling’, to treating effect.  I really like that.  Similar to a hospital environment where those who deliver the best care are not treating ‘the broken leg in bed 4’ or the appendicitis in bed 10’. Being fortunate enough to be one of the practitioners regularly invited to Allergan’s exclusive training events, the focus is on treating the emotions the face conveys. This means improving tiredness, sagginess, unhappiness.

Those are the sort of negatives that I am really trying to address when I see you in clinic.

The  Be-word is about being, ‘how we be!’. This does not correlate with the overdone results focused on by the media. That is not the Be-word that we want. It is about being,  how we feel, and how we present ourselves.

We had a mini debate about the whole issue around removing magazines from the clinic, in the aftermath of the tragedy with Caroline Flack.

I do not know why it  had never struck me before, but these publications constantly admonish people for how they look, ridicule people, their personal lives, their weight problems, their wrinkles, their whatever it is. And gosh, yeah. I put my hands up and said, I totally missed that trick. On that realisation, I know that it is not really something I want to associate it.  I am not one for gossip. I do not talk about people behind their back. I do not mock people. I do not make fun of people that I know. So why would I do it with people that I do not know? The revelation that this is not for me.

Interestingly, I have also had feedback saying, “Well, sometimes  clients come in and they want a magazine to show you what the look is that they want to achieve” I have been thinking about this one too, and I have to say that, actually that is not really what I want either.

In fact I have never really fully understood that. Yes, you can take inspiration from how somebody looks, somebody’s hairstyle or fashion or their makeup.

But really what makes you feel good is what is good for you. Having Angelina Jolie’s lips on my face is not going to look good.

Having Mel B’s hair on my head, that is not going to work.

So for me, it is not really a culture that I particularly want to nurture.

Again, if we go back to the ‘Be’, it is about being ‘us’, no?

Being you, being me, we are all different. We all have different assets. We all have things that we do not like about ourselves.

I would like to think that one of the things that I am good at is helping you to maximize and facilitate those things that are really good and positive about you, and to play down the things that bother you and therefore you do not feel so good about.

That for me is what I do, what London Professional Aesthetics is about.

When you come and see me at the clinic you do not really need to know what you are coming for. You do not need to know the product or the number of mls or where it should be placed.

My job is to uncover from you what it is that is bothering you and then working back, how to try and play those down, and highlight the positives so that you do not feel so conscious of those things, and  you feel better about being you.

It is not about trying to give you the lips that are on somebody else’s face, the shape of the lips that are not your lips, the size of the lips that are not your lips, they do not belong on your face, they do not look right on your face.

It is my clinic and my philosophy. My ethos is much more about helping me helping you to be you, and to find the right pathway in terms of treatment, in order to get there.

If you are up for some of that, you need to come and see me at the clinic, and we can work out what it is that will get you to where you want to be, without the use of magazines, of people in the public eye, but really just looking at your face, and the way it makes you feel, and taking into account whether you are a man or a woman, and all of the other factors that we need to take into consideration.

That way we can create a really bespoke plan. (There’s another ‘B-word’ for you!)

It is something I really believe in, and I hope that resonates with you. And if you are contemplating something and you are not really sure, or perhaps you are already going somewhere and feeling a little bit underwhelmed by the process and the outcome, then it may be that you would prefer more of an intuitive approach. Book yourself in and we can get started!