Are tweakments a slippery slope?

With a continuing rise in the popularity of non-invasive cosmetic procedures, there’s one question I get again and again.  Are tweakments a slippery slope? One person said to me recently, ‘I’m afraid that if I start, I’ll like them so much I won’t stop!’ What’s the lowdown? 

Do people think tweakments are addictive?

I think, when people talk about tweakments as a ‘slippery slope’, they mean that they fear they’ll end up ‘addicted’ to them in some way. Unlike cosmetic surgery, which involves a lot of planning, expense and downtime, non-surgical treatments are seen as quick and relatively easy – ‘lunch-hour lifts’ and so on. Also, these days, tweakments are much more accessible than they used to be. you can find good practitioners offering tweakments everywhere (our practitioner register features practices all around the country).

Tweakments are becoming normalised

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that cosmetic procedures have in any way become ‘normal’ – but thanks to the rise of social media platforms and a few celebs talking about what they have done, tweakments seem much more routine than they are in practice. Some people might see these procedures almost as beauty treatments, but they’re really not. It’s vital to remember that even though these treatments show cosmetic improvements, they are medical cosmetic procedures, and any procedure comes with potential risks (like bruising or swelling, where needles are being used).

So can the results be addictive?

Some people don’t just like the refreshed look that tweakments can deliver. They LOVE it, and are constantly wanting to step things up a notch.  You might start with some wrinkle-relaxing toxin. Then you have a touch of filler. Hmm. Next, you try IPL to shift some pigment spots. Then you move on to a few peels, or laser resurfacing, and top off the results with glow-inducing injectable moisturisers or polynucleotides. Then you start to fret about your neck and décolletage and focus on treating these. Then it’s time for more toxin… at which point you may feel you’re stuck into a continuous cycle of treatments, which you can’t stop for fear of losing the improvements you see in your face.  If you get to that point, you could well have a problem. Many people who work in the aesthetics industry and have the opportunity to try all the latest procedures do often start to look a bit strange, but most people in other walks of life don’t have the time, the inclination or the budget to take their treatment schedule this far.

Five ways not to overdo it with tweakments

1. Find a reputable, responsible, ethical practitioner who has a focus on natural-looking aesthetic results and who’s not going to suggest unnecessary treatments for the sake of their profits – and who’s not afraid to say no if you ask them for treatments they don’t think are necessary.

2. Enlist someone reliable for a no-BS second opinion. This could be your best friend or sister or anyone who knows what you looked like before you started with tweakments, who will tell you straight out if and when you are getting a bit too fond of treatments and are starting to look a bit ‘overcooked’, ie less like yourself and more like a waxwork.

3. Have realistic expectations. Before you start any course of treatment, your practitioner should discuss with you what the proposed tweakment can and can’t do. Unrealistic expectations can lead to dissatisfaction, possibly triggering a harmful cycle of over-treatment.

4. Be aware of ‘perception drift’. This phenomenon, coined by dermatologist Dr Sabrina Fabi, describes how people’s idea of how they appear can become skewed or distorted as they have more and more treatment so that they forget how they looked before they started, and constantly feel that they want more done. It’s a particular issue with lip filler.

5. Remember that you have agency. It shouldn’t need saying, but… you can choose to stop having these procedures at any point. No practitioner should pressure you to keep on with treatments if you have decided not to continue, and if they do, I’d say that’s a good reason to walk away.