Just off for my tweak… at John Lewis

Are tweakments becoming more acceptable? Or even normalised?  It depends who you ask.  After all, we all know someone who’s had a bit of filler, don’t we?  Or maybe not. Here are four things that tell me tweakments are certainly becoming more normal, to the point where department stores are offering them.

If you already follow me and my work, you may be thinking that tweakments are a lot more popular than they actually are. Unless you’re close to the aesthetic medicine industry, cosmetic procedures are in no way considered normal in the UK. The latest research from Mintel puts the number of people who actually have tweakments at 3 per cent of the population — yes, only three per cent — and the number of people who would be interested in trying a tweakment at 6 per cent. For context, the equivalent numbers for the USA, from RealSelf, are 6 per cent and 10 per cent.

Certainly, the stigma around having treatment is a great deal less than it used to be five, 10 or 20 years ago, but most people are still pretty judgy about it, and fear that judgment from their friends even more than they fear looking weird.

But four things that have happened recently have made me think that things are changing.

The first was discovering that The Organic Pharmacy, purveyor of lovely organic cosmetics, is offering Morpheus8 along with luxurious facials in its London treatment rooms. Ok, it’s not injectables, and it’s not toxin, but it’s still reasonably hardcore skin rejuvenation involving a lot of needling.

2. Jam, Jerusalem… and jabs.

Then there arrived an invitation from the Women’s Institute to come and talk to their members about tweakments. Admittedly, the invite was from the WI group in a super-smart central London location, but still. Jam, Jerusalem and …tweakments?

3. John Lewis x Cavendish Clinic 

And the big one for me is the way is that John Lewis has partnered with the Cavendish Clinic to introduce tweakments at half a dozen of its branches around the country. What are they offering? Expert facials and advanced aesthetic treatments with specialist, well-qualified practitioners. That means treatments like the HydraFacial, body contouring with EmSculpt and CoolSculpting, and from this month, injectable fillers, Profhilo and anti-wrinkle treatments.

Is this a good thing? I think so – the Cavendish Clinic employs only highly trained aesthetic practitioners – doctors for the injectables, aestheticians for the facials and body contouring treatments – and they are adhering scrupulously to the highest standards. They’ll only offer injectable treatments to people over 25 years old, who must have a full consultation first, followed by a one-week cooling-off period, before treatment.

Those consultations are free and confidential, which means that anyone curious about whether they’re an appropriate candidate for a tweakment can make an appointment and find out, without having to seek out a specialist clinic elsewhere in their area.

“We know there’s increasing awareness and demand among consumers for advanced beauty treatments and after careful consideration, we were keen to partner with a trusted, medical clinic brand which would deliver this service,” says Jason Wilary-Attew, Head of Beauty at John Lewis. “In the last two years, we’ve seen an at-home beauty tech boom and launched our first ever beauty tech department with LED light masks and facial toning devices. ‘Our collaboration with the Cavendish Clinic is an acceleration of these services, where customers can visit a clinic in selected John Lewis stores to experience Cavendish bespoke skincare plans and consultations.”

The clinics have been piloted in Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London, and Kingston since last year, and the next will be opened in Cambridge.

4. Flannels x Esho