The New Laws of Tweakments

When tweakments first crept towards the mainstream, there was a set of unspoken “rules” about what you could or should have done, how you should talk about treatments (or not), and what practitioners could offer. Fast-forward 20 years, and the landscape has shifted dramatically. Patients are better informed, practitioners have a wider range of tweaks at their disposal, and attitudes are changing fast.

Here’s a (lighthearted!) look at how, what you might call, the old laws of tweakments have made way for the new rules — and what that might mean for us and our faces.

From Freeze & Fill → To Regenerate & Restore

The old law for lines and wrinkles was: Fill them or freeze them (tbh at the time, wrinkle-relaxing toxin and fillers were just about the only treatments available).

The new law for lines and wrinkles: Soften the wrinkles by refreshing the skin with skinboosters, biostimulators, and regenerative medicine. Though I have to add that I don’t see many practitioners dropping either toxin or fillers from their list of most popular treatments.

From Secrets → To Selfies

The old law for talking about your tweakments was: Keep thy tweakments secret. Pretend it’s olive oil, green juice and early nights that have magically improved your looks.

The new law for talking about your tweakments: Speak their truth! Declare them proudly on Instagram, like Kris and Kylie. No gatekeeping. And even better, tell people who did the great work for you.

From Anti-Ageing → To Pro-Prevention

The old law for ageing skin: deny it, conceal it and above all fight it with all means at your disposal, from retinoids and microdermabrasion to laser ablation (not at the same time!).

The new law for ageing skin: coax it along with top notch skincare, and regenerate it with collagen-stimulating treatments, polynucleotides, exosomes and clever lightweight lasers… anything to prevent the age spots or wrinkles from settling in in the first place.

From Trout Pout → To Balanced Beauty

The old law for lips: the bigger, the better. If they don’t walk into the room ahead of you, what did you spend your money on?

The new law for lips: think balance and hydration, and aim for soft, natural volume with a shape that’s in harmony with the rest of your face.

From Doctor Knows Best → To Informed Patients

The old law for consultations: sit there and nod a bit, like a rabbit in the headlights, and ask no questions — doctor knows best.

The new law for consultations: do your research beforehand and ask all the questions. What are their qualifications, which products do they use, how often do things go wrong… We’re all informed patients now.

From Quick Fix → To Tweakments Journey

The old law for a tweakments journey: quite apart from the facts that ‘tweakments journey’ wasn’t a phrase back then and the word tweakments hadn’t come into use, the general approach was for an instant fix in one big procedure, wherever possible.

The new law for a tweakments journey: a ‘holistic’ treatment plan, discussed and agreed by patient and practitioner together, of small, layered tweaks over time, taking into account skin quality and lifestyle habits as well as facial structure and concerns.

From Stigma → To Standard Practice

The old law for tweakments: definitely stigmatised and shameful, and ‘cheating’, to boot.

The new law for tweakments: almost mainstream. Everyone knows what Botox and ‘salmon sperm facials’ do, even if they don’t do them themselves – and they barely judge others who DO do them.

From Hide & Heal → To Back in Action

The old law for downtime: you probably needed to hide your face until it had healed (unless you were me, or worked in this industry, because then everyone wants to see what you look like as you heal).

The new law for downtime: pick your treatments carefully, or have them in a series of lighter doses, and you’ll be able to show up at the office or the school gate the next day without exciting everyone’s attention.

From Beauty Counter Blather → To Evidence-Based Regimes

The old law for skincare: just buy whatever the beauty counter is selling.

The new law for skincare: stick with an edited selection of products that are evidence-based, practitioner-recommended, and suit your skin’s needs.

From Anyone Will Do → To Only the Best

The old law for finding a practitioner: anyone with a Harley Street address will do. Or that new girl at the hairdressers who says she was trained on Harley Street.

The new law for finding a practitioner: take your research a tad wider than social media. Qualifications, artistry, and ethics matter more than ever.