One of the most noticeable stories making the rounds of lifestyle media recently has been the ‘Zoom' effect and how it is boosting cosmetic surgery enquiries. Faces were suddenly seen ‘up close and personal' in Zoom-style office meetings and in online job recruitment situations. Dating sites began hosted virtual dates and un-curated and filter-free faces of potential lovers and partners were under the gaze of 6K pixel monitors with all their piercing reality – prime candidates for non-invasive cosmetic surgery.
Hand-in-hand with this Zoom exposure has emerged the need for ‘tweakments'. A ‘Tweakment' is a loose term for cosmetic procedures which has been described as being more subtle and more natural than more dramatic cosmetic procedures. Tweakments can be thought of as non-invasive procedures which are more noticeable than simple surface makeup application but less noticeable than cosmetic surgeries.
Tweakments could be wrongly confused for just another term for non-invasive cosmetic procedures. In reality, they are more akin to the least invasive of all non-invasive cosmetic procedures. Non-invasive procedures such as non-surgical rhinoplasty are examples of cosmetic procedures that probably toe this line. Of course, tweakments are just industry jargon and the actual definition does not carry any significant weight. But it does have a marketing impact and it has created a market. The global Non-Surgical Cosmetic Surgery market is valued at million US$ in 2019 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2026.
The cosmetic surgery industry in the UK is worth £3.6bn, and non-surgical treatments account for nine out of 10 procedures, worth £2.75bn. While these treatments still involve needles and cost several hundred pounds a time. Tweakments are seen as no big deal. In a new two-part BBC documentary, The Truth About… Cosmetic Treatments, we some young people across the country who compare fillers to “going for a hair cut”. Experts are not so sure.
Whereas in the past, a person might have hesitated before undergoing a cosmetic surgery procedure and worried about weeks of recovery, now they can just book in for a ‘tweakment' and be back at their desk in a couple of hours.
Tweakments are becoming more popular and less taboo every year, thanks in large part to social media and celebrities/influencers. Where celebrities (and even your friends) used to lash out at the implication of having work done, they now talk openly about boob jobs, botox, lip injections, and liposuction. Some of this is due to changing attitudes and societal norms, and some are because the technology behind procedures has changed.
Table of Contents
Which tweakment is right for you?
Botox and Baby-Botox Tweakments
The Botox needle reigns supreme as a lunchtime beauty fix and you don't even need to go to a clinic to get it done. Botox salons have sprung up like spring daffodils in shopping malls and as adjuncts to nail bars. But, not all practitioners are created equal. At least, in the UK there is a great service to point you in the right direction. For just £100, Ms Olivia Falcon who runs the Editor's List will tell you where to go for your Botox shot or other quick tweaks. Ms Falcon has been a major influencer in UK beauty and cosmetics for many years and was the former Health and Beauty Director of Tatler. So, obviously a great person to ask for advice.
Facial Fillers.
Fillers are small injections of gel, often made of hyaluronic acid – a natural compound which dissolves in six to 12 months – which fills wrinkles and can add volume around the eyes, cheeks, mouth, jawline and lips. The UK is the fastest-growing market in the world for facial fillers – seen as a less expensive, less long-term option than surgery – and there is always a new treatment on offer as the technology advances.
The latest filler trend on the market is the “liquid nose job”, or a non-surgical rhinoplasty, where fillers are injected to “straighten” any bumps or crooks. It is said to last two years. It is popular because it can cost £400 as opposed to a £5,000 surgery, and it can be done in a quarter of an hour on your lunch break.
Liquid Face Lifts.
A liquid facelift is a versatile, highly customizable procedure in which a skilled injector combines biocompatible dermal fillers with injectable neuromodulators like BOTOX®, Dysport®, and Xeomin® in precisely targeted areas.
Depending on your goals, a liquid facelift can address a variety of concerns to make you appear years younger. When performed by a skilled injector, this procedure can erase fine lines and wrinkles, give you more contoured cheeks or plumper lips, provide a lift to areas where you have lost volume, make you look more alert and well-rested, and define your chin and jawline.
Impact Treatment
Whereas before to change a face significantly you’d have to perform plastic surgery, now, “with a needle, a cannula and 3D imaging, you can do it all in the space of the doctor’s clinic,” says Dr Esho. “It’s like Face Off, it’s amazing.”
Using 3D imaging and augmented reality, clients now get a chance to see what their face will look like post-treatment before they’ve even gone near a needle. Defined as “impact treatment” by Dr Esho, “the new treatment works on the entire face and can transform round faces into defined, sharp silhouettes”. The big game-changer is that instead of using surgery to make the changes circa 2018, the results are all achieved via bespoke fillers, he says.
Varicose Veins Removal
This used to be a fiddly elective surgery with a longish period of recuperation. Now varicose veins can be dealt with by a minimally-invasive method called Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA) which can be delivered under local anaesthetic and enables the patient to leave the clinic on the same day as their treatment. This is another quick tweak which gives you the freedom to wear the summer wardrobe you want without feeling self-conscious.
While the normalisation of “tweakments” might be an anathema to those who thought this sort of thing only happens in Los Angeles, others feel it is better than invasive surgery. However, the long-term effects of repeated procedures are not yet known, and it is easy to overdo the injections. As always, we recommend that potential ‘tweakers' look carefully at the pros and cons of any cosmetic procedure and not let themselves be seduced by social media and celebrity endorsements.
Admin is Blogger David Miller FRSA. M.Sc A respected British journalist based in Helsinki Finland. David's portfolio is at http://livewire.pressfolios.com/ David is contactable via the site or at david@dmiller.co.uk
