THE JOURNAL
A Little Here And There: Everything You Need To Know About Non-Invasive Cosmetic Surgery
Bust of Antinous, late 18th century. Photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s
Ouronyx, a recently opened “luxury facial aesthetics destination” in well-heeled St James’s in London, looks dramatically different from any clinic you might imagine. The space is more like a Miami art hotel and the word “patient” is taboo. But otherwise, Ouronyx’s doctors are not in the business of drastic measures. Instead, they offer ways to enhance your face with non-surgical treatments, such as dermal fillers, a non-invasive approach that can achieve subtle changes from a sharper-than-glass jaw to a straighter nose.
A private boutique that enhances your face may sound like a business pitch from a sci-fi movie, but Ouronyx appears to be right on the money. Non-surgical treatments are booming, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s Global Survey, with almost a third of the 13.6 million treatments carried out globally in 2019 involving hyaluronic acid dermal fillers. But what are they and what do they mean for your face, your wallet and even your job? Allow us to fill you in.
What am I getting into with fillers?
Fillers can sound scary, but once you understand what they are, they become considerably less frightening. “The majority of fillers are made from hyaluronic acid [a substance naturally present in the body], where the molecules are all stuck together in a gel, and they vary in softness and [according to] the depth of the skin that you inject it into,” says Dr David Jack, a skin specialist and co-author of Vain Glorious, a book on anti-ageing treatments and grooming secrets for men. Injected into the face with a needle or cannula, different fillers for different areas are used to define and reshape specific areas of your face, such as the nose or jaw, or to replace any volume lost through ageing, such as in the cheeks.
Why are they so popular?
“Fillers are definitely hugely increasing in men of all backgrounds,” says Dr Jack. “My male demographic has significantly increased over the past couple of years, and men are talking about it to their friends, which they wouldn’t have done before. For millennials and Gen Z, it’s becoming more acceptable to talk about the way you look.” This uptick in “tweakments” among men may be down to more than just vanity. Men are turning to fillers and Botox to get a more “competitive edge” in the boardroom, according to a Robb Report from last year. In tech and startup industries where youth, vitality and “fresh ideas” are prioritised, a nip here and a tuck there have become a way of staying in the game.
What’s the damage (to my bank balance)?
You may have an idea of the area of your face you want worked on before you go in for an appointment, but the best doctors consider the face as a whole when administering filler, so you don’t end up looking off-balance. “What we do is much bigger than someone coming in and saying, ‘I want bigger lips, how much does it cost?’” says Ouronyx co-founder Ms Ida Banek. Instead of “menu-based” treatments, Ouronyx allows the client to build a bespoke treatment plan that takes the whole face into account. This means prices can vary greatly. At Ouronyx, a consultation with the doctor begins at £250 and treatments can cost anywhere from £1,950 to £3,750.
Will anyone notice?
“The biggest fear people have is looking like they’ve had something done and their friends laughing at them because they’re looking weird,” Dr Jack says. Fillers are generally reversible and if a practitioner has been properly trained, they will know enough about proportions to avoid making your face look like a pillow. Subtlety, though, is key. “Fillers should generally be done to replace the volume lost and not to create structure, because that’s when people can start to look weird and you lose the proportions of their face,” says Dr Jack. “You have to think about an individual’s face and work with their proportions, rather than try to change those proportions into any ‘ideal’.”
Can I get it done on my lunchbreak?
One of the main selling points of fillers is that, unlike, say, a nose job, they are minimally invasive and cause very little pain. The idea is that you can snap back to normal as soon as you’re out of the chair, ready to face the world with your brand-new jawline. Downtime is minimal, but that doesn’t mean there is none. “These things aren’t usually lunchbreak things, because there’s always a risk of bruising and swelling,” says Dr Jack. “Plus, it can feel a bit like you’ve been punched in the face. If someone’s working in the week, then usually I would recommend that they come on a Friday after work so that, if they do have any bruising or swelling, they can have the weekend to recover.”