Do you know why it is important to pick an appropriately qualified aesthetic practitioner?
To help you, I have created the 6 ‘p’s of picking your perfect practitioner!! (see what i did there?!)
Professionalism – this can be the person or the setting – are they appropriately dressed? It doesn’t have to be a uniform, but are they clean, presentable, and appropriately dressed (no long dangly sleeves or scarves that are going to flap in your face!). Do they have appropriate clinical standards – a clean, presentable clinic with a separate area for injectables that isn’t used for other things, and is it cleaned between each treatment?
Proficiency – is the practitioner fully qualified in what they are proposing to do to you? Ideally you would only use a medic for your injectable treatments – non-medics can have incredible skills in the aesthetic industry and can be extremely knowledgeable in skin and the treatments they carry out, but it is my view that they should not be performing injectable treatments. However even medically trained practitioners have their limitations (for example I do not offer non-surgical rhinoplasty – or liquid nose-job – it’s just something I have never got onto a course for, and it is absolutely not one you work out on the job… it is a very high risk area so I have just not got round to it yet!), so they should know their limitations and stick with them.
It is of course completely reasonable to be a model for a treatment, as long as the person has had appropriate training and is working under appropriate supervision where it is required. All practitioners need to trial new treatments to build their skills and portfolios, so introductory and model appointments are fine. However if the person ‘practicing’ is not proficient and is not being supervised, this can be problematic. For example, I have recently had quite a few models in to support Francesca in updating her skills and introducing her to the equipment that we use at Sally Wagstaff Aesthetics, to transfer her skills from treatments that she has done previously but using different equipment – e.g. our laser is different to the one she previously used.
Preparation/pre-post treatment advice and support
Does your practitioner prepare you appropriately for your treatment? Do you have a full consultation and explanation? Do you know exactly what you are going to undergo? Have you been given an opportunity to ask questions, and have you felt comfortable enough to ask them?
Also were you given a ‘cooling off’ period? I do not treat a brand new client on the same for fillers or botox – i make sure the client knows exactly what they are committing too, and. Botox is a prescription only medicine and must be prescribed for that person.
Products and equipment
What products are they using? Are they high quality, professional grade products, and where are they coming from? I only use a properly registered aesthetics pharmacy so i know for sure that the products I use are genuine and high quality. There is a vast difference in price in different aesthetic products too – even genuine ones – and the main difference is usually the technology and the quality of products. I only use high end quality products, to get the best long term results and the fewest possible side effects.
Personal recommendations
Reviews and testimonials are really important! Do they. Have lots of independent reviews by real clients? Have you met people who have had treatment with that practitioner? Do they have a good reputation locally? This can obviously be a personal thing and just because one person doesn’t like them, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything at all – sometimes you just don’t like someone, but if you consistently hear bad things, or hear about unhappy clients, this is a huge red flag.
Personality
Does it matter WHO is doing your fillers if they tick all the other requirements? Yes and no. I would definitely choose the highest qualified practitioner with the best qualifications for anything medical, even if they were the grumpiest shit on the planet! BUT – if you are not comfortable with your practitioner for any reason, it may be better to find one that you are comfortable with – there is a lot of evidence that your perception of your results may even be better than if you don’t like your practitioner. My happiest clients are definitely the ones that I have the best relationship with. A good example of this was a few years ago was a decorator who did a job at our house was an absolute arse and I really didn’t like him or the way he handled the job, or the issues we subsequently had with it – so I ended up picking holes in the whole job, and spotted every single teeny tiny issue that we had, whereas other tradesmen have been much nicer and i’ve been able to step back and see the job as a whole and been happy with it! Develop a good relationship with your practitioner – you will see them a lot over the years and it helps you and them to look forward to those appointments!
Prescriber
Are they a prescriber, or do they have access to one? Do you have a face to face appointment for anything that may need a prescription (that includes botox, filler dissolver, b12 or other vitamins, aqualyx or other fat dissolvers etc).
Patient Safety
Do they seem concerned about the safety of their clients? Are they prepared for emergencies such as allergic reaction, occlusion, and other health concerns – would you know what to do if the client fainted, or collapsed for some reason? Are they keen to treat appropriately and not take risks or over treat?
Price
‘Are fillers expensive?’ ‘How much for one mil, babe?’ ‘I can get it cheaper down the road’,
This is a tough one – please, please do not choose your practitioner based on price, particularly if you choose them because they are cheap. Generally speaking they are probably cheap for a reason (see ‘Products’ above!) – what products are they using, are they sharing syringes of product (god forbid – this is a HUGE no-no – if ever anyone offers you a discount if you share your product with a mate, run like the wind and NEVER go back!!), are they incentivising prescription only medicines (botox parties for example where the host gets theirs free if they bring 4 friends for botox, or discounts if you bring a friend, etc) as this is actually illegal.
They may be cheap as it is an introductory price, model training day etc, but if they are consistently cheap, you need to be asking why – this is an expensive business to be in, products are expensive, training is expensive, keeping up to date and remaining a medical practitioner is very expensive, time consuming and difficult, insurance, VAT, marketing is expensive and time consuming etc etc… if it’s cheap there is usually a very good reason.
Good quality medical aesthetics SHOULD be expensive – although just being expensive doesn’t guarantee a good service, which is why the other points in this guide are just as important!
There are obviously other things you need to take into account – one key one being insurance. Are they insured for the treatments that they offer?
These are just a few of the things to bear in mind when looking for medical aesthetics – feel free to ask me questions if you are not sure!
