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Botox with Cosmedics

The blurb

Cosmedics was established by cosmetic consultant Dr Ross Perry to provide the latest non-surgical skincare and facial rejuvenation treatments for women and men. Ross qualified at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School in 1994 and pursued a surgical career that now comprises NHS skin cancer reconstruction and private cosmetic skin treatments.

He is the Medical Director of Cosmedics Skin Clinics, which he established in 2003. As most of his patients already know, he is very much the perfectionist in all aspects of his work. Ross’s private work consists of minor surgical procedures such as mole, wart and skin tag removal. He has a special interest in plastic and cosmetic surgery and offers advanced uses of Botox and facial fillers to achieve outstanding non-surgical results. He also has ongoing NHS commitments as a GP.

Cosmedics say, ’All our patients request a natural look that means they are still able to have expressions after having Botox—it’s not too obvious that they have had ‘work done’.’

‘The cosmetic and medical skin treatments are carried out by a team of highly experienced dermatology doctors who are all registered with the GMC and highly experienced and skilled in providing the best cosmetic skin and laser treatments for the face, body and legs. Cosmetic treatments such as Botox and dermal fillers are popular choices to tackle anti-ageing concerns such as lines and wrinkles.’

The process

I was pretty nervous; having never had Botox before, the idea of a stranger injecting a neurotoxin into my skull was a little nerve-wracking (*Ed’s note: Botox is not actually injected into the skull). But Dr Ross is extremely experienced, reassuring and capable, with an alabaster track record.

The huge jabs I’d anticipated turned out to be almost imperceptible, and I must stress, I hate injections. Dr Perry is a man at one with a needle. Striking the fine line between reassuring, patient and no-nonsense, he’s not given to indulge irrational concerns. Which is, in itself, reassuring.

After carefully examining my face, and how it moved, Dr Perry injected maybe 12 miniscule sites across my forehead. I’d researched the procedure a little beforehand and thought I’d need anaesthetic cream, but I actually couldn’t feel a thing. And bear in mind dear reader, I’m a massive, full-blown, overgrown baby. There was only one jab that I even felt enough to say ouch, despite—just trust me on this—a unicorn blowing cotton-wool kittens the wrong way being able to hurt me.

The result

Any result/change takes at least a week to show, and despite being in my thirties, I genuinely had no pre-existing wrinkles—to the point that friends/other dermatologists had wrongly speculated that I’d had Botox already. But from my understanding, Botox is best used as a preventative measure.

Being IDed at the pub later that night did make me question whether I’d needed it at all, but, good practice is to implement subtle, imperceptible ‘baby Botox’ to stop stress and expression lines forming before they even begin. And if something can be as pain-free as this, can pre-emptively prevent visible ageing before it starts, and is administered so expertly that no one can tell the difference six weeks later, that makes it a win-win-winner for me.

On top of that, I maybe look slightly more lifted—as though I’d had good night’s sleep even on days I haven’t. My face doesn’t feel frozen or different. It’s only on the rare occasions I hadn’t realised I even frowned that I feel a slight presence. Almost like a very soft calming finger is stopping my forehead from contorting into a full-blown grimace.

The details

4 Disraeli Road, Putney, London, SW15 2DS; 0207 386 0464; www.cosmedics.co.uk/skin-clinics/putney-london

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