The MediSpa is located in the basement of the Park Club, a large, extremely well-equipped health club in leafy Chiswick. First impressions are good—Reception is a soothing white sanctuary complete with scented candles and jugs of iced water; the staff are welcoming and friendly.
Dr Bela Horvath has an impressive CV: after graduating from Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, he worked in the National Institute of Oncology’s Dermatology department for six years, and is involved in the evaluation of hundreds of moles every week. He has a gentle manner and immediately puts me at ease (call me old fashioned, but it’s always good to know your face is in safe hands) as he goes through my health history.
He is incredibly thorough, scrutinising my face and—somewhat disconcertingly—pronouncing the left my good side, and the right my bad. He takes a photo and we discuss the bits that can be improved with Botox (upper face, basically), and others (my saggy jawline, downward turned mouth), which are only improvable by fillers. He’s utterly charming, and happy to show me photos of himself before and after the various injectables that he recommends. He was a good looking chap before, but looks even better now and is a brilliant advertisement for his clinic.
I have a long, jagged scar on my forehead, from falling off a roof years ago (don’t ask), and generally just cover it up with my fringe. But Dr Bela looked, pondered, and pointed out that the scar was making the rest of my face a bit wonky—he took a photo of me raising my eyebrows and one went noticeably higher than the other.
Two weeks later, thanks to Dr Bela’s magic needles, they are perfectly symmetrical—and yes, I can raise them; the hateful frown line between my eyebrows has disappeared—but I can still frown; and my crows’ feet are much softer, though my eyes still crinkle (endearingly) when I smile. It’s a brilliant job. The only downside is that I can’t stop smiling at myself in the mirror.
I’ve had Botox before, and can honestly say that this is the best I’ve had yet—and at a fraction of the price of some other doctors (£260 for two areas, compared to nearly 1,000 quid from one household name I will not shame). In fact Dr Bela has done such a good job that I’m now seriously tempted by fillers, despite always having set my face (sorry!) against them. Highly recommended.
The details
