Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
Pure Collection Ltd.
Net-a-porter UK

Wednesday 30 January 2008

Botox, etc some issues


Read, ponder

A recent investigation by the consumer watchdog Which? found a woeful lack of professionalism within the UK's cosmetic treatments industry: non-medical staff giving advice, companies pressurising uninformed customers into buying treatments, and even nurses selling Botox jabs on eBay. When an independent panel of experts rated the 19 clinics that Which? investigated, they found none to be "excellent", and only five managed a rating of "good".

"People tend to think that procedures such as Botox and dermal fillers are safer than plastic surgery because they are quick and don't involve an operation," says Jenny Driscoll, a health campaigner at Which?, whose website (which.co.uk/cosmetic) provides one of the few comprehensive guides to treatments.

"But actually, the plastic surgery market is far better regulated because all surgeons have to be passed by the General Medical Council and the Healthcare Commission. Conversely, when it comes to non-invasive procedures, there is no single body you can go to for information, and rule-breaking often goes unchecked."Driscoll thinks that because cosmetic treatments are viewed as vanity procedures, the Government is reluctant to spend money on the industry. "But my argument is that if you do not have better regulation, you will only end up having to spend money on these people when they need NHS treatment if something goes wrong."


My own position on these treatments is that I am too much of a hypochondriac to have any non-essential treatments with side effects and would rather spend the money on a digital mammogram. And Creme de la Mer.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Linda - here in the US, our cosmetic surgery/procedures situation is compounded by no federal standard. Yes, there is a Cosmetic Surgeons Board, but in many states, it is not a requirement to be board-certified to perform these operations. I may be wrong but I think California (the land of "botox for all")is one of those states with no board requirements. Crazy, scary stuff.

Anonymous said...

My question is - does Creme de la Mer really work so much better than everything else that it justifys the cost? I'm really curious!

Linda Grant said...

Yes.

Anonymous said...

What does it do (or not do) that you love? I've just hit menopause & am having to rethink my entire skincare/makeup routine & am desperately looking around for things that will work (acne *and* drying skin? not fair!) so I would love to hear what you think about it.

Linda Grant said...

Creme de la Mer is a very thick cream and if you tried to rub it onto your face, as some do, you would very quickly want to wash it again. You take a very small amount (and the pot lasts a long, long time) and you rub and warm it between your fingers until it resembles a semi-transparent serum. You then pat it lightly on your face with your fingertips. Pat pat pat. Your face still might feel a bit greasy but when you wake up the next morning it will all be absorbed and it will feel like a baby's bottom.

I have been using it for about four or five years and whenever I stop, my skin says: hello? Is there something you're forgetting? It gives the skin a suppleness, elasticity and hydration. I only use it every other night unless it's very cold out and only once or twice a week in the summer.

It feels like the skin has been given a large, exceptionally nourishing and healthy meal.

It's just - good.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the detailed info. I think I will treat myself to a pot. Nothing I've tried so far has been wonderful & I've probably spent the monetary equivalent of a pot of Creme de la Mer on all of the ones I've tried.

Miss Cavendish said...

I thought it timely that the very day the NYT ran a feature on the book _How Not to Look Old_, the online news source MSNBC ran a story on how some women sre dying from ill-administered Botox injections.

Susan B said...

I'm newly a fan of facials, myself, as opposed to botox etc. The last time, the facialist gave me a glycolic peel and my skin just glowed for weeks.

Anonymous said...

I will be the exception and say I love my Botox. I've been having injections for a year (three times per year) and not only have people stopped asking, "What's wrong?" because they thought I was frowning, but my daily afternoon headaches are GONE.

The surgeon I go to was one of the pioneers in the field, so even though it's not the most convenient location for me to get to, the certainty that he's not going to make a mistake makes it worth it for me.