15 I’M QUITE COMFORTABLE ADMITTING I’VE BEEN HAVING BOTOX FOR YEARS, AND I AM HAPPY TO RECOMMEND IT

JUST A LITTLE, THREE TIMES A YEAR. I’ve never been a fan of other injectables, mostly because I’ve thought fillers look obvious, but I’ve had cause to rethink. For the past couple of years, I’ve been casting my gimlet eye over certain women I know, trying to work out why they look so damn good. To cut a long story short, it all leads to Dr Tapan Patel of the Phi Clinic, whose way with fillers is nothing short of extraordinary. His work is subtle, and can rejuvenate and lift tired looking faces by injecting small amounts of filler in multiple – sometimes surprising – places, such as the temple, top of the cheekbone, chin and philtrum (the two lines that run from the top of the lips to the nose).

But not all practitioners are the same. It’s an unregulated industry so, in principle, someone could inject you after a day’s training. And a practitioner without medical training is less likely to know what to do if something goes wrong. As Dr Patel explains, ‘Fillers don’t cause problems in themselves. When unwanted side effects occur, it’s about the placement and the practitioner not using the right kind of filler for the anatomical area. Some people inject superficially, just under the skin, but that’s the worst place – you need to put it deeper, which is safe when you have a good understanding of anatomy and the ageing process.’

Neither can you treat areas in isolation. You can’t improve hollowness under the eye without placing some filler in the cheek, for example. You may need to build up support around the mouth area before putting filler in lips. Dr Patel doesn’t inject naso-labial lines, either, saying filling them when you’re older is more likely to make you look puffy cheeked than take years off. Essential then to go to someone who has medical training, is up to date with new techniques, has plenty of before and after pictures of their work, and ideally has been recommended.

Dr Patel injected three small drops of filler along the top of my cheekbones, which has sharpened them up and given me a subtle lift. It didn’t hurt as he used Juvéderm, which has an anaesthetic in it, though I was a bit swollen for a week or so. No one asked what I had done, though many have commented I look well. Result!