OLIVIA’S BLACK BOOK NAMES TO KNOW NATIONWIDE
Dr Victoria Manning & Dr Charlotte Woodward, Hampshire. Botox from £195, fillers from £425 and thread lifting from £300. Riveraesthetics. com; 01590 608480
Working together in the New Forest, Harley St and Canford Cliffs, they offer a blinding array of skin brightening solutions, but most notably they are the country’s leading experts in face and body threading, a highly skilled technique in which featherlight threads (made from the same material as dissolvable stitches) are strategically inserted under the skin creating a supportive “scaffold” to lift jowly necks and fallen faces, tweak eyebrows and even (subtly) raise a droopy cleavage. The recently “refreshed” Meg Matthews is the poster girl for their famous Riverlift, a treatment that combines threads with Botox and filler.
Sherina Balaratnam, Buckinghamshire
Balaratnam’s super discreet S-thetics Clinic is based in a 200-yearold coach house just off Beaconsfield’s High Street; there’s no sign, it doesn’t look clinic-y, and high-profile clients from London make the easy 35-minute drive for her seamless Botox and filler work, high-tech body treatments and skin programmes.
Dr Natalie Blakely, Surrey. Botox from £370, hormone consult from £300, nutritionist consult £250. Lighttouchclinic.co.uk; 01932 849552
As the name suggests, Blakely’s Light Touch Clinic in Weybridge is a place for conservative tweaks. She also has a special interest in hormones and offers very thorough testing and rebalancing to tackle issues such as unexpected weight gain, thinning hair, breakouts and mood swings. There’s also an in-house nutritionist.
Dr Tracy Mountford, Buckinghamshire. Fillers from £450, Coolsculpting from £480, Botox from £320. Cosmeticskinclinic. com; 01753 646660.
Glossy, glamorous and a great hand holder, Mountford is everything you want in a doctor. She goes light on Botox – leaving large sections clear, most notably around the eyebrows, to prevent “spocking” (as in Dr Spock), but treating other areas, so one looks youthful and fresh rather than overcooked. Her clinic is also the number one place in Europe for the fat freezing treatment Coolsculpting. Ask for Magda in London or Ria in Stoke Poges.
Dr Julia Sevi, Leeds. Carboxy therapy from £100, Lasergenesis from £240. Aesthetichealth.co.uk; 0113 269 7274
Sevi is one of the best injectors in the country and can work out a cunning plan to suit all sized budgets. One of her secret weapons is carboxy therapy (minute injections of carboxy gas), placed under the skin to help regenerate collagen production, boost circulation and even out skin texture to the extent that make-up sits better, and after a few sessions one can even get away with wearing a tinted moisturiser rather than foundation.
Dr Nestor Demosthenous, Edinburgh. Botox from £320, fillers from £350, thread lifting from £1,900. Drnestor.co.uk; 0131 467 1450
Known for needle skills, Dr Demosthenous can reshape your eyebrows with Botox and is a pro at Silhouette Soft thread lifts.
Dr Beatriz Molina, Bristol and Glastonbury. Pro-facial £75, Plexr from £500, Restylane Skin Boosters from £250, fillers from £350. Medikas.co.uk; 01179 736661
Molina developed an interest in skin after she got melasma (brown pigmentation across the face). Her knowledge has now been translated into a stellar selection of skin peels and facials and her own brand of mineral make-up. One of her newest acquisitions is Plexr, which uses ionised gas to contract skin, lifting droopy eyelids.