FACE TO FACE

With many of us wanting to look our best post-lockdown, we speak to three women who share their real-life experiences of Juvéderm facial fillers

‘I FEEL SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND SO MUCH STRONGER IN MYSELF’ Karen, 58

‘I’d been having various treatments with an aesthetic doctor for a while, and in late 2019 we began discussing options for the sagging skin I was starting to notice around my jawline. He suggested injecting Juvéderm fillers into various parts of my face – the cheek, the chin, at the back of the jaw – to lift my whole face. So I went ahead with that in December 2019.

‘I was really happy with the results. For the first few days my face looked a little rounder than usual, but soon after that it all settled in. You wouldn’t even have known I’d had treatment, apart from the fact that I couldn’t stop looking in the mirror! I’m 58 now and recently started a new job where my co-workers thought I was in my mid-40s. And I put that down to the Juvéderm fillers I had.

‘As you get older, you can lose confidence. For me, the treatment made me feel as if I was wearing a shiny protective coat. I feel so much more confident and stronger in myself. It’s like having a good hair day that lasts for months and months. My husband is always reassuring me that I look beautiful anyway, but I think if you’re not happy in yourself, these things can make a difference. I haven’t had anything else done since, but I’ll probably go back in six months for a consultation and potentially a top-up.

‘I think the most important thing is finding somebody you can really trust. Do your research and, wherever possible, rely on word of mouth.

I have no qualms about telling people what I’ve had done; I think it’s really important to be open about it. The phrase “tweakments” is everywhere now, and I really like the idea of those slight adjustments, so you still look like yourself but as if you’ve just had the best sleep of your life. Who wouldn’t want that?’

‘I LOOK IN THE MIRROR MUCH LESS, BECAUSE I’M MORE CONFIDENT WITH WHAT I SEE’ Alexandra, 46

‘I tried filler for the first time at the age of 43. I’ve always taken care of my complexion, but sometimes if I caught an unexpected glimpse of my profile in a shop window or a mirror, I could see that my face had started to lose some of the plumpness I’d always taken for granted. I wanted to put the volume back, so I opted to have filler to do this.

‘I’ve never found fillers painful;

I’d call the sensation curious, as if someone is tugging my face around, but for me, the process has never really hurt. Most recently, I tried Juvéderm Volite to improve my skin quality and found that more uncomfortable just because there were more injections. Having said that, the procedure was quicker than I thought it would be. I’ve been lucky enough to always see very thoughtful

and meticulous practitioners who err on the side of “less is more” and explain everything they’re doing as they do it.

‘My initial reservations about filler weren’t so much about the procedure itself, as I was seeing highly recommended practitioners with the correct qualifications. My concerns were more about the results looking too obvious. Would I still look like me, and would anyone know I’d had “work” done? What helped me to resolve those questions were long and thorough consultations with my practitioners, making sure that their approach gelled with mine.

I think finding a practitioner you click with is really important.

‘It’s hard to say exactly when the effects of my Juvéderm fillers kicked in, as they were so subtle.

I just noticed that I looked happier two or three weeks afterwards, and my skin looked plumper and smoother.

‘The first doctor I ever saw for fillers said she likes to treat people who’ll look in the mirror less, not more, afterwards. That makes perfect sense to me. I look in the mirror much less, because I’m more confident with what I see.’

‘I’M OPEN TO ANYTHING THAT KEEPS A NATURAL LOOK’ Katherine, 44

‘I’ve been seeing the same aestheticians for 15 years, so by the time they recommended Juvéderm fillers, we’d built up a lot of trust. Trust is obviously massively important when you’re talking about your face. I’m always happy to consider procedures that aim to leave me looking refreshed, but I’m not looking for treatments where it’s obvious to people afterwards that I’ve had something done. I’m open to anything that keeps a natural look.

‘Part of the reason I was on board with Juvéderm fillers was because they’re non-surgical, with minimal expected downtime afterwards. I had injections in my temples, my cheek and my jawline. The process itself was very quick and, for me, painless. I was in and out within an hour and a half.

‘Afterwards, I was told to avoid heavy exercise and saunas for a couple of days, and I was conscious of not having my head upside down for too long during Pilates classes for the first week. That was about it in terms of disruption; there were really no changes to my normal routine.

‘I could see the effects fairly quickly, and I’m still very aware of them now, more than a year on. It’s had a positive impact on my confidence. Part of the reason I chose to have this treatment was because I want to stay looking as fresh as I can. It’s helped me to feel confident knowing that I’m looking as good as possible. Particularly coming out of lockdown, I think we all want to emerge looking like the best versions of ourselves.’

To find out more about the Juvéderm range and find your nearest clinic, visit juvederm.co.uk