Would you expect to order Invisalign without a thorough consultation with the orthodontist first?

Would you expect to build a home without proper planning by the architect first?

Yet in medical aesthetics, patients are used to ordering treatments off a menu as and when they feel ready for something. 

Commonest treatments people book in for are anti wrinkle treatments to the upper face as well as lip, tear trough and cheek filler as they notice signs of ageing that they would like corrected.

The problem with this approach, is the fact that unlike choosing a hair colour or a nail colour, medical aesthetics done as a DIY project, whereby the patient chooses what they want off a menu, rarely ends well as evidenced by the many faces we see around us that look odd.

At Skin Essentials, we take the approach that for correct treatment, you first need to be willing to take the time to understand what the problem actually is, what the solutions are and an accurate cost and timeframe so you can make a decision on beginning at all, and when. 

Medical aesthetics is still medical with rare but real risks and like all medical services, you are a patient seeing a doctor about medical concerns and potential medical procedures. This requires first, a consultation in which we take the time to understand what your concerns are, take photos for our use in clinic to help understand what we see, explain your treatment options to you and the time and money you’d need to invest for this if you chose to.


As we age, there are many changes occurring in the face, on the skin surface as well as underneath, due to a combination of choices that we’ve made in our lives until now and we address many of these to help explain why simply fixing one or two areas may not correct your actual problem. 

As with renovation, the foundations need to be corrected before we can add on finishing touches. These are rarely fixed with 1-2 mls of filler or some anti wrinkle treatment, or in 1-2 sessions. Additionally, if we want to avoid looking weird, frozen or fake, it is important to understand that the entire face is ageing, even if we tend to focus on a specific area or two that are most visible to us in the mirror and in photographs and zoom calls. 

Unlike a house, our face does not have compartments and treating only one or two areas without consideration of the others is more likely to give us bad results.

For this reason, the initial consultation is important - Dr Imaan takes the time to understand you and your concerns, and explains to you the ageing process as it applies to your face. She explores your expectations of medical aesthetics and your willingness to invest your time and money in the process, which on average is 3-6 months minimum and sometimes longer if there are multiple concerns, or you are older when beginning to look into it (usually mid 30s and up). On the flip side, we also see people who’ve been to multiple providers before coming to us and need correction of poorly placed filler before we can get started on restoration. 

Very occasionally, surgery, if you are open to it, may be the best option for you, and Dr Imaan may suggest you have this before continuing work on non invasive treatments with her.

Just as training to run 10k if you’re not used to exercise incorporates a combination of cardio and weight bearing exercise plus dietary and other lifestyle changes, our suggested approach at the consultation and treatment plans for restoring your face and skin usually incorporate a combination of treatments to achieve your goals which include but are not limited to:

* personalised skincare,
* injectables including anti wrinkle and dermal fillers and then for maintenance,
* collagen induction using skin therapies and/or biostimulatory fillers.

Dr Imaan spends the necessary time talking you through her suggestions as well as what is needed from you to see results; how many sessions will be needed on average and the associated cost and patience is key.

It is important that you understand there is one thing non surgical and minimally invasive surgery cannot do well, and that is significant lifting of sagging skin - if this is your main concern, you may be better off seeing a plastic surgeon first and Dr Imaan for ongoing non surgical maintenance.

Based on all of the above, Dr Imaan gives you an accurate quote to achieve your results- we believe that medical aesthetics done well should be reassuringly expensive and it is important you understand that it takes several months (3-12 months on average depending on your budget) of a series of treatments to arrive at results; as such it is important to us that you choose freely to invest understanding what is required of you for the best chance to achieve your desired results as it is part of financial consent.

Unlike most other clinics, we charge for the initial consultation because you are paying for a service and guidance, not just a product and 

* it is a service designed to assess your concerns and draw up a personalised treatment plan that will act as a guide for you and Dr Imaan over the coming months should you decide to proceed.
* ”free” is often associated with upselling and as an ethical practice we do not want there to be any pressure for you to proceed with any treatment on the day if you are uncomfortable doing so
* it is our firm belief that without the solid foundation of a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan, DIY aesthetics is more often than not likely to end up giving you odd results over time.
* our aim is to have longterm patients who value our services and are disciplined, able and willing to invest in themselves
* we offer a highly personalised planning service to address your skin and aging related goals not just for today, but for years to come

Does this align with your own values and goals? If so, we’d love to meet you in clinic and get started on working with you.