People who’ve never had an aesthetic injection often believe those who have done such treatments often look fake and unnatural. Yet, many people are often unable to tell who’s had an aesthetic injection or not.1 When looking at the photos above, can you tell who’s had a treatment?
Fake or fab after an aesthetic injection
In a recent survey sponsored by dermatology company Galderma, 40 percent of respondents claimed they would discourage others from having aesthetic injections. In addition, 34 percent believed that the results of aesthetic injections such as fillers look fake and unnatural.1
However, when the participants in the survey looked at a series of photos, 4 out of 5 couldn’t identify who had undergone a filler treatment or not.1 Can you tell? Above are two great-looking persons, Kyle and Mirjam. Can you guess who has had an aesthetic injection? It’s not so easy, is it? The answer is revealed further down.
Aesthetic injection: who is the typical client?
So, aesthetic injections aren’t always unnatural-looking – quite the opposite. But, someone might object, maybe they were only shown photos of people who had undergone minimal treatments. And, had they had more typical treatments, it would have looked fake.
Here’s what world leading plastic surgeon Luiz Avelar from Belo Horizonte (Brazil) has to say about it:
“The vast majority of the clients I see are opting for small, subtle changes that will help them create their own look and feel empowered to be the best version of themselves. In my opinion, these people are inherently self-confident, know their own mind and are simply taking control of their own look.”
So, a professional working in the field has a different perception than those who are unfamiliar with aesthetic injections. Most people seem to be looking for small and subtle changes.
My look, on my terms
Small and subtle changes can create results that will be difficult to notice when looking at a photo or when meeting someone in real life. What we will notice are treatment results where the person was not looking for a subtle change, but rather for something dramatic.
However, all of us do not want a dramatic change. This is one of the many misconceptions surrounding aesthetics, that treatments are always obvious and look fake and that people want dramatic and unrealistic changes to their looks.
Aesthetic injection – would you recommend it?
As the survey results revealed, only 11 percent would be supportive if a friend or family member told them they were considering a filler treatment.1 Is this doing others a service – or perhaps a disservice?
Clinical studies where patients have been treated tell a different story. Some studies were able to collect patient feedback on their experience of the treatment. For example, in one clinical study all patients (treated with Restylane® Volyme™) said they would recommend the treatment and would receive the treatment again.2
In the survey mentioned at the start of this article, the participants that had never had a treatment would discourage others. Yet, according to the clinical study, those who had had treatment would, in 100 percent of cases, encourage others to have anesthetic injections. And they would also have the treatment again.
One thing to keep in mind here is that Restylane® is a premium filler brand. It has been on the market for many years and the properties of the fillers are well-known to treating practitioners.
Also, the people in the clinical study were treated by qualified healthcare practitioners. That’s something every one of us who considers aesthetic injections must remember, to always consult a qualified practitioner.
Nevertheless, what conclusions can we draw from this? Perhaps that we should let people decide for themselves and learn a bit more about something before we impose our opinions on them.
Higher acceptance among younger generations
Younger people, the so-called Generation Z (those born in the mid 1990s to early 2010s) are slightly more open-minded towards aesthetic injections.1
When Restylane was launched in 1996 it was the first filler of its kind, introducing non-animal fillers with stabilized hyaluronic acid on the market.3 After that, fillers and other aesthetic treatments have become more and more accessible to all of us.
This means Generation Z has grown up with aesthetic treatments becoming increasingly more common. We tend to have prejudices towards that which is unknown to us, and for younger people aesthetic injections have been there all along.
Tested for natural-looking results
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, 34 percent of the participants in the survey are convinced an aesthetic injection such as a filler provides unnatural-looking results.1
You could say, even if people want subtle changes (as Dr. Luiz Avelar claims) there’s no guarantee it will look natural after all. And what happens when people move their face? Will it still look natural?
This is something that has been investigated on Restylane fillers in a clinical study. The overall result was that 95 percent of patients had maintained the naturalness of their expressions six months after their treatment.4 The patients were asked to do all kinds of facial expressions, such as a big smile, blowing out a candle and purse their lips for a kiss.4
And finally: have you guessed by now whether Kyle or Mirjam has had treatments? The answer is – both have had filler injections.
Don’t miss:
Restylane is featured in a product placement spot in new action-comedy film Mafia Mamma, which is directed by Catherine Hardwick of Twilight fame and co-stars Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci.
Mafia Mamma celebrates female empowerment and sees Toni Colette’s character challenging her comically clueless colleagues and their outdated attitudes about the reasons why women chose to undergo aesthetic treatments. While the film uses humor to highlight the stereotypes and judgements people make when thinking about injectables, the attitudinal study emphasizes how these real-life judgements are still prevalent in society and have a tangible impact on the way people behave towards those considering fillers.
1. GL-RES-2300046. Global research sponsored by Galderma. Research was carried out by YouGov surveying 9733 people across the UK, US, Canada, Brazil, Germany and Thailand between 17th and 27th January 2023; 2. Talarico, S. et al., Dermatol Surg. 41, 1361–1369 (2015).; 3. Data on File (MA-39680); 4. Philipp-Dormston W, et al. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2020;19:1600–6.