When our skin starts to look dull, booking in for a tweakment to pep it back up seems the perfect solution.
Indeed, aesthetic procedures are an excellent way to freshen tired complexions and give life back to sleepy skin, but aesthetics expert Dr. Paris Acharya says that before bounding onto the Botox bed, there are several considerations women in midlife should be aware of.
"Women in midlife are juggling so much, from careers to hormonal changes as well as caring for kids and elderly parents, so the most common issues I find with clients is looking knackered," Dr. Paris explains of the women she treats at The Ardour Clinic in Marylebone, London.
"Midlife women often don't know where to start with aesthetic procedures, they just know they don't want to look 'done' – they want to look and feel fresh, like they've just been on holiday," Dr. Paris says.
"During midlife we have so much going on that we can lose ourselves. We're putting ourselves last and we need to find our way back to ourselves. People often get to breaking point and that's when they come to me, looking for a treatment to help them feel like themselves again."
With her expertise in guiding women in the right direction when it comes to aesthetics, Dr. Paris shares how to find the right treatment for you in midlife, explaining: "Addressing the whole lifestyle helps work out the most fruitful treatments that we can do."
Finding the right tweakment in midlife
1. Consider budget
Generally in your midlife, your financial commitments are high, Dr. Paris notes, citing mortgages and school fees. "You won't necessarily have a huge budget for treatments, so you have to invest well, with procedures that make a long-term difference.
"I want to book clients in for a treatment that's the biggest bang for their buck."
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She says that neuromodulators such as Botox are still the most popular option for clients looking for a quick fix without downtime or the need for frequent top-ups.
"Botox literally does what you need it to do, and I think you can look very refreshed when it's done naturally," Dr. Paris says.
© Getty2. Time investment
If you're time poor, keep this in mind when choosing your treatment. A procedure that needs a course of appointments isn't a good idea if you already have a packed schedule each week.
"People who only have five minutes to do their skincare routine in the morning are unlikely to have time for follow up treatment appointments," points out Dr. Paris.
"Most of my patients say they don't have time to sit around and have an hour-and-a-half-long facial. They want something that's going to show results in a short period of time and not have any downtime."
© Omorovicza3. Emotional elements
The emotional state of her clients is of utmost importance for Dr. Paris, who always discusses their motivations for booking an appointment, ensuring they're doing it for themselves rather than for the approval of others.
"People need to be in the right frame of mind to invest in themselves," she says. "Most of my clients are doing it for themselves and making time for them after a busy few years, and I'd be sure to talk it through if someone didn't seem in the right frame of mind."
At The Ardour Clinic, Dr. Paris and her co-founder, Anna Miller, offer life coaching alongside aesthetics for a holistic approach to wellbeing and aesthetics, with bespoke packages created to address everything from stress management to divorce and programmes tailored to menopause.
Anna explains: "We believe that true beauty encompasses more than just external appearance. It's about achieving your fullest potential in every aspect of life—health, beauty, and overall wellbeing."
The stress management package, for example, combines aesthetic treatments including toxin injections to target the muscles that go into spasm during periods of stress to combat the symptoms from teeth grinding, to frowning, headaches and temporal pain. The package also includes medi-facials and life coaching to relieve the physical manifestations of stress while simultaneously addressing and tackling the underlying origins too.
Find out more about The Ardour Clinic.
