Luxury fillers

Using the word “luxury” with fillers makes it sound as they are only used for aesthetic and cosmetic purposes and linked to the traditional beauty industry. However injectable fillers are medical treatments even if being done for aesthetic reasons as the skin is being breached and there are risks with injectable fillers even if they are luxury fashion add-ons in the mind of the person having the filler. The risks include infection, the risk to vision, bruising, swelling, redness, lumps and biofilm reaction.
The global facial injectables market as the filler market is very large. The injectable market is dominated by Allergan who were the original Botox manufacturers and also produce the Juvederm range. Smaller UK players are Ipsen which produce Dysport which is a UK form of botulinum toxin A and Merz Pharma produce Xeomin which is another botulinum toxin A. It will not be long before the beauty companies dominated by L’Oreal, Coty, LVMH and Estee Lauder enter this multimillion pound or dollar or euro injectables market.
Injectables are medical devices. They are not over-the-counter sales. The products are costly to manufacture because of what they have to do have such a high safety level and be reliable. The products are complex and have had regulatory trials to obtain approval and hence are expensive. This alone prevents them from being over-the-counter type treatments. Products require approval and research to have the correct safety data for use. Please remember that Botox and dermal fillers are medical products which require a prescription from a doctor and must be administered by a medical practitioner. Injectables can be administered by a nurse if the medical practitioner has written the prescription and are supervising them, and the nurse has had the appropriate training and certification.
Training and expertise of the practitioner administering the treatment is as important as a quality of the product. It is my opinion that aesthetic injection should remain tied to medical practice and not become a broader consumer item. Although people with medical training can go to high-end cosmetic outlets, those premises should be strictly regulated for safety, cleanliness and protocols. Unfortunately, the Care Quality Commission currently does not monitor them, and therefore other forms of monitoring are in the process of being developed.
We make our medical clinics consumer friendly and welcoming. They do not have to be harsh, bland, clinical spaces but can have a zone, which is more boutique, more aesthetic, with more comfortable surroundings, lighting and music.
This can be done within the context of for instance Clinica London where we have two wonderful cosmetically trained nurses. They can come in and have their treatment with us and then go out and have lunch or go shopping, knowing that they have been to a place which values patient’s safety to the highest degree.
The nurses will do treatments with botulinum toxin A and Skinboosters to the face and hands, plus I will do more complex botulinum toxin A treatments and dermal fillers such as Restylane Lyft (previously known as Perlane). Also, I do Sculptra injections and use Juvederm products. I specialise in tear trough fillers, called TearFill with Restylane and Lidocaine. Integrating Botox and dermal filler services into an eye clinic such as at Clinica London, along with our facial massages and Intraceuticals treatments does provide a luxury equal to the spas, possibly better.