Map it, don’t chase it: how to plan aesthetic treatments over years, not trends

Dr Cassie encouraged me to think in years rather than individual visits. “You should plan for a five-to-ten-year period, with reassessments every six months to a year,” she says.

I don’t take that to mean planning ten years of procedures in advance. Faces change, along with preferences and treatment technologies. The useful part is having an overall direction and reassessing it periodically rather than responding to every new concern—or every new treatment—as though it exists on its own. For me, that was the biggest shift. A treatment stopped being simply something I wanted to try and became something I had to place within a bigger picture.

If you move between clinics, it can be surprisingly easy to lose track of your own treatment history. I did. Now I think it is worth keeping a basic record: what you had done, when, where and, if you know it, what product or device was used. It also means being open with whoever is treating you next.

I used to treat different clinics as separate chapters: one person for one thing, another for something else. I now see the benefit of having someone who understands the fuller picture. That doesn’t mean never seeking another opinion. It simply means making sure the next practitioner has the information they need.

In case you missed it: Regenerative beauty 101: 10 terms to understand before you book anything

Another thing I used to compare was the cost of the appointment. What I paid far less attention to was what happened afterwards. Before booking something now, I want to know: how long is the result expected to last? How often might I want to repeat it? Is this likely to become part of my regular routine, or is it something I might do occasionally? A treatment that looks cheaper initially may involve more frequent maintenance. A more expensive procedure may still not be worthwhile if the result or commitment isn’t right for you. The more useful question is not simply what does this cost today? It is “What am I signing up for over time?”

Aesthetic treatments come with a lot of persuasive language: clinically proven, approved, cleared, medical grade, latest technology. I have become much more comfortable asking what those terms actually mean.

What evidence supports the treatment? What result is it intended to produce? How long has it been used? What are the known risks and limitations? Who is the treatment appropriate for—and who is it not appropriate for? And if regulatory status is being used as part of the sales pitch, ask which regulator it refers to and what exactly has been authorised.

You do not need to become an expert yourself. You should, however, feel comfortable asking the person recommending the procedure to explain why they are recommending it to you.

I used to spend much more time researching the treatment than the person doing it. Now I would look at both. Who is assessing you? Who will actually perform the treatment? What is their training and experience with that particular procedure? How often do they perform it? And if something does not go as expected, who manages the complication? A famous machine or popular injectable does not tell you very much about the judgement of the person using it. That judgement is part of what you are paying for.

These are the questions I find most useful to ask when I’m at a clinic:

• What exactly are we trying to change?
• What do you think I should leave alone?
• How does this fit with treatments I’ve already had?
• What happens if I do nothing for now?
• What result is realistic?
• How long is it expected to last?
• What maintenance might it involve?
• Who will perform the procedure, and what is their experience with it?
• What are the main risks or downsides?
• Why are you recommending this particular treatment for me?
  
  

None of those questions means you have to become anti-aesthetics. They simply make the decision more considered.

Years ago, I had filler injected into my nasolabial folds because filler was what everyone seemed to be doing. I don’t regret experimenting with aesthetics. But I do wish I had thought more about the cumulative picture rather than treating every concern as something that needed an immediate fix.

These days, the outcome I want is much quieter. As Dr Cassie once put it to me, the best result is when months later someone tells you that you look rested but cannot quite identify why. That stayed with me. So now I go into a consultation knowing two things: what I might consider changing, and what I absolutely want to keep. Because a long-term aesthetics plan shouldn’t mean finding more and more things to do to your face. It should help you make fewer, better-considered decisions about how you want to age.

Lindsay Jang is the co-founder of wellness studio Family Form in Hong Kong, and founder of Yardbird, Ronin, Roti Tori and Sunday's Grocery.

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