Dr Sophie Shotter on the ultimate tweakment dos and don'ts

Dr Sophie Shotter is on the phone from her residency in Dubai, talking to me about the common myths surrounding ageing.

First, she tells me that she thinks genetics play a much smaller role than is commonly accepted, explaining that lifestyle has a huge impact, even influencing how the genes we were handed express themselves. Equally, she adds, new research shows that “aged skin releases inflammatory mediators that cause ageing of the heart and brain — so it’s not just the case that what goes on inside impacts the outside, but vice versa.”

As we explore both themes, I realise that within the first five minutes of talking to Sophie, she’s delivered two refreshing perspectives on ageing — and has backed her opinions with stats and studies.

Her podcast, Age Well, has become an industry favourite for these very reasons, delivering conversations on the many choices we now have surrounding ageing, along with plenty of research. Also noteworthy is the wide range of topics she covers — future episodes include everything from discussions on procedures and ingredients that may be helpful or problematic during pregnancy/breastfeeding to cancer (Sophie tells me that included in this episode is information on supplements, medication, and when it’s okay to reach for injectables again should you wish to).

Given that Sophie’s an authority on tweakments, I asked her for an up to date guide on precisely what you need to know about having them now — your dos and don’ts, if you will. Here are her golden rules:

“In the UK in particular the commercialisation of cosmetic treatments makes people think cheaper is better because it allows them to have more, but I’d argue that you don’t get a good quality product or practitioner at a lower price — and those are the two things that are key. There are 200 licensed filler products available in the UK, but I’d say there are only five that it’s reasonable to inject because the others lack data and we don’t know how it behaves.”

“The quality of who does it doesn’t just come down to medical vs non-medical — neither means they’ve done it for longer than three months or injected more than two people a month. Do your research on who you see. Ask for a practitioners’ experience, qualifications, if they’re insured, and whether they’re prepared to deal with complications should they happen (this doesn’t happen often in good hands with good product, but a practitioner should be vigilant). Finally, ask if they’e on a professional register — ideally the British Aesthetic College of Aesthetic Medicine and the JCCP. You can also ask for their GMC or NMC number.”

“There’s no magic bullet treatment that does everything — they all do subtly different things. A good practitioner should proceed really carefully and look at what’s happening on each layer to get the best results.”

“There can be a thing called perception drift where people use sight of themselves — and it can happen to injectors as well. When you meet them, if they look like they have too much filler, I’d see that as a bit of a warning. Just having a very frank conversation about your expectations and what you’re hoping to achieve — they shouldn’t be afraid to say no, I say no regularly. It shouldn’t be as simple as saying ‘this line bothers me’ and then they inject.”