Gorgeous forever

Who does not like to glam up before a wedding or an important event? Dressing up is fun, but salon visits can get tedious. There are the long queues, opinionated beauticians and the chance of a painful allergic reaction. To get away from these, you could choose doctors who offer “aesthetic skin treatments”, which are non-surgical procedures for longer lasting makeovers. Movie stars and other celebrities are known to frequent these clinics, where services do not come cheap.

 A treatment can cut you back by a few hundred thousand.

But it’s no indulgence, say the experts. The much talked about celebrity doctor, Dr Rashmi Shetty, says, “It is your skin and you cannot take it lightly. You cannot go to a doctor who will bargain with you. Yes, aesthetic treatments are expensive, but it is so for a reason.” Shetty helped many stars, whose names she cannot reveal, and she has been in the industry for 15 years now. Shetty, who has earned her stripes and their trust, runs a clinic named Skin Alive and the brand has three branches in Hyderabad and New Delhi.

Face lifting is one of their more expensive treatments. It starts at Rs. 200,000 per session and the price can go up to Rs. 1 million. The procedure requires the patient to visit their dermatologist at least twice. Dr Shetty says, “In the first round, the patient can see 60% improvement. To complete the treatment, the patient needs to come for a second round.” She adds that, for every visit, the patient needs to pay a fee which can go upto Rs. 500,000.

This is an aesthetic treatment that cannot be categorised as a medical or non-medical surgery because of the products and equipment used. The varied equipment such needed to complete the procedure also hikes up the price. Dr Shetty says, in her clinic, something as common as a facial could cost a client Rs. 12,000.

Another well-known name in the industry is Dr Madhuri Agarwal. She is the owner and founder of the Yavana Aesthetics Clinic. She has been practising in this field for almost 17 years and says that liposuction is another expensive treatment, and it costs around Rs. 300,000 for a round. She adds that Yavana is famous for it's Botox treatment, in which the fillers (or forms of botulinum toxin) are injected into facial muscles to relax them. This irons out wrinkles, crow’s feet or any of the lines that form on the face surface. This is a lengthy process and perhaps the patient may need to visit at least thrice in a year to get the desired result. While Skin Alive charges only Rs. 15,000 for this, the total price at Yavana can go up to Rs. 600,000. “The patient needs to make regular visits for Botox, to ensure that the filling is done properly and evenly. And, of course, the equipment used makes it worth the price,” Dr Agarwal says.

So what is still holding you back? There is no need for you to wait in queues or delayed appointments from a salon anymore. All you need to do is ring these dermatologists and have your ever-ready look on!