When Team Costhetics sits around the board table, our attention is where it should be...
…on the latest news and information about cosmetic surgery and aesthetic enhancement. We’ve noticed when we’re gathered around the Zoom conference screen, however, that something else occupies our mind:
- I look like I haven’t slept in a month
- I have so many lines in my face I look like a gargoyle!
- Has my skin always been the colour of putty?
The connection between video and vanity is hard to miss. Suddenly, instead of imagining how others see us, we are hit right between the eyes with the reality of how we look…often with unfavourable lighting and at awkward angles. For many, the only natural response to this unnaturally unfiltered self-examination is to ‘have a little work done.’
Zoom Shock Waves Felt Across Industry
“I don’t think it’s especially vain of me or anyone else to worry about my on-camera grotesquery,” a woman told the Star Tribute newspaper. “Video conferencing awakens the vanity in all of us.” That vanity hasn’t exactly been napping. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the move toward facial enhancement, particularly non and minimally invasive procedures, pre-dates COVID-19 by several years.
Since the pandemic, however, there has been a decided upsurge in interest in these top five treatments:
- Soft tissue filler injections
- Wrinkle-relaxing injections
- Chemical peels
- Laser hair removal
- IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) therapy
One reason may be that these solutions are interim steps, something you do before you choose surgery. For people who are becoming aware of facial ageing for the first time, non-invasive treatments provide a less dramatic, as well as less permanent solution.
On the other hand, pandemic restrictions make this an ideal time for people who have been waiting to have surgery to move forward. Colleen Nolan, executive director of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, told the New York Times she’d heard from surgeons around the country that patients’ interest in more invasive procedures has also increased. One reason for the interest may be the new work-from-home paradigm.
Rather than having to attend in-office meetings, carpool with other families, etc., people can more easily recover from surgery in private. At-home recovery time off, often up to three weeks for extensive procedures, is also much easier to come by these days. As such, patients are more willing to book extensive facial surgeries, and body surgeries as well including:
- Breast augmentation
- Breast lifts
- Tummy tucks
Let Your Camera Be Your Cosmetic Surgeon
How you present yourself on Zoom may be the difference between liking what you see and wanting to rush to a surgeon.
- Give Yourself a Chin Job – If your camera is capturing your image from a below-the-face angle, it will accentuate a double chin. Just change the angle to above-the-face and skip the chin surgery.
- Soften Those Wrinkles – A harsh white light will create shadows that make every fine line and wrinkle pop. Hold off on a facelift and use pink or yellow hues to soften your look.
- Slim Your Face Instantly – The cameras on webcams and smartphones use wide angle lenses. If you get too close, your facial proportions will become distorted and overblown. Move back a bit from your camera and watch your normal contours return.
Have you recently suffered from Zoom Shock? If so, we hope you’re comforted by the fact that it happens to almost everyone. If you’re thinking about taking action with an aesthetic practitioner to change something you don’t like, we say good for you. Be your best self. On the flip side, you may have just realised that you already are your best self and you’ve simply been obsessing about your appearance.
Costhetics loves you either way.