South Africans are zooming in on their looks as aesthetics procedures rise

You would think that just because many people are working from home, they don’t really care about how they look. But it has emerged that now more than ever, South Africans are obsessed with how they look and believe it or not, the eye and forehead areas are receiving the most attention.

“Although this year saw many elective procedures taking a back seat, the demand for aesthetic medical services has not lessened,” says plastic surgeon, Dr Kamlen Pillay, who is the founder and powerhouse behind the SCIN brand, which opened a second branch recently at Hyde Park Corner in Johannesburg.  He adds that in fact, studies have shown that the global medical aesthetics market is on the increase. Dr Elfrieda Fourie, Aesthetics Medical Doctor at Anti-Aging Art, couldn’t agree more and says that for many South Africans, video conferencing is now a daily, if not hourly, occurrence and as a result people are in tune with how they look.  “Workforces are starring at their computer screens and the more they do, the more they are noticing the asymmetries, otherwise known as – the Zoom-face. This has resulted in an unprecedented boom in certain aesthetic procedures,” she says, adding that imperfections are exaggerated as a result of high definition. “We are fixating on those sags and bags for a disproportionate amount of time,” she warns.

Dr Fourie maintains if a procedure is the solution to your problem and you have the money to do it, then why not?.  “If a non-invasive procedure can improve one’s confidence, dissolve an insecurity or relieve anxiety, then now’s the perfect time to do it.  It’s empowering and the ultimate pick-me-up in these unsettling times.”

Dr Pillay concurs and says aesthetic procedures can have a positive impact on their clients and rejuvenate, re-invigorate and restore their self-confidence.

For those who are still saving towards a procedure they want, Dr Fourie provides some tips on how to look good on Zoom, without treatment:

• Stack your computer on some books so that your face tilts upwards slightly.
• Invest in a ring light to eliminate bad lighting that causes shadows which highlight eye bags.  No ring light?  Sit facing a window so that you are illuminated by soft, natural lighting.
• If you’re not ready for a close up, sit at least an arm’s length in front of the camera.

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