Botox-Positive 'Tweakments' Will Revolutionize Skincare In 2023
From tiger grass to mushrooms in your skincare routine, there is an endlessly renewed list of steps you can add. And while we love a self-care ritual, sometimes we don't have 30 minutes in the morning and evening to lather on treatment after treatment. Also, for a long time, store-bought products were the only reasonable way to combat any frustrations you had with your skin, unless you were extremely wealthy or a celebrity of some sort.
Cara Fonteyne, RN and skincare specialist, explains to Bustle that in the past, cosmetically enhancing procedures "were perceived as something reserved for the elite. Now, [she] think[s] social media has brought it to the mainstream and normalized the conversations around these treatments." For better or worse, conventional skincare is moving towards more intense and immediately effective treatments. Although, we are not talking about any surgeries with extreme altercations. Clare Varga, director of beauty for the trend forecasting company WGSN, tells Harper's Bazaar that "nonsurgical and minimally invasive procedures, otherwise known as 'tweakments,' are predicted to grow at the fastest rate."
Why tweakments will become mainstream
"Tweakments" are becoming increasingly popular for more reasons than one. According to the Evening Standard, google searches for "aesthetic tweakments" skyrocketed by 50% post-pandemic. Dr. Steve Fallek, board-certified plastic surgeon and medical director of BeautyFix MedSpa tells Bustle, "We have seen more patients ask for skin-tightening treatments, which could be because so many have seen themselves on Zooms over the past two years." And while people may have become more critical of their skin's appearance, they are looking for something more subtle rather than any drastic facial changes.
Glamour surmises that people are beginning to prefer tweakments because of the horror stories that have come from invasive cosmetic surgery. Fearing unreasonably inflated lips or frozen facial expressions, tweakments are a much more gentle approach to skin refinement. With less pain and recovery time than full on surgery and more obvious results than topical serums, tweakments can appear highly desirable.
What tweakments options are out there and the risks of this trend?
Tweakments refers to several different treatments. Some of these are more invasive than others. Cara Fonteyne discloses to Bustle that the amount of pain and recovery time differ depending on how substantial the work is. There are tweakments that simply maintain a glowing complexion and others that "address deeper structures," says Fonteyne. There are not only tweakments that can modify your face and skin but also tweakments that can reshape your body's muscle and fat composition (via Bustle).
And while tweakments are offering solutions for anti-aging, they could be creating problems for self-esteem. Dr. Alia Ahmed, a dermatologist who specializes in psychodermatology, tells Haper's Bazaar, that by normalizing tweakments, we could reinforce unhealthy beauty standards by rejecting the features we believe need to be changed. In addition, not everyone can afford these procedures, which could visibly intensify socio-economic divides.
Tweakments could also impact you on an individual level. Dr. Ahmed recommends people assess their motivation for receiving aesthetic procedures to ensure they do not have an unhealthy fixation with their appearance. If the desire for a tweakment comes from deep-rooted issues with confidence, the procedure could make matters worse. However, if this isn't the case and it's a surface level peeve, a tweakment can benefit one's self-esteem.