Beauty standards keep evolving but the obsession with clear and glowing skin, for example, tops every aesthetic list. In the past couple of years one has seen the rise of interest in bee-stung lips, which began with the love for Angelina Jolie and continued as more and more celebrities like Kylie Jenner endorsed lip fillers for the desirable full lips. Laser treatments for hair removal, fat removal, skin resurfacing etc are definitely on the top of every list.

In a bid to know more about aesthetic treatments that were popular today, we got in touch with Azeemah Nakhoda, daughter of renowned dermatologist Dr. Tasneem Nakhoda, who is a certified medical aesthetician and laser therapist and has been working with her mother for the past eight years. Having studied psychology, Azeemah initially wanted to become a therapist but then she started learning more about aesthetic medicine and how quickly it could give people results as well as boost their confidence.

“I got a degree in medical aesthetics and laser technology, which allows you to perform any kind of laser and use different kinds of aesthetic devices - be it body contouring devices all the way to micro needling and superficial devices,” Azeemah Nakhoda told Instep, adding that for many years she did body contouring at the clinic and then slowly switched to skin tightening.

Talking about Covid-19 and how it impacted their business, Azeemah shares that they were not offering any services for a few months last year when the fear regarding Covid was really high. “However, when we, as the medical community, learned more and more about the pandemic and how to prevent it we just made sure to follow all the SOPs when we opened our doors to our clients. After things started getting normal, we’ve made sure that all our doctors and staff are vaccinated and we are taking all the precautions,” she adds.

According to Azeemah, one may have expected a dip or decrease in the frequency of cosmetic procedures post-Covid-19 but nothing has changed.

“Initially people were concerned about Botox and fillers and getting Covid, but that is not the case. Having said that, in terms of complaints during the first and second wave of coronavirus, we got a lot of patients complaining of hair fall. Even now young girls with hair fall come to us. This is a huge influx as opposed to pre-Covid days,” she informs.

Apart from that, the aesthetician says that maskne or mask acne that involves acne breakouts from wearing a face covering is another problem that is quite common these days. “We also get a lot of patients with extremely dry hands due to excessive hand washing and using sanitizers. We treat them medically and no cosmetic procedures are involved,” she explains.

As far as cosmetic treatments are concerned, what’s in and what’s out these days?

“People are getting aesthetic treatments like lip fillers and fillers for nasolabial lines as well as under eye fillers mainly because they can’t hide what they think as flaws on their faces through makeup. What these aesthetic treatments do is make them feel confident about themselves and their looks even if they are not wearing makeup,” she responds.

Speaking of the three most popular treatments that youngsters go for these days, Azeemah says: “As I mentioned earlier, it is acne and acne scarring which is very common among teenagers. Also, really young girls are coming for hair fall solutions, which was not the case a few years back and the third one is getting those big thick lips like Hollywood celebs.”

On the other hand, procedures common among women in their 30s and 40s are skin tightening and body contouring treatments as well as Botox to get rid of fine lines and fillers to enhance their facial features.

On a parting note, Azeemah shares that the ideal age to start cosmetic procedures especially acne and its scars should be as soon as one gets them. According to her, the more you wait the more scarring you’ll get and getting rid of that scarring requires much more effort.

“Micro needling is also great if you start at a young age. As for anti-ageing treatments and skin tightening, early 30s is the ideal age to get started.

However, it differs from person to person and it all depends on their skin. I would suggest that young girls avoid getting skin lightening treatments, lip fillers and nose contouring before the age of 18. The reason is that your face changes when you are growing up so it is better to wait to get such treatments,” she concludes.

What cosmetic treatments, if any, would you be eager to opt for?