Plastic surgeons claim I need £5k of work… but a Botox ‘sprinkle’, chin filler & nose tweaks won’t fix my self-esteem

I'VE never been beautiful. There I said it.

With my slightly skew-whiff nose and chubby cheeks, people out ften describe me as 'cute' rather than 'sexy' - something I've always hated.

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While growing up in the noughties, I always longed to look more like my mum with her sculpted jawline, high cheekbones and delicate nose. 

That or the cast of Made in Chelsea.

I've worked hard to improve my self-esteem, but a dwindling dating pool, fine lines on my face and flawless celebs have made it increasingly hard to like what I see in the mirror. 

It's not just me who feels this way though.

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As soon as my group of friends started to turn 30, they began getting 'tweakments'.

The odd bit of Botox here, lunchtime under-eye filler there and plumper lips that 'magically' appeared overnight.

This is the problem with tweakments - the more you look, the more flaws you see.

Katherine Sidnell30

Though I'd never considered it before, I started wondering – am I selling myself short by not getting anything done?

Could having the perfect pout improve my career prospects?

Would having a more defined jaw lead to me meeting the man of my dreams?

Rather than simply imagining what I might look like though, I decided to ask three expert aestheticians for their brutally honest opinions on how I could 'improve' my face.

Appointment #1

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My first appointment was with Carriages of Harley Street, a mobile clinic that offers clients treatments almost anywhere in the capital.

There I meet the founder, Dr Richard Devine, and while anti-ageing treatments like Botox and subtle filler are his 'bread and butter’, he says more people are seeking corrective treatments these days.

This includes dissolving the cheek and lip filler [Put link to had our fill campaign as lip filler didn't come up as a topic] they’d gotten in their twenties.

He explains how increasingly, clients are getting their filler dissolved, saying: "As people have gotten older, they've realised perhaps that look was a trend and it doesn't really suit their face."

Filler may be going out of fashion, but in 2022, the British College of Aesthetic Medicine estimated that 9.2 million people had or were considering having a medical aesthetic treatment.

That’s roughly 13 per cent of the UK population.

Dr Devine admits that having a tweakment can ‘boost your confidence’, but says a procedure has to be right for the client.

When he hands me a mirror and asks: “What do you see?”, it’s hard not to pick apart every blemish on my face under the harsh lights of the clinic. 

This is the problem with tweakments - the more you look, the more flaws you see.

Despite feeling self-conscious about the fine lines around my forehead and eyes, Dr Devine suggests that I only need a ‘sprinkle of Botox’ to relax the muscles and reduce creasing.

And though I have a love-hate relationship with my chubby cheeks, he tells me they’re a good thing as we naturally lose fat over time.

He says: “If you wanted to add more structure and definition, you could do a small amount of contouring to the outer part of your cheeks – but it would be minimal.”

“Filler can make us look older if the wrong areas are treated,” he says, suggesting that Kylie Jenner might be an example of this.

He then explains that my nose could have light filler injected to ‘even out irregularities’ around the sockets. 

And after I complain about my lips and jaw, he says I could have a small amount of filler in these areas. 

If I also opted for a bit of resurfacing to remove my chicken pox scars, I could potentially spend £1,975 on treatments at Carriages.

Appointment #2

As others warn me, it’s not just your insecurities that you have to keep in check.

My next expert Amish Patel trained as a pharmacist and at the Royal College of General Practitioners before founding the Intrigue Cosmetics Clinic.

As a medical professional providing tweakments, he has to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), provide patient aftercare and pay for a highly specialised clinic with a sharps bin, easily sanitisable surfaces and space for consultations.

Ironically, non-medical practitioners, including beauty salons on the high street, aren’t regulated by the CQC – despite them usually having less training than he does. 

I’m relieved that I didn’t get Botox from my hairdressers or Groupon - unlike my friends did

Katherine Sidnell30

This could all change soon though as the government is set to roll-out a new traffic light system for aesthetics in 2025.

It could limit who can perform what procedures and under what circumstances.

Green might include non-invasive treatments, which can be done by a non-medical professional.

Amber treatments, like Botox and filler, will potentially be done under medical supervision.

Red category treatments might include rhinoplasties and other invasive treatments, only to be performed by a medic.

Given his medical credentials, Amish is understandably hesitant to advise me about treatments without assessing me in person.

But as I’m unable to meet him in person, I send some pictures of my face, and from those, he’s able to suggest one tweakment: chin filler.

"We could do a more chiselled chin and looking at your pictures, I think some profile balance," he suggests: "Your chin is slightly behind your lip.

If my chicken pox scarring is still bothering me, he says I could also follow this up with three treatments of regenerative micro-needling every six to eight weeks to stimulate collagen.

I can also follow up with a strict skincare regime to help my skin look it's best with medical-grade retinol, daily SPF and a high-quality face wash.

Having now had two appointments, I feel lighter – especially as I’ve not rushed my decision.  

But mostly, I’m relieved that I didn’t get Botox from my hairdressers or Groupon - unlike my friends did.

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Appointment #3

My final expert, Dr Raquel Amado, has worked in both medical and dental aesthetics and has been excited to see tweakments change over the years.

According to her, there are tweakments that don’t alter or warp the client’s natural features - but rather enhance them.

It is why Dr Raquel recommends using a polynucleotide treatment, which are biopolymers that work to stimulate collagen production and give a naturally firmer appearance when injected.

"You’re not changing the volume of your face, you’re just improving the quality," she tells me.

Unsurprisingly, this cutting-edge treatment comes with a hefty price tag – and a full face costs £2,000.

Despite the expense, she insists treating the whole face and neck will pay dividends in the future.

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So what will I get done?

After talking to three experts, I’m still curious about what my face would actually look like with a little enhancement.

After telling my colleague about the various tweakments on offer, she uses her expert Photoshop skills to mock up a digitally enhanced version of me.

Though I knew there’d been a lot of suggestions, I wasn’t prepared for the results.

When I finally see my more ‘beautiful self’, I instantly understand how addictive enhancements are.

Even with nearly £5,000 worth of potential treatments, I still don’t like what I see. 

Katherine Sidnell 30

It’s hard to look away from my newly plumped pout, straightened nose or smooth skin. 

But the longer I look at my face though, the more I see flaws.  

I notice that one eyelid droops more than the other, my face isn’t as sculpted as I’d like (even with filler) and I still have crinkling around the eyes. 

As I type ‘how to hide a round face’ into Google, I realise all the tweakments in the world won’t fix this. 

It’s not my face that’s the problem, it’s my self-esteem. 

Even with nearly £5,000 worth of potential treatments, I still don’t like what I see. 

How much more would I have to spend to be satisfied? 

As much as I initially like the enhancements, it feels like it would ultimately lead me to be even more insecure. 

And that’s not even taking into consideration my bank balance or the potential for something to go wrong, even with experts on hand to guide me.

If this is what the true cost of beauty is, I think I’d rather stay tweakment-free for now and settle for learning to love myself a bit more.

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