Whose Idea Was It, Really?
She didn't want the treatment. But everyone else was doing it. A reflection peer pressure, overseas clinic, and what happens when the decision isn't really yours.
On peer pressure, treatments abroad, and why the clearest brief always comes from within.
She came in about something else entirely.
But somewhere in the conversation she mentioned it ā she'd been to Bangkok with a group of friends, everyone was getting anti-wrinkle injections, and she'd gone along with it.
She didn't love the result. Her expression felt off. Not quite herself.
Could I fix it?
The honest answer: not really. Botulinum toxin isn't reversible the way fillers are. There's no antidote. The effect has to wear off on its own, which takes anywhere from two to four months depending on the individual. What I can sometimes do is make small adjustments ā a touch to balance asymmetry, for instance ā but I can't undo what's been done. We just have to wait.
She took that well. But it's a conversation I wish she hadn't needed.
This happens more than people realise.
I hear some version of this story fairly regularly. A holiday, a hen trip, a weekend away. Someone books a treatment and suddenly the group is curious. Then enthusiastic. Then everyone's in the chair.
Group energy is powerful. It lowers hesitation, creates shared permission, makes something feel more ordinary than it is. And in the moment, that can feel like a good thing.
But aesthetic treatments are not a group activity. Your face is yours. What works for your friend ā what she wanted, what her features called for, what the right treatment for her structure was ā none of that is transferable to you.
The social energy carries you along and the decision gets made before you've really made it.
What gets missed when the decision isn't yours.
In a consultation, the first thing I'm trying to understand is: what actually bothers you? Not what bothers someone else. Not what you saw on someone's face and thought you wanted. What do you see in your own mirror that you'd like to feel differently about?
That question takes time. Patients often come in with one stated concern and, with some conversation, land on something quite different ā or decide they don't want treatment at all.
When that process is bypassed ā because you're on holiday, because the group is waiting, because it feels spontaneous ā the result is often a treatment that never matched your brief, because you never had one.
The problem with cheaper overseas.
Treatments in certain countries are significantly cheaper than in Singapore. That's a real consideration and I'm not dismissing it.
But the price gap doesn't just reflect cost of living. It reflects differences in product regulation, practitioner training, assessment protocols, and what happens when something needs to be reviewed or corrected.
Most of the time, nothing goes dramatically wrong. But "most of the time" is a different thing from "I thought carefully about this and it's right for me." And when peer pressure is part of the equation, that gap widens.
What I'd rather you came in with.
The consultations that tend to produce the best outcomes are the ones where someone arrives with a clear, personal concern. Not a trend. Not something their friend did. Something specific to them.
It doesn't have to be articulate. My concealer keeps creasing by lunchtime. I look tired even when I've slept. I don't like what's happened to my jawline. That kind of specificity ā that personal ownership of the concern ā makes everything else easier.
It tells me what we're actually trying to solve. And it means that when the result is good, you'll know it ā because the thing that was bothering you is no longer there.
The best consultations I have are the ones where someone comes in knowing what bothers them. Not what bothered someone else. That clarity is the difference between a treatment you chose and a treatment that happened to you.
If you've already done something you regret.
Come in. Not to be judged ā that's genuinely not what the consultation is for. The sooner we understand what was done and what you're experiencing, the more options are usually available. Most things can be managed, corrected, or worked with over time. The conversation is always worth having.
Dr Chia Min Shan is the Medical Director of Journey Aesthetics Medical Clinic in Katong, Singapore. She specialises in skin quality, facial aesthetics, and natural-looking results using treatments including botulinum toxin, dermal fillers, skinboosters, polynucleotides, Ultherapy Prime, Fotona 4D, and Corage 2.0. Every treatment plan she creates is built around a thorough consultation - because understanding what a patient actually wants is where good aesthetic medicine begins.
