For better or for worse, the Gold Coast has a reputation when it comes to cosmetic procedures. There’s a certain look we’re associated with (you know the one) – but is the stereotype accurate? And if so, are the trends changing? We asked an expert.
Sylvia Crouch is the founder of Angel Aesthetics, a Biggera Waters clinic that offers treatments like dermal filler, skin needling and anti-wrinkle. She’s been a registered nurse for five years and counts popular influencers like Anna Paul and Lily Brown among her clients.
“When it comes to current trends, Anna is a big influence,” says Sylvia. “She’s one of the few people who openly talk about getting their lips done.”
It’s true – back in 2020, Anna went so far as to document the process of getting her lip filler dissolved after it had started to migrate throughout her face (the result of dodgy treatments at cheaper clinics, she said). Sylvia was the one who dissolved Anna’s filler to help her start from scratch.
“I feel like we’re not getting as much of the fake look anymore,” says Sylvia. “People used to want the full, overdone lips – now it’s much more conservative. Ideally people shouldn’t be able to tell that you’ve had filler.”
The trend towards subtlety has many of Sylvia’s clients opting for non-surgical rhinoplasty over traditional nose jobs. It takes 10 minutes, Sylvia says, and requires essentially no down time, but can completely straighten the nose and even lift the tip.
“You usually need a touch up at six months, then just once a year,” she adds. “More people are learning about it in Australia – doctors and nurses were scared to do it because there’s a risk of blindness. It’s very rare and has only ever happened twice in Australia, but it is a high-risk area because it’s where the arteries for the back of your eye are.”
Educating people about the risks of popular cosmetic treatments is important to Sylvia.
“People will trust their injectors, and every injector has a different opinion,” she says.
Take the ‘fox eye’ surgery, for example. Made famous by Bella Hadid – who didn’t necessarily have the surgery, but has been credited with popularising the look it aims to achieve – the surgery lifts and repositions the outer corner of the eye using threads.
“I would never do the fox eye trend because the threads can snap, and you have to get them surgically removed,” says Sylvia. “But I might say one thing, and the next injector might say something else.”
It’s easy to see why people opt to trust their injectors – in the case of fox eye surgery it’s nearly impossible to find reliable, unbiased information about its risks online. Almost every ‘article’ has been published by clinics promoting service, while Instagram and TikTok are splashed with videos and photos of surgeries.
“It’s the same thing with Russian lips, which so many people do even though it’s dangerous and there’s migration,” says Sylvia. “Even dermal filler can lead to infection, and we’ve noticed quite a few reactions called delayed onset nodules where your body attacks the filler.”
It can happen if you’ve been sick – or, if you’ve had a recent vaccination.
“We’ve brought that into our consultations,” says Sylvia. “We won’t inject anyone if they’ve had a vaccine in the last two to four weeks, depending on the circumstances.”
Looking ahead, Sylvia expects that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (AHPRA) crackdown on the industry will have a big impact on the trends we’ll see.
“From July 1 we’ll have to do body dysmorphia screenings for all clients,” says Sylvia. “We’ll have to give them a questionnaire that asks things like ‘How often do you look at yourself in the mirror?’ and ‘How often do you deliberately check your features?’.
“If we find that anyone has body dysmorphia, we’ll refer them to a psychologist. There are also rules coming in that will require cosmetic surgery patients to get a referral from a GP.”
The changes are both good and bad, Sylvia says. The guidelines will prohibit the promotion of brand names in advertising, which Sylvia says will restrict how they educate clients about the treatments.
With new products coming onto the market all the time, this could prevent clients from making informed decisions – especially if their injector doesn’t have their best interests at heart.
“There’s a new filler called Profhilo that’s only just hit the Australian market, which is also known as liquid honey,” says Sylvia. “It’s concentrated hyaluronic acid that is injected in five spots on each side of the face, which then spreads throughout the face as you animate to lessen wrinkles.
“It won’t add contour or shape or definition, but it offers a natural plumping look back into the skin. We’ve already had a couple of people coming in to ask about it.”
Could this be the end of the Gold Coast’s reputation for overdone cosmetic treatments? We’ll have to wait and see.