The Great Cosmetic Upsell

could it happen to you?

Welcome readers, old and new!

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Last week my dear friend L sent me an irritated text: “You should write a hard-hitting column about cosmetic procedure upselling. I can provide the deets.”

Evidently, she’d opted for some doctor’s office procedure. But once in the chair, she discovered the cost didn’t cover everything she’d signed on for. Then, she was urged to purchase a post-treatment treatment that would, it was claimed, significantly reduce her recovery time. I can practically guarantee if I mentioned whatever that post-treatment treatment was to six doctors, half would say it was unnecessary—maybe even a waste of money; the other half might say it would do no harm and could possibly help with recovery.

As if upselling and disappointment were spreading like the flu, a couple more readers wrote feverishly about their unhappiness with in-office treatments; results were less than expected or simply undetectable—and more treatments were suggested.

Go back for more? Try a different doctor? A different treatment? Quit the quest altogether? Gah!

I’m going to repeat something I wrote to one such reader: A beloved dermatologist told me the less a device has to do, the better it works. Which means the more pronounced your facial issues are (the ones you’d like to diminish), the less pronounced results will likely be.

How to know what a treatment will do for you? You kind of… can’t.

But you can ask your physician (and it should be a physician) exactly what you can expect considering your skin’s condition, how much sun and environmental damage you’ve accumulated, and your age. Ask the doctor exactly what the treatment entails. If your doctor says you can expect “some improvement,” ask what that is going to look like on you and how long it will last.

For more about what to ask during a consultation, check out this post. The goal: Temper your expectations. And as you might already know, tempered expectations are the best kind.

Read on for two questions about sunscreen, appropriately timed for the dark days of January.

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