The ­difference to Hannah Wight’s lips is subtle, but it has boosted her confidence Jas Lehal

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With promises of plumping this, filling that and enhancing those – all in a lunchtime – it’s no wonder the number of non-surgical cosmetic treatments is on the rise.

But is it too good to be true? Can a doctor really give you a body beautiful in your lunch hour?

Thousands of us ­certainly hope so. Cosmetic group Transform has seen a 25 per cent rise in the number of non-surgical procedures carried out in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year. ­

And celebrity case studies will have inspired many of the clinic’s newcomers.

Last week Jennifer Aniston was rumoured to have had ­Macrolane injections in her breasts to boost her cup size. On Simon Cowell’s ­suggestion, chef Gordon Ramsay had Botox to smooth the wrinkles on his chin in the summer.

Ramsay and Aniston are examples of a growing trend among ­patients wanting less invasive procedures, ­according to Dr Paul Cronin, chief examiner at the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors. “The largest appeal is safety. People want to get away from the knife-and-fork surgery where risk and pain is greater,” he says.

“The effects may not be as dramatic but not everyone wants major scars on their breasts or a rubberised ­products under their skin.”

You also don’t need to go under general anaesthetic with Botox, dermafillers and facial peels – the doctors’ weapon of choice is a needle rather than a scalpel.

Procedures are temporary, lasting months not a lifetime, and they are significantly cheaper than permanent surgery. But even at a few hundred pounds, are they worth it?

Media outlets tend to ­focus on either picture-perfect case studies provided by cosmetic companies or botched treatment horror stories.

So we sent two Londoners to have their features poked and prodded by cosmetic doctors.

To the naked eye, the ­results are remarkably ­underwhelming but it appears that the effects on our guinea pigs run deeper than what’s on the surface...

The lip job

Communications manager Hannah Wright, 27, had lip enhancement using Juvederm at the London Day Surgery Centre with Dr Philippe Bellity for £500

My lip, or significant lack of it, has been a problem for me for a number of years now. And, it’s the top one that causes me the most distress.

Thin and non-existent when I smile, I feel a little cheated in the feminine-features department.

So, after many years of gummy photos, I thought ­Juvederm may be the ­answer. I booked myself in to the London Day Surgery Centre in Whetstone. Smiley, friendly receptionists? Check. Charming ­doctor? Check.

Constant ­inspect-ing in my compact mirror to see if, in fact, my lips aren’t that bad after all? Check.

But sitting in the clinic waiting room, it was too late to pull out.

After a brief consultation with Dr Philippe I was asked to apply anaesthetic cream to numb my lips. I smeared this on with great gusto to avoid any pain. Then came the injections. To say it didn’t hurt would be a lie, but with your eyes closed you can’t see the needle so it wasn’t actually that bad. Just over one hour and eight injections later, I was out of the surgery door.

The nose job

thelondonpaper’s Peter Knight, 28, underwent £300 nose reshaping with Dr Sach Mohan using filler Juvederm through cosmetic group Transform

I’ve generally taken having a kinked schnozz in my stride but it can be a ­little depressing when I am tagged in a ­Facebook picture at an ­unflattering angle.

Just ­recently, on noticing a ­gaping hole in my flat’s wall, a friend asked if I had sneezed. Charming!

So when I read about a new cosmetic procedure that smoothes out an aquiline nose, I had to have it.

The treatment involves injecting a gel under the skin of the nose’s kink, adding volume to the dip. ­Juvederm gel contains ­hyaluronic acid, a ­naturally ­occurring solution used in Botox products. Alarmingly, the procedure makes the nose bigger (but hopefully smoother).

My appointment was booked at the Transform clinic in Fitzrovia. I spent the previous night agonising over whether I needed a face change. The bathroom mirror had seemed kinder than before but my mind was made up.

The treatment was temporary (nine to 12 months), so if I didn’t like it, I had to spend only a year with a bag over my head.

In walked Dr Sach ­Mohan, a smooth, suited and relentlessly positive charmer. He explained the procedure and side effects.

Besides the usual dangers with injections (infection, allergic reaction etc), there was a possibility of “product migration” and “asymmetry”, meaning if the gel moved I’d look like Quasimodo’s wingman.

An anaesthetic cream numbed the skin for 30 minutes. In that time I watched a 28-year-old woman have the same treatment on her “witch’s nose” (her words). To be honest I didn’t notice much of a difference after the procedure but she seemed chuffed. Then it was my turn. The dozen or so injections were bizarrely ticklish, just tiny pricks, not the painful jab of an arm injection.

Afterwards, my nose was left a bloodied, swollen pin cushion. The clinic failed to tell me that slugging two glasses of wine the night before would thin my blood, making my skin bleed more. When I moved to the mirror, my first thought was: “It’s still a big hooter”. Hardly the emotional crescendo of Extreme Makeover. But it was definitely smoother, the kink had gone. My portrait was straighter too, which I hadn’t anticipated. The ­effect was very subtle but, after a lifetime of crookedness, it wasn’t lost on me.

My nose was red and a ­little swollen, but it didn’t look the bruised mess I thought it would, so I went back to work. Besides the redness, colleagues didn’t notice a thing.

That was two months ago. Now, having looked at the before and after pictures, there is barely a difference. I feel almost foolish for hoping otherwise.

If I had paid £300 for the treatment, I’d be disappointed. Having said that, it may be a cliche but I have felt subtly more confident as a result. If you can afford it, go for it, but it’ll take more than £300 to look like Brad Pitt.

transforminglives.co.uk

What are derma fillers?

Fillers are injectable gels that plump and smooth the skin. Most parts of the body are fair game for fillers from nose reshaping to pectoral and buttock enhancements. Collagen is widely used but derives from cattle skin, so many fillers today contain hyaluronic acid. Despite the alarming name, the acid is a natural component of your skin, between the tissue cells. Scientists harvest the acid from bacteria in laboratories but a few brands extract it from chickens. Facial derma fillers are injected into the skin, while breast-enhancement gels lie between the skin and muscle. Once injected, a doctor shapes the gel by massaging the surface. Over time, the body’s enzymes break down the gel, as they would do a natural acid.

Sitting on the Tube home, no one batted an eyelid. No humongous trout pout then.

At home, I studied myself carefully in the mirror and the prognosis was good.

A fuller, more bee-stung pout has replaced my John Major lips.

It wasn’t quite a lunchtime treatment as it took a few days to really settle down but the results were instant. Also, the good news was that if I didn’t like it Dr P had a ­reversal injection to take me back to normal! Six weeks on and the effects are barely noticeable.

I know it’s there and feel more confident as a ­result and isn’t that what it’s all about? My verdict? A quick treatment with results that last up to a year and, at £1.37 a day, cost per wear is worth it in my eyes.

ldsc.co.uk