When discussing cosmetic surgery, it used to be that everyone pictured people who were over the age of 40. Today, the clinic waiting room for cosmetic procedures is just as likely to see patients in their 30s and even 20s.
Millennials are commonly known as the wellness generation. They shop at health food stores, they discuss the importance of mental health, and they seek alternative treatments to keep their bodies feeling and looking great.
While a lot of this cultural shift can be blamed on the Kardashians and social media, where people are seeing youthful faces prioritized as an important part of life, there is also something to be said for the impact looking great can have on one’s sense of life.
Many young people today recognize that when they reach an older age where lines are setting into their faces, it will be difficult to remove them. Their habits are changing younger to do things to prevent this. These habits include things like facial creams and a generation that is smoking less than the generations immediately preceding them. Smoking, and sun exposure, are two of the biggest factors for aging the skin.
Another preventative cosmetic treatment option millennials are looking into is botox, particularly “baby botox”. Baby botox is described as small botox treatments in areas where lines may begin to show. While this isn’t going to stop the aging process, the botox works to keep the creases from forming early on, putting the eventual lines off for a longer period of time and slowing the aging process.
Baby botox, and injectables and fillers, are the most common types of cosmetic procedures today’s young people are looking for. These are seen as preventative, of “prejuvenation” efforts, and are considered a way to look younger for longer, but also to save money on more expensive corrective treatments down the line.
Other common cosmetic treatments include chemical peels, which removes the top layers of skin. The skin that grows back will look younger and fresher. This technique is used to help with wrinkles, scars, and facial discoloration of the skin.
People are also still looking at body fat removal procedures, but are looking at techniques like cool sculpting as opposed to the more traditional surgery option of liposuction.
The millennial interest in cosmetic procedures as a younger age has changed the types of procedures being done to smaller treatments that are able to be done more affordably and in less time, but more frequently and at a younger age. It is changing the services clinics offer and their target demographics.