Elsie Adamo
DEMAND for cosmetic fillers is on the rise in Mount Gambier, according to people in the industry.
Beauty and cosmetic specialists are reporting a rise in the demand for anti-wrinkle and other cosmetic treatments across Australia, and the trend is happening locally as well.
Helen, last name withheld, runs a beauty and cosmetic business in Mount Gambier and said the increase in demand for her services since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has been noticeable.
She previously offered her services as part of a local hair and beauty salon which opened in 2017.
In 2020 she also offered services from a second salon before the increase in demand meant she could go into her own dedicated space.
“I was just getting really busy,” she said.
“It has been a good move and I am still getting people saying they did not know anyone was permanently offering injectables locally.”
Helen’s business is one of two providing cosmetic injectables locally, with some variations in services between them.
There are also injectors who come to Mount Gambier periodically from Adelaide and Warrnambool to offer services.
“A few of my now clients used to travel to Adelaide for their treatments,” she said.
“When the borders closed, I noticed more clients, as people were not moving around the state as much.”
Helen moved into the sector after being an emergency nurse, looking for something with more regular hours where she could still use her skills.
She undertook additional training to become a cosmetic nurse.
Helen said most of the services she offered have increased in popularity.
“Anti-wrinkle has been very popular, but demand for most of the services I offered before have gone up,” she said.
“I have also been able to expand into some new services as well since getting my own place.
“Everywhere seems to be seeing a similar trend, I have got friends in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in the industry, and they are saying the same.”
Helen said there was no specific demographic that uses her services.
“I get everyone from young girls to over 60-year-olds,” she said.
“I have even had an increase in males, I would say it has doubled.”
The increase has anecdotally been linked to increased time on video calls during the pandemic, where people have been looking at themselves more than before.
Helen agreed with the idea and said she also believed it was due to an increased time at home during Covid-19, where people had more time to see some of the results of procedures on social media.
It is not just the increase in popularity Helen has noticed, but a change in how the procedures are discussed in the community.
“When I started in 2017, no one spoke about it,” she said.
“You would try and do a ‘refer a friend’ scheme and customers would say ‘I do not want people knowing’.
“Now it is so much more acceptable.”
Mount Gambier resident Janet McKinnon had dabbled in the world of fillers before but wanted to try out a procedure she had found online during the pandemic.
“I was looking on TikTok and saw threading [mono thread lifts] of the face and thought that is cool I would like to try that,” Ms McKinnon said.
“I was shocked there was somebody here who could do it, I thought I would have to go to Melbourne to get it done. ”
Ms McKinnon agreed that people are more open about the cosmetic work they have done now.
“It used to be people would say ‘I just look this good because I have aged well’, but people are being more honest about it now,” she said.
“The types of things people get done are more obvious nowadays as well, once upon a time everything was very subtle but now it is in your face.”
