A person’s wedding day is their Oscar moment. Needless to say, grooms with frazzled nerves and bridezillas fretting endlessly over their appearance prior to their nuptials, isn’t out of place. But what we seem to have left out of this equation are their parents who are equally as concerned – not about their kids, but themselves. Taking special interest in their facial aesthetics, the bride and groom’s families are now increasingly taking to skin rejuvenation treatments, juvederm fillers, face lifts and Botox in the city!
“Mothers, mother-in-laws, fathers and father-in-laws are putting in a lot of effort to appear rejuvenated and picture-perfect during their children’s weddings,” notes Dr. Sujata Chandrappa, a practitioner of aesthetic (beauty) medicine at R3 Clinic in the city.
The impending wedding season is undoubtedly the busiest times of the year for cosmetologists. “Since their prime concern is usually wrinkles and skin ageing, photo facials, oxygen and multivitamin jet infusions and neck and face lifts are amongst the more popular treatments prior to the ceremonies,” she says. Treatments to brighten skin, address blemishes and pigmentation, and Botox and Juvederm fillers for fine lines and wrinkles at approximately Rs 5,500 a pop are other popular procedures.
“There was a time when elaborate home remedies like applying turmeric or sandalwood packs weeks before the wedding was the only recourse. Today, many people prefer quick and easy solutions like Botox,” says 50-year-old Madhumita Verma, who opted for the procedure before her son’s wedding. “This is my only child and I wanted to go all out for her,” says 56-year-old Savitha Bhat, a homemaker who started her treatments four months in advance to prep for the wedding season in May. “I had seen some scary videos of face and neck lifts where stitching was involved and I wanted none of that,” she admits, opting for shots of Botox – a protein that works to relax the facial muscles, instead. She swears that she looks a couple of years younger with every session. “I was apprehensive of undergoing a Botox procedure. I didn’t want the change to be so radical that people found out. And they didn’t,” smiles Madhumita.
If you thought the older generation was walking in to these appointments solely of their own accord, think again. “My father was really starting to look stressed out and the lines on his face were making him look a good 10 years older. That’s when my sister and I urged him to see our cosmetologist,” explains Rita (name changed), a corporate lawyer from the city. In order to not disappoint his daughters, the 64-year-old businessman met with a plastic surgeon who introduced him to Botox and Restylane fillers.
