A new body treatment is coming to Luxe Lips, and this week Mai, Chloe and Jem travelled to Sydney for its Australian launch event, hosted by Galderma.
The evening brought together international clinicians to share how they approach body assessment, including something that really stayed with our team: a framework that looks at eight separate qualities of an area rather than treating it as one overall concern.
It sounds clinical. And it is. But it also makes a lot of sense when you think about the way we actually notice and talk about changes in our bodies.
“My arms have changed.” “The skin here feels different.” “I’ve noticed this more recently.”
Those observations are a starting point, not a diagnosis. And what’s behind those changes can look quite different from one person to the next.
That was really at the heart of what our team brought home from Sydney. Rather than rushing to label a change or talk about treatment, the focus was on looking more closely, understanding what you’re actually noticing and asking the right questions first.
So, what stayed with Mai, Chloe and Jem most? Here are a few of the key takeaways they brought back to Luxe Lips.
Eight things to look at, not one
Rather than standing back and deciding the gluteal area has “changed”, the framework presented in Sydney breaks that assessment into eight parts:
- Shape
- Volume loss
- Laxity
- Projection
- Contour
- Skin integrity
- Cellulite
- The infragluteal fold (the crease where the buttock meets the thigh)
Each is scored independently from 0 to 3 and then plotted.
Why separate them? Because they’re not the same thing.
Someone can have one characteristic without another. Several can overlap. And what catches your eye when you look in the mirror may not be the same thing a clinician notices when they take a closer look.
The point isn’t to find eight problems. Not at all.
It’s to avoid bundling everything together under one vague label.
Three people could say exactly the same thing
Upper arms are a good example.
Imagine three people sitting down with us for a chat. Each says, “I’ve noticed my upper arms have changed.”
For one person, what stands out during assessment might be skin integrity. Perhaps the surface appears thinner or more crepey than it used to.
For someone else, volume loss might be more relevant, meaning the visible change isn’t primarily at the skin’s surface.
Then there’s laxity, which is different again.
Three people. Almost identical opening sentences. Three different things for a practitioner to consider.
Of course, bodies don’t always fit neatly into boxes. Someone might have several characteristics present at once. That’s exactly why separating them is useful.
It also gives the practitioner room to say, “This part of what you’re noticing is relevant, but this other part isn’t something we’d approach in the same way.”
That’s a much more useful conversation than putting one label on an entire area.
Anatomy doesn’t work in approximate zones
Another part of the Sydney presentations caught our attention for a different reason.
If someone points to the back of their thigh, it’s easy to think the area is obvious. Clinically, though, “somewhere around here” doesn’t tell us enough.
The education showed how areas can be considered in relation to recognised anatomical structures rather than simply estimated by eye.
We won’t get into the technical boundaries because that’s practitioner information, not something you need to memorise before sitting down with us. What matters is the thinking behind it.
A body area isn’t just a patch of visible skin. The anatomy underneath gives the practitioner reference points for understanding what they’re assessing.
Simple idea. Important distinction.
The areas we don’t always talk about first
The Sydney presentations focused on the décolletage, upper arms, buttocks and backs of the thighs.
They’re also areas that can come up almost as an afterthought in clinic.
A conversation might be nearly finished when someone says, “Actually, while I’m here, can I ask you about my arms?”
Sometimes there’s an apology attached to the question.
You never need to apologise for being curious about your body.
You can notice a change without believing there’s anything wrong with it. And asking us to look at something doesn’t mean you’ve decided to treat it.
Sometimes you simply want to understand why an area looks or feels different. And that’s more than enough reason to ask.
How the event reinforced Luxe Lips’ consultation-first approach
The biggest takeaway wasn’t that every body concern needs a treatment.
It was almost the opposite.
A thoughtful assessment gives you space to slow things down.
Instead of jumping from “this area has changed” to deciding what should happen next, we look a little closer. Is the person describing something happening at the surface of the skin? Is there a change underneath? Is laxity part of the picture? Are several characteristics overlapping?
Then we consider the anatomy.
Only after that does a conversation about suitability make sense.
That’s the part we liked about this framework. It leaves room for a clinician to explain what they’re seeing, including the things a particular treatment isn’t intended to address.
Sometimes the useful answer is that an option isn’t appropriate for you. And that matters too. We’d rather have enough information to explain why than squeeze every concern into the same treatment conversation.
How Luxe Lips is preparing for the new body contouring treatment
At Luxe Lips, new treatments don’t simply appear on the menu.
Before we introduce something, we want our team to understand the thinking behind it, how people should be assessed and where its limitations sit. Mai, Chloe and Jem’s trip to Sydney was part of that process.
Across Luxe Lips in Camberwell, Moonee Ponds and Brighton, body treatments start with you. Your medical history, anatomy and what you’ve actually noticed all matter when we’re looking at whether a treatment may be suitable for you.
And if what you’re asking about doesn’t align with an option being considered, we’ll talk you through that too.
Individual responses vary. Sitting down with a qualified professional is an important part of working out whether a treatment may be suitable for your needs.
Curious about an area? You can ask us now
The new body treatment isn’t at Luxe Lips yet, but the thinking Mai, Chloe and Jem brought home from Sydney is already relevant to the way we like to work.
Look closely. Ask thoughtful questions. Understand what you’re noticing before deciding what, if anything, comes next.
If there’s an area of your body you’ve been curious about, you don’t need to wait for the new treatment to arrive.
Luxe Lips already offers a range of body treatments, and sitting down with our team gives you space to talk through what you’ve noticed, ask questions and better understand your options.
To chat about whether one of our current body treatments may suit you, book a consultation with our team at Luxe Lips.
