Lynette Johnson is on a follow-up visit with her cosmetic physician.
Her first procedure was two years ago when her daughter bought her a consultation as a Christmas present.
“She's been telling me for quite a while that she was unhappy with certain areas of her face, sort of a mother daughter chat, and I thought, you know what, I might actually see if I can get something done for her,” her daughter Kerry Richardson said.
That year Ms Johnston had her eyes and cheeks lifted and her lips enhanced.
"You can feel it. I could see the difference,” she said.
“I think Mum was more...she just felt happier in herself. At Christmas time, usually she might shy away for a photo, now she's smiling for a photo,” her daughter adds.
Since then she's had breast implants and is now getting her first Botox top-up.
At this time of year, medical practitioners like Dr Joseph Hkeik from the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery say there's a spike in the number of people wanting cosmetic procedures.
“New patients that want to come and get procedures for the first time, they seem to time it for a new year's event and they seem to come in October, November, December to make sure that their face is ready for the new year,” he said.
But experts are cautioning against purchasing a procedure as a Christmas gift.
“No one should make a decision about these things that is not the patient - I think it's wrong [to give] a gift and say, hey here's a gift for you to go and get a surgical procedure,” Dr Hkeik said.
Both women say they researched practitioners as well as the procedure itself, which cost around $2,000.
“I would definitely never recommend somebody to go down to the local beauty salon that's charging $99 because I know what we got and the quality we got,” Ms Johnston said.
But you don't need to leave the house to find those cheaper options.
A quick search online and you'll come up with several offers for Botox, lip enhancement, liposuction and breast implants.
A lot of these procedures are surgical and fairly invasive, yet they're available, for cheap, at the click of a button.
And internet shoppers, according to a Melbourne University study, are more likely to buy if the first product review they read is positive, even if subsequent ones are not.
This results in a greater chance of buyers' regret, and when it comes to cosmetic procedures, regret is best avoided.
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