The world of cosmetics is constantly changing. After a decade of exaggerated lips and half a decade of buccal fat removal, the look of the moment is "more subtle", says Dr Michael Moore, a surgeon from the Dr Dray Clinic, which has branches in London, Paris and Dubai. This style of procedure – discreet, inconspicuous – is known euphemistically as a “tweakment”: non-surgical interventions that emphasise the somewhat nebulous notion of "natural beauty".
It taps into a cultural vogue for the raw and the real, which began in earnest four years ago when Pamela Anderson decided to stop wearing make-up, and even Love Island stars such as Molly-Mae Hague have opted to have their fillers removed. In 2024, there was a 30 percent increase in demand for tweakment surgery. Riding this cultural wave is Dr Maurice Dray, head of the eponymous clinic. The internationally renowned doctor says today’s clients “want results that are undetectable and sophisticated — to look like the best version of themselves”. “The future of aesthetics is moving towards more personalised treatments,” he adds.
As far as clients go, he’s had them all: from Hollywood royalty like Salma Hayek and Gwyneth Paltrow to actual royalty — and many more we can’t name.
Last year, Dr Dray decided to share his exclusive trade secrets through the Dr Dray Academy. Offering both in-person and online courses, the initiative is aimed at doctors looking to take their work to the next level and glean wisdom from Dr Dray’s techniques for enhancement au naturel.
Available online right now is the Dermal Filler Masterclass: a procedure that consists of a series of injections to the face, aiming to plump up wrinkles and smooth out unwanted lines. It’s a particularly high-risk tweakment: if done badly, it can lead to unevenness in the face and carries a risk of infection and even blindness. Dr Dray believes education is the best way to raise standards in the industry. And with tweakments's growing affordability now matched by rising demand, safety and quality have become paramount, Dr Dray argues.
A one-off payment of £2,000 will give students lifetime access to the Dermal Filler Masterclass with detailed tutorials covering anatomy, safety, facial assessments, treatment planning, and filler techniques. These techniques primarily involve injections and focus on the face as a whole, rather than treating individual areas in isolation, while accounting for the different layers of the face and their ageing processes.
Dr Krishna Hemaddy, a London-based dermatologist who went through the academy, says the course was “a complete game-changer”. “It’s luxury aesthetic at its finest,” she explains, “and an invaluable training experience for anyone looking to master essential cosmetic procedures.”
Despite being at odds with a time that preaches body positivity and self-acceptance, the tweakment trend is here to stay. Love it or hate it, we need experts like Dr Dray to guide the industry with steady hands. “Our techniques have transformed the world’s most famous faces,” Dr Dray says. “Now, they can transform your practice.”
