S1 EP6: Drake, Fans & First-Time’s

So we recently went to Drake. It was a few weeks ago now, but honestly the best concert I’ve been to in a while. I’m such a concert girl, but I don’t go to them often. We just don’t get many artists out here. And also, when concerts are all ages and they don’t discriminate, it gets to me a little bit because I want to be dancing and singing my lungs out, not standing next to a 12-year-old who isn’t really feeling it.

Was that one all ages? Yeah, the girls sitting next to us were 14, 15, and 16. And it’s not a problem with the age at all. The problem is they sang the three popular Drake songs everyone knows and then just sat down. Drake was on stage busting his lungs out, jumping around, and these girls are just sitting there. I don’t feel like they fully appreciated what they were watching.

Was he actually singing? Yes! I just thought he was going to be on a tripod. All I saw was a Drake snake. Drake was amazing. I love him. I was actually a little sad because I feel like if I could sit and have dinner with Drake, we’d have such a good conversation, and it upset me that we didn’t get that opportunity.

Look guys, wherever we go, she says the same thing. We were at some event and she walked out going, “If only they knew, we could sit and have the best conversation, but they don’t know I exist.” James would not let you get a word in though. That guy can talk underwater with marbles in his mouth. James and I are both quite emotional and very alike, so I just feel like we’d be such great friends. You’re both always right, that’s why. Maybe. Anyway.

Drake was great in summary. I literally lost my voice after. I was singing that much. The vibes were there. I went for the vibes. I don’t really like his new stuff, but he sang a really good mix of older songs. He did. You never forget your first time seeing Drake. He was broader than I expected. Yeah, he’s a major daddy. Major daddy.

And it was actually so cute, the number of people who came up to us that night. For the first time, we had four different groups come up and ask for photos. I was like, “Biba, is this real?” It was honestly so adorable.

One girl came up and asked for a photo, and then she looked me up and down and said, “Oh, you are wearing something green.” She said, “I just followed you and I know how much you love green.” And I had my green Jordans on and a green phone cover and she noticed immediately. I honestly wanted to cry. Big groups of girls were coming over saying, “Oh my god, we watch you on TikTok, we love you.” It was so beautiful.

Although, taking photos with people is interesting because you never know how you’re going to look in them. Now I get why some celebrities aren’t always keen on it. Not that we are anywhere near that calibre. We will be though. We will absolutely be. They took like 15 photos and I was thinking, what if I look bad in one of them? But whatever. It was so cute and so memorable.

And it was so sweet because so many of the girls coming up to us were young, and they were all asking the same thing: “We want to come in and get injectables but we don’t know what to expect.” So today’s episode is for every single one of you who has never had injectables before, what to expect and how to prep for it.

Let’s start with our own first-time experiences. What was yours like?

Well, I have always done my own face. And just recently, for the very first time in my whole life, I actually got injected by a phenomenal aesthetic practitioner. Me. Look no further. I actually recorded the whole thing because I was in awe. Biba allowed me the pleasure of injecting her face. She has never let anyone else inject her face before. And it is so impressive to me that she can stand in a mirror and administer a full face treatment on herself.

You’re saying I was not born like this. No, I think they know that. It came out of a box, from a cupboard, out of a syringe.

Fun fact: I was doing Hydie’s lips for years before I ever had my own face treated. I had been injecting for almost four years when I finally decided to do my own anti-wrinkle treatment. I was driving and mum was in the car and I said, “Mum, I think I might get anti-wrinkle done.” And before I even finished the sentence she said, “About bloody time.” You know it is time when your own mum is saying that. I created a monster with mum. I had done so much work on her that she was like, what are you even waiting for? Thank God you’re about to do this.

So I did my anti-wrinkle treatment and then did all my fillers. In one night. Finished. Yeah, basically. And I just went to work the next day as a brand new woman. I love that.

So what was your first time like? I remember it so clearly. Obviously Biba is the only person who has ever touched my face with cosmetic injectables. My first time having my lips done, I was very nervous. We did a full mil. I remember we put so much numbing cream on because I was absolutely petrified. After a couple of injections you do go numb because the dermal filler itself has numbing agent in it, so it becomes quite comfortable. The third time we did my lips, Biba used a different product and I swelled so much. I was an actual meme. I went to school and everyone was like, “What happened to you?” And I was like, “It’s normal, it goes down.” But I was pretty petrified.

I think I was even more nervous the first time I had facial fillers beyond my lips. Biba did around seven or eight mils in my face. Cheeks, chin, a little bit under my eyes. Very normal for a first full face treatment, by the way. I haven’t touched my under eyes in about two to three years now. And I honestly have not touched my cheeks in over three and a half years. Once you build up your face, it can last a really long time.

Everyone always talks about our chins. Can we just say: our chins are natural. Genetically, we both just have these chins. We call them witch chins in our family. That is just the way it is. I only have a small amount of dermal filler there because the mentalis muscle is so strong. But the chin itself is real. I actually used to get bullied at school for it. I was too busy getting bullied about my lips to worry about my chin. Oh my god. But our chins are honestly the realest thing about our faces. And our noses. My nose, Hydie has done. I’ve done filler in my nose and anti-wrinkle, but nothing else. Your nose is perfect. No, it’s not. It is. She’s sweet. Stop it.

So the first time I had my full face treated, we were mid work shift and a client cancelled. She said, “Do you want to come upstairs? Let’s do your face.” And I said okay. And I didn’t know what to expect. And I think that is actually why I didn’t overthink the pain.

Can I say something and can you listen and not judge? I don’t know if I can. Okay. I actually put in a fake client that day and cancelled it myself to do your face. Because I knew if I told you in advance, you would have overthought the whole process, done my head in all day, and overworked yourself. I needed to minimise how much you thought about it.

What?! Are you being serious? I promise to god. I feel like I’ve been cheated on. No, I didn’t cheat you. I saved you from yourself. This woman has been sitting on this confession for six years and chose this podcast as her confessional. I promise on my son. You’re getting teary. I’m a terrible liar. I can’t lie.

So you thought I was ugly and needed filler?! No. I knew you wanted to have treatment and you kept saying, “I’m not ready, I’m not prepared, I can’t, I want to but…” Shimmy shimmy shimmy. And I thought, I just have to outsmart her. And she did. Because to this day, if she hadn’t done that, I probably still would never have had treatment. I would have been too scared. And I just had to tell her we had 45 minutes, because I’d already factored in 15 minutes of complaining.

And she is the most annoying client in the treatment bed. She gets so mad at me. She asks if I’m hurting her on purpose. She holds the mirror up while I’m injecting. She puts her phone in my face. For your first time, please do not get angry at your injector. They are not hurting you on purpose. Truly not. And put your phone and mirror down while the treatment is happening. Please. I actually take the mirror off clients after the consult and put it on the bench. You are not looking at yourself until we are done. The less you fuss, the quicker it is over. And they are never rushed treatments. Never rushed. Even if there is a whole room of people waiting downstairs, we are not rushing you. I promise.

This is such an important thing to understand before your first appointment. You are not going to walk out looking like you have had years of treatment done after one session. Whether you are doing cheeks, lips, or anything else, you build on it. You build your base.

Going from having nothing in my face to doing 16 mils of dermal filler in one sitting sounds extreme, but back then large volume dosing was very common, and I had a very flat face. It took many years to get to where my face is now. Not that it is overplumped now, but it did not happen overnight.

Quite often clients come in having had their lips done twice before elsewhere and say, “It just dissolved, it didn’t last.” You need more than one mil, you cannot space appointments eight months apart, and you need to build volume consistently over time.

One mil of dermal filler is not going to give you a pillow face effect. Not even two or three mils for your first time in a larger area. Pillow face happens over time from over treating in a short period, using the wrong product for the area, or using the wrong technique. There are so many contributing factors. It is not something to be worried about from your first session. And if you do end up somewhere with a result you are not happy with, you know where to find us.

When people say, “I’ve looked up the treatment and I’m freaking out,” the first thing we say is: do not go down the rabbit hole. People start googling worst case scenarios and end up sliding through horror stories and misinformation. And there is a very vocal group online that is completely anti-aesthetic medicine, creating content specifically designed to scare people. Over the last couple of years there are also practitioners coming out saying how bad filler is, that it migrates and spreads and that surgery is better. That is largely about protecting their own business model.

If someone is bagging out cosmetic injectables, go and look at their page and ask: are they selling a competing treatment? Have they had a bad experience? There are so many reasons someone says no to something. Do your research, look at the positives as well as the risks, understand how the treatment works, and call around and ask questions.

Try and stay away from blood-thinning medications and supplements such as Nurofen, ibuprofen, fish oils, and alcohol in the days before your treatment. These increase bruising and bleeding, which leads to more swelling and inflammation. If minimising bruising is a priority, this is one of the most effective things you can do.

Come into your appointment with the acceptance that you are going to bruise, because that is what we tell every client. If you don’t, it is a bonus. But when you think about a needle penetrating the skin, there are so many veins, capillaries, and vessels in the face that bruising is simply part of the process. You cannot always control it no matter how experienced the injector is.

And honestly, bruising is not the worst thing. When you bruise, your body produces more collagen and elastin. You are getting a two-for-one. Some clients actually ask to be bruised. They want people to know they are having treatment. Those are our favourite clients.

Depending on your treatment, you will also need 24 to 48 hours off high-intensity training. For something like a non-surgical rhinoplasty, that rest period is longer. Anything that raises your body temperature or blood pressure is going to increase swelling and inflammation in the treated area. We have had clients ignore this and end up with complications. You have fresh needle punctures and you are heading straight to the gym. Sweat and bacteria are not your friend in that moment.

Please read your consent form. We know you are not reading it when you sign it in 0.25 seconds and it is an 11-page document. We will always go through it with you, but please read it. It covers all side effects, adverse events, and everything you are legally entitled to know before proceeding.

And please, do not bring a crowd. One support person is completely fine, whether that is a friend or your mum. But when there are two or three people in the room, it creates external pressure. We have had clients say they are not ready, and their friend jumps in with “just do it.” That friend is redirected to the waiting area. Cosmetic injectables are not like getting your eyebrows done. You need to be genuinely ready and committed.

Our pharmaceutically compounded numbing cream is exceptional and we invest in it because your comfort matters. The first couple of injections may tingle slightly, but you go numb internally from the filler and externally from the cream pretty quickly. By the time a lip treatment is done, your lips are going to feel enormous. That is just the combination of internal numbness, topical numbness, and initial swelling. They feel much bigger than they look. We always show before and after photos while clients are still on the bed, and the reaction is almost always: “Oh, it’s not that big at all. It just felt that way.”

The healing process is generally a 14-day cycle. In the first two to three days, swelling peaks, especially in the lips which are a very mobile area. Eating, talking, moving all contribute. Expect to be swollen, a little uneven, and feeling a bit funny while you get used to it. That is completely normal. And once that swelling goes down, almost everyone misses it and wants to come back for more. You do not have to wait six months.

After 14 days the filler has healed, but it then takes a further two to three weeks to fully integrate into the tissue. Studies show filler looks its best three to four weeks post treatment. It needs time to settle and become one with you. That is genuinely the only way to explain it.

For nose treatments specifically, swelling is significant. Even if you have had it done before elsewhere and did not swell much, you will swell. We prepare every client for the worst, and then they are pleasantly surprised when it is not as intense as expected.

We get calls, emails, and DMs every day asking: do you fix other people’s work? Yes, we do. And we also get a lot of messages from clients who have had treatment elsewhere asking whether what they are experiencing is normal. We always respond because we love helping. But there is only so much we can advise without knowing what product was used, what technique, how much was placed, and in what area.

We always ask you to come in for a review so we can give you accurate information rather than guessing from a photo. That is not brushing you off. Giving wrong advice based on a photo puts you at risk. We very rarely do online consultations for the same reason. Cosmetic injectables are a medical procedure. We need to see you talk, animate, and express. We need to understand your anatomy in motion, not from a photo taken at midnight in bed with your husband asleep next to you. We love those photos by the way. You are the best. But we genuinely cannot tell you how many mils you need from that.

Last and most important thing to know: there is a solution for everything. If you are not happy with your result once it has healed and settled, dermal filler can be dissolved and you will return to looking as you did before the treatment. Complications and adverse events from cosmetic injectables are very rarely permanent. There are always management options.

And these complications are genuinely rare. With over 11 years in aesthetics, they are not something that happens regularly. When we tell you the possible risks and side effects, it is for your knowledge because we are legally and ethically required to tell you. We are not telling you these things are going to happen.

Always make sure you have a point of contact after your treatment. If your practitioner does not offer this, ask directly: “What is my contact number if I experience an adverse event?” At Biba Cosmetic Solutions, every client gets access to a 24-hour contact number after treatment. If it is a true emergency we respond immediately. If it is something like bruising at 3am, we will get back to you during business hours. But that line is always open, because your wellbeing, your results, and your peace of mind matter to us.

We are here to hold your hand and help you create the best, boldest, most badass version of yourself.

I hope this has been helpful for any first-timers out there. Let us know in the comments if this helped you, and drop any other questions you have about your first treatment below. We kept it really accessible this episode, but there is so much more to come. We will keep educating you on everything, not just injectables but life in general. Amen.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode. We will see you next week. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow. Bye!