Skincare model Magdalena Angeli feared that having Botox and filler would cost her her career, until she found Dr Maude Calveley and her ‘low and slow’ approach
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If you’re a top skincare model used to having your face closely scrutinised, messing with your features is risky. Which is why Magdalena Angeli, 50, whose high cheekbones and flawless Italian complexion meant she was regularly booked by top skin and hair brands for glossy magazine campaigns, had always steered clear of filler and Botox. “I was terrified that fillers would make me look artificial or distort my face, and that fear was made worse by the fact that my face is my livelihood,” she says.
Years living in Miami meant that Magdalena (now based in Berkshire) had seen too many examples of overdone ‘work’. “Some of the results genuinely frightened me: faces that looked overfilled, unnatural, lumpy under the skin, ” she says.
Turning 50, she felt she looked less herself, and that she needed something more powerful than good skincare and the skin boosters and microneedling treatments she’d had before. “I had started noticing changes that skincare wasn’t addressing anymore. The middle of my face had begun to lose volume. Everything sat lower, and I looked more tired than I felt. It wasn’t dramatic, but I noticed it every time I looked in the mirror.
Skincare model Magdalena Angeli avoided tweakments for fear of looking overdone. At 50, she took the plunge and this is the natural-looking result
“If I was ever going to explore this, now was the time. Leaving it to 70 would be too late. I’d never have considered this at 30. But at 50, it felt less like changing myself and more like maintaining what I already had. I wanted to look like myself, just fresher, never ‘done’. My biggest fear was that something would go wrong and I’d end up looking worse!”
Finding an aesthetic practitioner, Dr Maude Calveley, with a conservative ‘low and slow’ approach to filler and Botox changed everything.
“I’d originally thought I’d just have more skin boosters, since they felt familiar, but she explained that wouldn’t fix the volume loss I was seeing. We agreed to do everything gradually, over three appointments, so nothing felt rushed.”
Says Dr Maude: “The goal was to turn the clock back around five years and have people ask whether she’d slept well for a week and drank a lot of water, not whether she’d had work done. My rule is start low and go slow: you can always add more at review. A good practitioner will also happily tell you what you don’t need. I see a lot of patients like Magdalena, who are hesitant, but the thing she says now is that she still looks entirely like herself.”
The doctor’s ‘no pressure’ treatment plan
Says Dr Maude: “Our first consultation was deliberately no-pressure and purely educational, as much about whether I was the right practitioner for her as anything else. We put her photographs on screen, and I asked her what she saw. She picked up on the heaviness beginning in her lower face.
“What I saw was a face with a wonderful framework — strong cheekbones, lovely lips, good skin, showing the classic changes of midlife volume loss: the cheek’s fat compartment beginning to deflate and descend, and a deepening frown.
Magdalena Angeli’s 50+ face refresh results: before and after Botox and filler.
‘Fillers are a wonderful tool but too often abused’ – Dr Maude
“Revolumisation is exactly what filler and Botox do well and on a framework like hers, small amounts go a long way. Had she not needed this, I’d have told her so. Fillers are a wonderful tool too often abused. Used to restore what has naturally been lost, in small volumes, on the right candidate, they’re transformative in the quietest way. Because her underlying structure was so good, the decision was straightforward: restore a little of what time had taken with small volumes of filler and soften the overactive muscles with conservative doses of Botox. Nothing that changes her; everything that refreshes her”.
“The ‘done’ look is the result of over-treatment, not treatment. Faces look odd when too much product goes in, or it goes in the wrong place. Done well, in conservative amounts, nobody should be able to tell you’ve had anything.
“The treatment plan was slow, by design. We had a consultation, then a week for her to reflect before her first treatment. Full-face Botox, enough to soften but never freeze — and 5ml of Teoxane hyaluronic acid filler, placed mainly in the front of the cheeks to restore the deflated fat compartment, into the marionette area, and along the chin and jawline for support. The filler is chosen by texture for each area: softer where it needs to behave like skin, firmer where it’s mimicking bone.
“Alongside this structural work, I also placed a small amount of Teoxane RHA1 filler (the softest, most fluid gel) in her lips as a finishing touch. They already had a lovely shape, so this was never about redrawing them: purely to rehydrate and restore a little volume loss.
“She returned a week later for her Botox review and a further 1ml of filler, and three weeks later for a final 1ml at review. Around 7ml in total across three sessions — barely more than a teaspoon. Spacing treatment out like this lets each layer settle and integrate into the tissues before deciding whether anything more is warranted. That’s how you avoid overfilled faces”.
Magdalena’s verdict: ‘I think I look 10 years younger’
Says Magdalena: “I was nervous going in for my first treatment, but it was much easier than I’d expected. I felt mild discomfort in a few areas and my lips were probably the most sensitive part (which is standard) but I felt completely looked after throughout so didn’t worry. I only had one small bruise that healed quickly.
“I hadn’t told my 20-year-old daughter, who didn’t notice a thing when she saw me the next day, which I actually took as the biggest compliment. She just said I looked really nice! The swelling settled after about three days, and I already loved what I saw. By ten days [when the Botox had taken effect] everything looked completely natural: my cheeks were subtly lifted, my jawline and chin more defined, and I just looked fresher and more rested, like I’d come back from a wonderful holiday.
“Honestly, I think I look younger now than I did in my thirties, after having my first child. I’d say at least ten years younger.”
“What this whole experience taught me is that it’s not really about the treatment; it’s about finding the right doctor: someone who listens, understands what you want, and knows when less is more.
“My skincare routine has become simpler since. I used to layer on lots of different creams and serums hoping they’d lift and tighten my skin, but now I don’t feel like I need nearly as much. I stick to what Dr Maude recommended: a gentle cleanser, prescription azelaic acid, vitamin C, a retinoid, a peptide serum, moisturiser and, most important of all, daily SPF.
How much does the face refresh cost?
Magdalena’s treatment cost £4,500, £3,750 for the filler across the three sessions, and £750 for her full-face Botox, which includes the review and any top-ups. “Spacing it over three visits costs nothing extra. You’re paying for what goes into the face, not the number of appointments, and reviews are simply part of doing the job properly, “says Dr Maude.
Facial filler lasts 12-18 months, lip filler six to nine months, and Botox three to four months. A realistic annual maintenance regime for Magdalena would cost £3000 per year.
Dr Maude treats a patient at Ouronyx Clinic, London
The ‘low and slow’ skincare regime
“The full medical-grade skincare routine I recommended is strictly evidence-based rather than trend-led. It’s important to introduce the actives slowly over two months to protect the skin barrier, because everyone’s skin is different.
“I tell patients that skincare is going to the gym and in-clinic treatment is the personal trainer: the routine does the steady, cumulative work and will keep delivering improvement over months and years”.
Find out more and book with Dr Maude Calveley at the Ouronyx clinic in London, via The Gloss Book directory now.
