MOTHER PUKKA INTERVIEWS DOCTOR MAYONI AND FINDS OUT EVERYTHING ABOUT BOTOX!!!

59 SECONDS WITH… Dr Mayoni

Mother-of-three and medical surgeon, Dr Mayoni Gooneratne set up her own aesthetics clinic, Dr Mayoni after realising Botox had got a bad rep. (One look at the cast of TOWIE and you’ll get it). It also coincided with that well-worn parental moment of ‘work doesn’t work’; her fulltime inflexible NHS position was a no-go with a big brood. So here she is, gently changing the face of the motherhood and there’s not a trout pout in sight.

Day or night?
Day but have to do too much night (unsurprisingly) with three small kids.

Home or away?
Home. I love it.

Detox or retox?
Retox. Who says detox?

Ella’s Kitchen? Annabel Karmel?
Annabel Karmel (although her smugness bothers me, particularly as I seem to keep supporting her million pound empire by buying her kids ready meals).

Last person you called…
My mum. The mothership.

Last person you saw…
The lovely and fabulous Jane Scotting. Just one of life’s greats.

Last thing you bought…
A dark blue Topshop jumpsuit followed by a massive online Sainsbury’s delivery.

Best mothering moment…
My 4-year-old boy giving me a little spontaneous kiss and cheek stroke as he walked past me.

Worst mothering moment…
Screaming at the children cumulatively and sounding like a mentalist.

One thing you wish someone had told you pre-baby…
It’s gruelling being a parent (harder than being on-call as a doctor). And you don’t have to breast feed if you don’t want to.

Mothering is…
More about trying for ‘good’ rather than ‘perfect’ (which is too bloody stressful, particularly for those around me) but innate in me being a surgeon. Ultimately it’s a work in progress.

BUT LET”S GET TO THE POINT…

Talk Botox. Like, the good, bad and ugly…

Why so scary? Well… maybe the ‘needles in your face’ bit? But more likely it’s down to celebs giving it a bad name. There’s the frozen, wind-tunnel look adopted by Nicole Kidman, the ‘spocked’ eyebrows of Kylie Minogue and then the young and overly done (male and female) cast of TOWIE.

In simple form: Botulinum toxin (Botox® is one of many brands out there and my preference) is a lab-grown compound that’s diluted and injected to stop certain facial muscles working. That means skin stops wrinkling over those relaxed muscles, so irons out all those pesky lines. It also then allows the new skin that grows (over a 6 week skin cycle) to regenerate in a smoother way.

You should be looking like you’ve had the world’s best facial or 1,000 hours of sleep Also remember Botox wears off after 3-4 months and so is temporary. If you never had botox again, it won’t all catch up on you in some scary ‘Death Becomes Her’ sort of way. In fact you would probably have just given your skin a chance to rest and regenerate and it will be saying thank you.

No one wants to look 20 again (heaven forbid) but we do want to look as good as we can. No more so than after having children when we enter some time warp and slightly forget who we are and then come out the other side, thinking “Crap, what happened to my face…”

It’s your face, your call, just don’t use TOWIE as a reference.

Dr Mayoni Gooneratne is a medical graduate of St George’s Hospital Medical School in London. She received her membership of the Royal College of Surgeons in London in 2002. She has pursued her career in General Surgery and worked in numerous hospitals across London and Essex as part of her training.

In addition, Dr Mayoni has developed an interest in aesthetic medicine and pursued extensive training with the respected Cosmetic Courses at Aurora Clinics. This is the only training academy led by a Plastic Surgeon, Mr Adrian Richards, in the UK. You can rest assured that you are in safe hands. She is based in Forest Hill, South East London but also provides a mobile service to offer her clients maximum flexibility.

As a surgeon, she has a strong commitment to offering clients the safest, most effective procedures. Her practice is based on recent publications regarding cosmetic procedures from the Royal College of Surgeons and General Medical Council to improve standards in what is largely an unregulated field. She is also a fully accredited member of Save Face, which is a register of aesthetic practitioners who have met stringent criteria with regards to safety and customer services, after a full inspection of their premises and practice.

Dr Mayoni is registered with the GMC (number 4729156) and holds comprehensive indemnity with Hamilton Fraser and the Medical Protection Society.

For Dr Mayoni, her passion comes from a good working relationship with her clients and the ability to offer a personalised service after a thorough consultation. She hopes she can help to demystify these treatments, which are largely taboo for many people. As a wife and mother of three small children herself, she knows how important it is to look and feel your best. She prides herself in a service which is tailored and helps you to look the very best you can be.