“There’s a big difference between a prescription medicine that’s gone through these rigorous trials and some of the things that are being used,” she says.
Speaking on The Little Things podcast, Hart draws a clear line between treatments backed by decades of evidence and newer options gaining traction online without the same scrutiny.
That gap is particularly concerning in the age of social media, where trends can spread faster than science.
“If you are taking medical advice from an influencer and buying something online and injecting it, frankly, I think you’re nuts. You don’t even know what’s in there,” says Hart.
Among the most talked-about emerging treatments are injectable peptides, often promoted for everything from skin quality to anti-ageing. But Hart is blunt in her assessment.
“The vast majority of those peptides don’t have human trials and haven’t gone through that rigorousness. [They] probably don’t have monitoring for side effects … injectable peptides is the wild west and I wouldn’t use them myself.”
It’s not that innovation is the problem. In fact, Hart says some of the most established treatments remain popular because they’ve been so well studied.
“Botox is still king because it is just such a convenient treatment … it does what it says on the bottle.”
Instead, the issue is how quickly new products can move from fringe to mainstream without the same level of evidence or oversight.
Even within legitimate treatments, Hart cautions against the idea that more intervention equals better results.
“More is not better… you don’t want to just jump in and go, yeah, put biostimulator all over my face.”
For consumers, that means slowing down and being clear about what you’re trying to achieve before stepping into a clinic or using an influencer’s affiliate code.
In a market full of promises, the safest approach may be the least glamorous one: proven treatments, qualified practitioners and a healthy scepticism of anything that sounds too good to be true.
Listen to the full episode for more on:
- Why Botox still dominates despite new innovations
- Whether at-home devices such as LED masks actually work
- The simple skincare routine experts recommend
Listen to the full episode of The Little Things for more
The Little Things is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The series is hosted by broadcaster Francesca Rudkin and health researcher Louise Ayrey. New episodes are available every second Saturday.
