“Nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for. For every profit in one thing, payment in some other thing. For every life, a death. Even your music, of which we have heard so much, that had to be paid for. Your wife was the payment for your music. Hell is now satisfied.- Ted Hughes, “The Tiger’s Bones”? Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels.

A number of skin/ beauty clinics in the UK (and in other countries too!) nowadays offer a ‘Free Consultation’, for your dermatology problems. Have you ever wondered how they are able to afford to do so and what they gain out of it?

Have you ever been to a private doctor who offers a free consultation for a real ailment?, unless of course they were working for a charity! So how is it that these beauty/ skin clinics offer the same? Time is money now-a-days and how would you expect a Dermatologist who typically charges 100-150£ for a 20-30 minute consultation, to offer a free consultation?

Well, I shall let you in on a secret….:), You are not being offered a free consultation!!

Instead, you are being lured into the clinic with the offer of a free consultation, only to be sweet-talked by a nurse (No, you will not get a free consultation with a dermatologist!) into signing up for one of their fortnightly or monthly ‘treatments’ that would leave you with ‘glowing skin’. Notice also that these treatments only work best when combined with expensive branded skin products that these clinics promote. They might also tell you that you will not be able to purchase these products elsewhere!

Is it not worth the money if these treatments work?
Whether the treatments offered really work, is an entirely different matter. Even if a product ‘x’ is effective, do you feel that it is ethical that they should make you buy ‘y’ and ‘z’ (which are just expensive cosmetics) and fleece your purse? That is up to you to decide!. However, I can guarantee that a genuine, ethically practicing dermatologist would be able to offer you a much more effective, scientifically tested treatment plan, for a fraction of that price.

Always think- ‘why would someone offer you something for free’? Remember this episode from Friends?

So should you avoid going to any clinic that offers you a free dermatology consultation?
Certainly not! Genuine skin clinics might be forced to offer a free consultation due to the competition. However, please do remember to go in with an open mind and be prepared to say no, if you need to research/ think about what the nurse discusses with you on the day. If possible always consult an independent private dermatologist, who is not affiliated to the clinic where you intend to seek the beauty treatments. However, whatever you decide to do, remember….’There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch’.