Long before the first wrinkle appears, ageing has already begun beneath the surface of your skin. It is a quiet, structural shift. Starting in the mid-20s, skin starts to lose about 1 per cent of collagen every year, the very scaffolding that keeps it bouncy, resilient and firm.

“Collagen is the protein that gives our skin its structure and firmness. You can think of it like the internal support system that keeps skin smooth, bouncy and resilient,” says Dr Philip Dong, founder and medical director at Hera Clinic.

Once collagen production dips, some of the earliest changes you will observe are the early formation of jowls – where the skin and tissue around the lower cheeks begin to shift slightly downward – as well as laugh lines that appear deeper than before.

“There are also other subtle changes that people don’t usually associate with collagen loss. Pimples take longer to heal than before, or pores appear more visible,” adds Dr Dong.

He notes that having a deeper understanding of how the face ages has shaped how treatments are formulated, and these have moved beyond surface fixes to procedures that support the skin’s underlying structure and stimulate collagen production.

“Aesthetic medicine today is not about dramatic reconstruction, but instead, about fine-tuning what you already have – softening certain areas, restoring subtle support where it’s needed, and allowing the person’s own features to shine through,” says Dr Dong.

Rather than offering a standard menu of treatments, Dr Dong’s philosophy centres on customisation as the essential first step. 

“No two faces age the same way, so no two treatments should be identical,” he says.

“Achieving a result that looks natural – where friends notice you look ‘well-rested’ rather than ...