Dr. Jaswine Chew M.D.
In this interview, Dr Jaswine Chew, M.D. from LS Clinic Mid Valley, shares her opinion on the beauty scene in Kuala Lumpur and offers some advice to those considering procedures.
What do you do?
I help people to achieve results. Whether it be enhancing their features, maintaining their wrinkle-free faces, or reclaiming some of their youth. In short, I get to play with fillers, many high-tech lasers and the latest fat-freezing machines.
How did you get into the industry?
The truth? Passion, hard work and determination. Endless hours of research, practice and building a reputation is one thing, but the passion has to be there. It’s the only thing that brought me to where I am and the only thing keeping me here.
What’s the best/worst part of your job?
The best part is working on giving my patients what they desire, as natural looking or as enhanced as possible. I love balance, beauty, and the connection and fun I have with everyone who walks through my door.
At the same time, I’ve also experienced a lot of sadness with my patients. Filler and procedure corrections are now a huge service request at the clinic, resulting from going to home salons and practitioners who use cheap quality or unapproved products. As corny as it sounds, when they come in crying, I end up crying.
I also am too aware of the fact that because of what we surround ourselves with in terms of what is and what is not considered beautiful. Our media, movies, models, and influencers tell us what is and isn’t beautiful. And as a woman, this affects me; as a mother, it scares me.
I have all these beautiful patients coming in, wanting to change themselves because of what they think society finds beautiful. I firmly believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way. Being different is beautiful.
And I am all for helping my patients feel good, as long as it’s coming from a good and healthy place. And if it’s not, I am the first to tell them I cannot be their doctor.
Do you notice a trend(s) in the aesthetic scene and in customers’ preferences because of social media and influencers? Pros/Cons?
These trends always have been and will always be there. The pros are that I get to have fun with patients who don’t mind trying something new (as most of these procedures are reversible at worse). The cons are that depending on where they get these done – I might have to end up rectifying/correcting these issues.
The worst case is when I have to write recommendation letters to hospitals for my patients to undergo surgery to remove these foreign materials that I cannot retrieve or melt.
During MCO, aesthetic clinics had to close, so many businesses went to home/unlicensed places that order their products online, which is fine unless it’s going into your body.
Prices were attractive, and the before/after photos used were addictive. To be honest, even I got addicted to looking at all these pages. Who wouldn’t?
Lip plumping was a huge trend; even threads for the face were being offered. And not shockingly, double eyelid procedures. So the new trend at LS Clinic Midvalley? Correcting all these procedures.
Tell us a memorable story from behind the scenes.
One day I had one big, scary-looking man come in asking to speak to the head doctor, me, in this majestic booming voice. Big body, big voice – my girls at the front were shaking because this massive alpha male was quite stern and firm in his request, and he wasn’t a patient.
I was free, so I asked him to come and chat with me in my office. And, it turns out his wife asked him to come in and ask about my treatment for keeping couples’ sex life healthy together. She was too shy, and he was too! Love really can move mountains!
I told him some options involving machines and gels. Not only did he walk out of the clinic smiling, but he also started speaking ‘cutely and softly’ to my girls after I jokingly told him he truly scared them. He’s one of my favourite patients to date, and when he comes in, he always uses his ‘spa’ voice.
Dr Jaswine Chew, M.D.’s favourite food and beverage pairing?
I love cheese tarts, and black coffee. I love cheese.
What’s a food memory from your childhood or travels that stands out?
My late grandmother feeding us her ‘jiu hu char’ (Hokkien-style popiah filling). It’s quite tedious to make, and we knew this, and every time we had it, she wouldn’t show just how much work went into it; she just smiled and kept asking us to eat more and told us if it wasn’t enough – that she would make more. I still feel her love when I think about it.
Tell us something juicy about Dr Jaswine Chew, M.D.
I like to do Tik Tok videos.
What’s something you’d like guests to know about LS Clinic Midvalley?
I have three tenets I stand by – maintain, reclaim and enhance. Sometimes less is more, and sometimes we just want to have fun, and that’s okay. My team and I stand by all choices my patients make as long as it’s coming from a healthy place. And if it’s not, we will help, to the best of our abilities, guide you to reversible or easily corrected options.
What do you think is the best value-for-money aesthetic treatment in your centre?
My Liquid Facelift! Results are immediate, and it lasts for more than two years!
How has the pandemic changed your perspective or the way you operate?
The outside has to be supported by the inside because there is more to beauty than just what we see. Mentally and physically. I wanted to help my patients find that balance.
I used the time I had during MCO to delve back into researching women’s and men’s health. I wanted to incorporate my aesthetic treatments with protocols that helped to heal you from the inside out.
What’s something you’d like people to know about being an aesthetics doctor as a profession?
That we love having fun and improving beauty. But we also see much pain on the faces of our patients who come in wanting to change their outsides, and we will try as hard as we can to help with the balance. We see some of the ridiculous beauty standards being placed on both women and men, and we hope you come to realise, as we do, that it’s just not natural. We don’t judge what you want to be done; we just need it to come from a healthy place.
What’s your view on the aesthetic clinic scene in Kuala Lumpur?
It is saturated. And it is becoming harder to operate as everyone is throwing prices, providing poor quality materials, and having untrained staff treat patients. But I am steadfast in my belief that those who are skilled and those who do genuinely care about their patients will outlive the hype.
What practices do you currently implement or hope to implement to work towards social responsibility and sustainability in the future?
I always believe in giving back to those who sacrifice themselves for a higher cause. My amazing volunteers and first responders get to come in and enjoy treatments at 40% off. But this is a short-term fix when it comes to CSR at LS Clinic Midvalley.
Long-term, I want to be there to help my patients with the bigger issues that they will face when it comes to aging. Especially women. Affordable pre and post-menopause treatments that go hand-in-hand with non-invasive treatments and injectables that will keep them looking and (but most importantly) feeling amazing.
What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?
We have a new fat-freezing machine coming in, and I can’t wait. I, too, need to get rid of some remaining MCO weight.
Find more interviews similar to this one with Dr Jaswine Chew, M.D. here, more on the spa and beauty scene in Malaysia here, and the latest happenings around Malaysia here and here.
Interesting interview. Pity she is so far away I would love to meet her.
Have a good Sunday, cheers Diane
Yes, the natural look is good.