In this independent honest review of Zenith Cosmetics Clinic in Nottingham, England, I’m going to share with you two things you won’t find anywhere else.

Two things that could potentially save you from a lot of wasted time, money, and bad results.

The first, is some truly shocking information I discovered about online reviews of Zenith Cosmetics Clinic, whether those reviews can be trusted, and if negative reviews are being taken down to hide bad patient experiences.

And after that, I’ll share with you my experience of having surgery at Zenith Cosmetics, show you the pictures of what happened to my body, and the threat Zenith made towards me for speaking the truth.

At the end of this review, I will then rate my experience with Zenith Cosmetics using their own “core values”.

Please note that the information you find here represents my own personal views, opinions, and experience.

I also have saved screenshots of full Google cached pages for all the information you are about to see.

What I Discovered About Some Zenith Cosmetics Reviews

I wish I knew this before I had surgery at Zenith Cosmetics…

As I discovered that some online reviews of services offered by this clinic are “suspicious” to say the least.

My suspicions were first aroused after reading some laser mole removal Zenith Cosmetic reviews, which were posted on the MoneySavingExpert forum from people complaining that their negative reviews had been deleted.

The person below, for example, said that their negative comment had disappeared from the forum and was “suspicious” as to why all the other posts appeared to contain only positive reviews of Zenith Cosmetics:

Another user was also unhappy that their “lengthy post” giving an “honest appraisal” of Zenith Cosmetics had also disappeared from the forum.

They wondered whether Zenith Cosmetics had requested for their review to be deleted in an attempt suppress “the truth“, and stated that they believed many of the positive reviews were “self-written“.

Another user again questioned whether the positive reviews of Zenith Cosmetics were “genuine“, and wondered if the clinic had “put people up to registering and posting positive comments“.

Interestingly, this person asked if Zenith Cosmetics could confirm whether they had approached the forum to ask for negative posts to be removed.

Zenith Cosmetics did not respond.

But they were clearly reading the forum as Zenith left a previous reply stating that all the reviews were genuine.

I’ve included the relevant part of their comment below:

Summary Of Reviews

What we see from the above forum comments are 4 things:

1. People are wondering why their negative comments about Zenith Cosmetics Clinic are being deleted.
2. People are wondering why there appear to be only positive comments about Zenith Cosmetics.
3. People are doubting how genuine the positive reviews of Zenith Cosmetics are.
4. People are wondering if Zenith Cosmetics are requesting for bad reviews of their clinic to be taken down.

Obviously, we don’t know for certain what the truth behind these questions are.

But what we can do, is look at some other evidence to help us make an informed decision about what might be going on with these reviews.

Some Suspicious (And Possibly Fake) Reviews I Found For Zenith Cosmetics

As you saw previously, a person on the MoneySavingExpert forum questioned whether Zenith Cosmetics had “put people up to registering and posting positive comments“.

In other words, he was wondering if those were fake reviews.

To investigate this, I looked for other online reviews of Zenith Cosmetics and it didn’t take me long to find something very interesting…

On the Consulting Room website, for example, which is a website that provides information about cosmetic surgery clinics, I found the following positive reviews for various services offered by Zenith Cosmetics.

This review is a 5 star review for advanced laser liposuction at Zenith Cosmetics:

This review is a 5 star review for laser hair removal at Zenith Cosmetics:

This is a 5 star review for skin peel and microdermabrasion at Zenith Cosmetics:

And here is another 5 star review for Radiesse (a dermal filler) at Zenith Cosmetics:

A Closer Look At The Above “Reviews” Revealed Some Very Interesting Findings…

All the reviews seem quite happy with the treatment and service they received at Zenith Cosmetics Clinic.

But as I looked more closely at those reviews, something just didn’t seem right.

First, all of the above reviews were published on the same day.

What was even more suspicious about the reviews, however, was that they all seemed to enthusiastically encourage you to have the procedure they had at Zenith Cosmetics.

They used phrases such as:

“Would definitely recommend, brilliant.“

“You should definitely go to Zenith, it is superb.“

“Come and start your treatments. You will never regret it.“

“Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.“

These comments are in the same order that the reviews were posted, and if you look at those comments closely, you may notice something else which stands out.

With the first two comments, the first comment uses the words “definitely recommend” and “brilliant“, while the second comment uses the words “definitely go to” and “superb“.

One may be forgiven for wondering whether a script was used with variations of the same phrase. In other words, a positive review just reworded differently.

Further evidence for this comes from the next two comments, which also appear to be using a variation of a stock phrase.

They use words such as “come and start” and “give it a try“. They also say “never regret” and “not be disappointed“.

You can see these matching phrases more clearly in the picture below where I have highlighted the word variations that appear to come from stock phrases:

Finally, all of these positive 5 star reviews for Zenith Cosmetics also have very suspicious names, which, like the phrase variations you have just seen, also appear to be very similar.

The first two reviews are from A.B and M.B, and the next two are from S.L and S.C.

Of course, this could be just coincidence…

Now, let’s just remind ourselves of what Zenith Cosmetics posted on the MoneySavingExpert forum:

So perhaps the previous reviews are genuine after all?

I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

Why Does This Matter To You?

The purpose of a review is to share honest feedback and experiences from real people so that others may benefit from that knowledge.

If a company is allegedly posting fake positive reviews for services they offer, however, then the value of the review system breaks down.

You could, for example, be mislead into believing that you will get benefits or results which you later find not to be the case.

Fake positive reviews also reduce trust in real positive reviews, as you have no way of knowing what is a real review and what is a fake review.

This is especially troublesome if a company offers a variety of treatments as this can obviously generate a large variety of reviews.

Zenith Cosmetics, for example, offer a wide range of surgical and non-surgical treatments which include things such as:

Chemical peels, dermal fillers, lip fillers, Botox injections, dermarolling, skin tightening, laser skin resurfacing, skin tightening, laser hair removal, face lift surgery, rhinoplasty, eye bag removal, breast enlargement/reduction, teeth whitening, and dental treatments.

So if you find suspicious reviews praising a company, how do you know if the other positive reviews you read are actually genuine?

Far more concerning, however, is the removal of negative reviews by a company.

Because if people have had a bad experience with a company or suffered from a bad result, and then those reviews are removed, this potentially puts future patients at risk because they won’t see the warnings that others tried to give.

Are Zenith Cosmetics Requesting For Negative Online Reviews To Be Removed?

Some of the posts on the MoneySavingExpert forum we previously looked at complained that their negative reviews of Zenith Cosmetics clinic had been deleted.

They also wondered whether Zenith Cosmetics had somehow requested for those reviews to be removed or deleted?

Let’s just remind ourselves of what was said:

Now, we can’t say for certain what the answer to those questions are, as we don’t have any evidence showing that Zenith Cosmetics made any requests to the forum for the negative comments to be removed.

So unfortunately, that’s a mystery that will, for the time being at least, remain unsolved.

But, there is something else I can show you…

The Threatening Email I Received From Zenith Cosmetics After Leaving A Negative Review

I posted a negative review of Zenith Cosmetics and was later sent an email by Zenith threatening me with legal action unless I remove my review.

Here’s a copy of the email I received from Zenith Cosmetics. I have blacked out any personally identifiable information to protect the identity of those involved:

As you can see from the above email, Zenith Cosmetics asked me to remove my review.

They said they will “pursue for defamation of character“.

What does defamation mean?

Well, according to LegalZoom, it means the following:

“Defamation is a false statement presented as a fact that causes injury or damage to the character of the person it is about.”

So basically, if you lie or tell something which is untrue, then it’s defamation. And Zenith have every right to pursue it.

However, LegalZoom continue and state that:

“If you are accused of defamation, slander, or libel, truth is an absolute defense to the allegation. If what you said is true, there is no case.“

In other words, if you leave an honest review of your experience with Zenith Cosmetics and it is true, then there is no case for defamation.

In my case, my review was an honest review. And when I contacted Google about my review, they told me it did not violate any of their guidelines.

If I had removed this review, then other people who are thinking of having the same procedure I had, which I will cover in more detail later with pictures, would have been unaware of the negative results I received.

And, therefore, could have potentially also suffered the same result.

Zenith Cosmetics & “Lead Generation”

After doing a bit more research, I found that Zenith Cosmetics have some association with the company Frogspark, which is a digital marketing company.

Frogspark proudly state on their website that they have worked with Zenith Cosmetics to help them increase their business.

Here’s a screenshot from the Frogspark website where they provide a quote from the managing director of Zenith Cosmetics:

As you can see from the above quote, one of the aims of Zenith Cosmetics was to increase lead generation.

According to Wikipedia, lead generation is defined as the following:

“Lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. Leads may come from various sources or activities, for example, digitally via the Internet, through personal referrals…“

The last phrase is key, “through personal referrals“.

In other words, you can generate leads for a company via online reviews.

So let’s just remind ourselves of some of the phrases that were used in the 5 star reviews of Zenith Cosmetics you saw earlier:

“Would definitely recommend, brilliant.“

“You should definitely go to Zenith, it is superb.“

“Come and start your treatments. You will never regret it.“

“Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.“

You are obviously more likely to generate leads to your business if you have positive reviews about your business, than if you have negative reviews.

This may have been why Zenith Cosmetics were so keen for me to “remove” my negative review.

Further on down the page about the work they did with Zenith Cosmetics, Frogspark state the following…

Link building is the process of generating links on other websites which point to your own website.

It’s often done to increase Google traffic to your site, but is generally frowned upon by Google as it can be abused to artificially increase a site’s rankings.

Whether Frogspark were responsible for creating the 5 star positive reviews we saw of Zenith Cosmetics earlier is unknown.

But Frogspark do themselves admit that they “put more time into link building” for Zenith Cosmetics.

It’s also worth remembering that Frogspark state on their website that they helped Zenith Cosmetics with lead generation, and one method that can be used to generate leads is online reviews.

My Experience Having Surgery With Zenith Cosmetics

I had read about a new treatment called Recell which uses your own skin cells to help heal scars and discolouration of the skin.

I was interested in this treatment because I had scarring on my arms and chest which I hoped Recell could improve the appearance of.

As Zenith Cosmetics offered Recell, I decided to book myself in for the procedure with them which cost me over £5000.

What follows is my review of having Recell at Zenith Cosmetics in Nottingham.

Note: Even if you are thinking of having a different cosmetic procedure with Zenith Cosmetics, you may still find my experience with them useful due to the things that happened to me.

My Zenith Cosmetics Recell Review

On the day of my treatment, I met with the surgeon who would be operating on me, Mr Jeremy Rawlins.

This was the first time I had seen Mr Rawlins, and he had previously approved me for surgery based on pictures I sent him via email.

This first meeting was considered to be my “consultation” with him, and after a brief discussion, he circled my scars with a pen and I was led to the operating room.

Here are some pictures showing what I looked like before my Recell treatment at Zenith Cosmetics with Mr Rawlins:

The Recell Procedure

The actual Recell procedure began with me lying on my back. Mr Rawlins then injected an anaesthetic into the scars.

Surprisingly, this was virtually pain free.

Mr Rawlins also took a small skin sample from my buttock, which was then used in the Recell kit to create a “spray-on-skin”.

After this, Mr Rawlins did dermabrasion on the scars, which is basically like having a small sanding dish that removes the upper layers of skin.

I remember thinking to myself at the time that healthy unscarred skin was being damaged during this process, but I didn’t think much of it at the time as I had full trust in Mr Rawlins and assumed it would heal as Recell is meant to heal scars not create new scars.

There was a lot of bleeding as a result of the dermabrasion, but I didn’t feel any pain.

Once it had been completed, Mr Rawlins then applied the Recell solution to my scars.

After this, I was bandaged up and the procedure was over.

It took around 1 hour or so, and overall was a relatively pleasant experience in the sense that I was made to feel at ease, I was comfortable (although very cold and remember shaking a lot from the cold), and didn’t experience any significant pain.

Note: I would later return to the clinic 1 week after my procedure to have my bandages removed.

My Recell Results

After my procedure was completed, I was led up to the reception area. I was heavily bandaged at this time, and my upper body movement was severely restricted.

I was told by the reception staff that I must “be patient” to see the full results, and that things would “look worse before they look better“.

I had a slight feeling of apprehension when I was told to “be patient“, not because I expected immediate results, but because of the way it was said.

It was almost like the reception staff had received previous complaints by former Recell patients that they weren’t seeing any positive results.

So my impression was that you need to wait around 2 years to see the full results from Recell.

I honestly don’t know where I got that impression from, but for some reason, I thought I would give it 2 years or so for the full results to show.

Unfortunately, when I had asked Mr Rawlins during my consultation when I would see results from Recell, he was very vague in his response and I had to probe him several times to get some sort of time-frame from him.

The best I could get out of him, was that I would start to see some improvement, in terms of redness reduction, at around 3 months.

Anyway, after 2 1/2 years this is what I looked like after having Recell at Zenith Cosmetics:

As you can see from the above pictures, I developed extra scarring and hypopigmentation after having Recell done with Mr Rawlins at Zenith Cosmetics Clinic in Nottingham.

I paid a lot for the Recell treatment (over £5000) so I was obviously very unhappy at my results, not only because it didn’t work to improve the appearance of my scars, but also because it actually made my scars look worse.

Zenith Cosmetics Concludes I Didn’t Develop Extra Scarring And Denies Request For Partial Refund

I later requested a partial refund from Zenith Cosmetics explaining to them that I would need the money for further treatment elsewhere.

Considering that my treatment didn’t work and caused extra scarring, I thought Zenith Cosmetics would grant me some kind of refund as a good will gesture and to help put some positive on an overall bad experience.

However, Zenith Cosmetics denied my refund request and the letter I received from their solicitors said:

“Following review Mr Rawlins has advised that you have not been left with additional scarring however, your scars have not responded fully to the ReCell treatment.“

After looking at the before and after pictures it’s quite clear I did suffer from additional scarring.

And when I first read their conclusion that I “have not been left with additional scarring” it caused me a lot of distress as I know full well that I suffered from additional scarring after having Recell.

I showed Mr Rawlins my additional scarring when I came to see him again as part of my refund request, and I even took a toothpick with me so that I could point out the extra scarring.

I remember telling Mr Rawlins that apart from the extra scarring, it’s like I’ve had no treatment at all. Because I have seen no positive change from my Recell treatment.

So how he can conclude I suffered no additional scarring is beyond me?

Rating My Recell Experience Using Zenith Cosmetics’ Core Values

On their website, Zenith Cosmetics state that they stand by 5 core values; expertise, caring, innovative, excellence, and honest.

I will use these core values to rate my Recell experience and treatment with them.

Expertise (3.5/5)

On paper, the surgeon who operated on me was fully qualified and experienced with Recell. But in my opinion, the results he produced weren’t very good and I also suffered from significant damage to healthy previously unscarred skin.

Caring (1/5)

Zenith state that they take a lot of time to understand you as a person, but I was approved for surgery without a face-to-face consultation with Mr Rawlins after sending him pictures by email.

He definitely did not take a lot of time to understand me as a person before approving me for surgery, as the first time he saw me and spoke with me in person, was on the day of the surgery immediately before my Recell procedure.

After my Recell was completed and my bandages removed a week later, Zenith Cosmetics did not book me in for a follow-up consultation to monitor my progress or to see how I was doing after my treatment. This didn’t give me the impression that Zenith were very concerned with my long-term welfare.

I requested a partial refund from the clinic and explained that I would use that money for further treatment to help me treat my original scars and the extra scarring that occurred after Recell. They refused to offer me any refund. This showed me a lack of compassion on their behalf with what had happened to me.

Zenith Cosmetics also sent a threatening email to me after I left a negative review. Threatening a former patient does not show that you care about them, but that you are more concerned with your own self-image and reputation.

Innovative (5/5)

Zenith Cosmetics pride themselves on offering the latest cosmetic treatments. Here they score highly as they were one of the few clinics in the UK to offer Recell treatment at the time I went to them.

Excellence (3/5)

Zenith Cosmetics states that they invest a lot of time into ensuring that your experience with them, from the first moment you contact them to your aftercare, is excellent. They say they pay attention to the small details.

One thing I was immediately impressed with when I first arrived at the clinic was that they offered you a drink. This was much appreciated as I had been travelling for 3 hours in the car.

The clinic building is also very nice inside, and the reception staff were very friendly.

There were a few issues, however, that have caused me to lower my rating for this core value.

After my Recell, I was told to go collect my clothes which were in another room. I left the operating room alone, and I felt woosey/lightheaded. Being in an unfamiliar environment, I went to the wrong door and almost went outside into the car park. At the time, I was fully bandaged so my arm movement was very restricted, and I was still in my surgical gown. The door I almost went through was a firedoor, so I would have no way of opening it should I have gone outside and got locked out. Getting trapped outside half naked in a car park immediately after surgery is not something I would have ever thought would happen to me! Fortunately, it didn’t as I soon realised my mistake.

Another issue is that when I was leaving the clinic after my surgery, my mum suddenly realised that I hadn’t been given my antibiotics. So she asked at reception and got them for me. This is quite a serious issue as I could have left the clinic without my antibiotics and been put at risk of developing a serious skin infection. Thanks mum!

Finally, as I was not booked in by the clinic for follow-up consultations after my bandages were removed, I cannot say that this left me with the impression of excellent service.

Honest (2/5)

Zenith Cosmetics state that they are open, honest, and that being ethical is extremely important to them.

However, discovering numerous suspicious reviews praising the clinic makes me question just how honest the clinic really is.

I also don’t feel that Zenith Cosmetics acted ethically in how I was approved for surgery, as I was approved by the surgeon on the basis of pictures I sent him via email. How can you fully assess a patient and their suitability for surgery without actually seeing them in person first?

What made this even worse was that when I sent pictures to Zenith Cosmetics of my bad Recell results as part of my complaint and request for refund, they told me that the surgeon was “struggling” to see my scars. As a result, they requested that I come to the clinic to see the surgeon in person so that he can assess my scars. This was a 6 hour journey for me overall.

So basically, sending pictures without a face-to-face consultation with the surgeon was enough for Zenith Cosmetics to approve me for, and charge me for, a £5000+ surgical procedure. But when I requested a refund, pictures were not good enough and I had to come see the surgeon in person. This made me feel that the clinic prioritised their own financial concerns above any ethical values which they say they hold.

In addition to this, the letter I received from Zenith’s solicitors told me that Mr Rawlins concluded there was no additional scarring caused by the procedure. But that was clearly untrue as shown by the pictures I sent them, and also when Mr Rawlins examined me in person when I came to see him as part of my refund request.

I also don’t consider it very ethical to threaten your former patients for leaving an honest negative review about your clinic, especially when they have been made to feel more self-conscious about their body after the treatment they received.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

On the surface, Zenith Cosmetics looks like a great clinic who offer a wide range of surgical and non-surgical treatments.

At the time, I had no doubt that I would receive excellent results and service from this clinic, which is why I decided to book my Recell treatment with Zenith Cosmetics.

Unfortunately, my experience did not meet my expectations.

Not only did the procedure fail to make an improvement in the condition of my scarring, but it actually made things worse.

I feel that Zenith Cosmetics showed a lack of care and compassion in how they dealt with me as a patient, and their approval of me for surgery without seeing the surgeon in person could hardly be considered ethical behaviour.

After it was clear that the procedure didn’t work and that I had complained of extra scarring, instead of offering me some money as a good will gesture, they offered me nothing.

Zenith Cosmetics then proceeded to send me a threatening email for a negative review I posted.

And speaking of reviews, the suspicious positive reviews we talked about at the start of this review make me doubt the authenticity of other positive reviews.

So overall, based on my experience, I can’t recommend Zenith Cosmetics due to the bad results I received and the way they acted towards me afterwards.