The beautiful game
BLAME the Kardashians’, but women are now expected to have big lips, big bums, big boobs, high cheekbones and tiny waists – leading to a boom in cosmetic treatments as people battle for a social mediaapproved look.
The industry is now worth nearly £3bn, as people turn to non-invasive procedures.
Last year half a million people had dermal fillers, one of the cheaper options for changing your appearance.
But with all the treatments now available, do they do what they claim and is there any evidence that they actually work?
“I’m concerned that the UK is one of the only countries where the cosmetic treatments industry is almost completely unregulated,” says blogger and journalist Mehreen Baig.
In this two-part series, she and medical journalist Dr Michael Mosley team up to scrutinise the science and safety of cosmetic treatments – and put them to the test.
There are also scary stories of botched treatments, while it remains completely legal for someone to order treatments online and perform them anywhere, including sheds and car parks. This episode is a slightly frightening tour of facial treatments.
Mehreen investigates liquid nose jobs, mentioning her “slightly wonky” nose to a consultant, who agrees with her far too quickly, and she also follows an experiment that pits three skin-tightening treatments against each other.
Meanwhile, Michael tests the latest anti-wrinkle technology on his crow’s feet, and in a unique psychology experiment, he asks the multi-million dollar question: do cosmetic treatments actually make us any more attractive to others?