Extreme beauty procedures are sweeping the nation and the introduction of permanent makeup, chemical peels and belly button inversions are quickly making ‘au naturale’ a thing of the past. Yes, we’ve all seen the TOWIE girls (… and boys) dabble in Botox, veneers, and breast implants, but it seems as though this is just the tip of the iceberg in the increasingly popular and global phenomenon that is extreme beautification.
In fact, step even further away from the standard beautification techniques and you’ll find a whole new range of procedures that have become the newest fad. This includes the less known and publicised eyebrow tattooing and transplants, and permanent makeup that usually lasts for 3-5 years, such as eye liner tattooing and artificial freckles. Now, couldn’t that just be considered laziness? I mean, how long does it take to put on eyeliner in the morning… Or does it simply make sense? After all, why take five minutes out of every day to apply eyeliner and mascara when you can have it applied and your lashes darkened and lengthened in just one session.
Other even less conventional procedures have also been climbing the ranks, such as ear lobe reduction and ear pointing. So yes, for any Lord of the Rings fans, there’s your chance to go that extra mile. Other treatments include toe shortening and knee lifts. Yet most of us are torn between warring internal accusations of absurdity at these bizarre treatments, and a kind of understanding. After all, many of us do think our toes are too long or uneven, and would prefer an innie to an outie sometimes – but would we really consider surgically altering ourselves to make this happen?
When delving into this weirdly wonderful world, treatments include chemical peels, mummy-like body wraps where you are soaked in minerals then bounced on a trampoline for 50 minutes, and bee venom face masks. So just who is participating in this enthusiastic beauty regime? Is it all Hollywood actresses and reality TV stars, or has this phenomenon penetrated more deeply into wider society? After all, nowadays the average high street beauty salons often offer more than just the standard manicure-pedicure and spray tan. It’s far more likely to see a list of services including eye lash extensions, tinting and permanent/semi-permanent make-up. This filtering down of the-latest-ways-to-look-good to the general public has resulted in the increasing normality of previously strange-seeming procedures, which foreshadows the fact that even beautification methods we squint at now, could be standing boldly amongst the services board the next time you nip down to get your eyebrows waxed.
The questioning of new beauty regimes has been in the media for a while now, with Vogue and Channel Four among others, looking into it. Programmes such as Extreme Male Beauty have observed the less publicised gender in their pursuit of beautification and reflects the universality of these procedures. BAAPS (The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) reported that during 2011, male abdominoplasty or ‘tummy tucks’ were up 15%, and male breast reduction procedures were up 7%. While women had 90% of cosmetic procedures, this shows a clear male presence. The number of surgical procedures for both sexes has increased by 5.8% since 2010. Also, while it may be assumed that this extreme dedication to looking good is a Western and primarily American phenomenon, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the country in which cosmetic surgery is most popular is South Korea. In 2009, it was reported that 1 in 5 women in Seoul have had cosmetic surgery. The other 6 top contenders included: Greece, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, the USA, and Taiwan.
The lengths men and women will go to in order to look good and the opportunities to do so are surely increasing. All that is left to decide now are the implications of this increase and its effects on society. Is this a good thing? Does it promote a ‘quick-fix’ mentality in society, or if the popular phrase ‘Fake it ‘til you make it’ is anything to go by, shouldn’t we all be doing this? These are questions for the individual to decide, and going by the current figures, the latter opinion seems to be prevailing.