Beauty secrets – a quick Google search of the phrase provides 652,000,000 results. In less than a full scroll, we’re provided with the addresses, opening hours and contact numbers of 3 different beauty establishments. One salon and two skincare clinics, both of which contain the word ‘aesthetics’ in their name.
We’re subjugating ourselves to achieve our desired aesthetics so this shouldn’t result in wry smiles. After all, we decide to contribute to the cycle. We decide that our skin needs to be manipulated and contorted. We decide that our bodies need to be subjected to bruising and burns.
Ticking off the checklist as we walk from one room of the salon to the other. Leaning our heads back as the eyebrow lady tells us to place one hand over our eyelids and the other above the brow to stretch the skin. We tell her we rarely thread them to which she brazenly lies “Oh? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt”. Next time, we will consider heavy microblading.
It’s not just 21st-century women who have their fair share of beauty secrets. 19th-century corsets broke ribs, Victorian women would put nightshade in their eyes to dilate their pupils and let’s not forget the Rejuvenique facial in which women’s faces were electrocuted to tone their muscles.
We feel foolish as we blink back tears. We can feel every individual hair being ripped out from under the follicle. It’s a slow process and our eyes sting. Painting our faces isn’t enough. We’re never satiated. And then, of course, we can’t stop.
We watch the cosmetologist adjust her plastic white gloves and flick a needle. We silently wince as the needle meets our skin and a temporary solution to our insecurities is injected. Our skin is left adorned with angry, inflamed patches and redder versions of ourselves eventually leave the salon. It’s only when we return home and notice one side of our face drooping that we’ll suspect a blood vessel has been injected.
At brunch, we’ll lie about what we’ve done to ourselves and persuade the girls it’s just a new lipliner a la Kylie Jenner. We’ll persuade them it’s not a brow-lift, it’s just our taut ponytails that make our eyes look more almond. We’ll persuade them it’s not filler, it’s just a new contouring technique.
It’s so easy to lie, and we do it so well. Admit it. We can alter our appearance during our lunch breaks. A speedy 30-minute procedure and we’re left looking like an entirely different ethnicity. We’d rather get caught in a sneaky white lie than divulge our best-kept secrets. And if we haven’t done it, we’re thinking about it. Scrolling through hundreds of before and after photos that are all captioned with “life-changing” or “your face but better”.
A ban on Botox and fillers for under-18s will be implemented from October, but 41,000 procedures were carried out on teenagers in 2020 alone. It’s bleak but the ‘Botox ban’ has, unfortunately, come too late for the Instagram generation.
Yes, this new law is ultimately a step in the right direction but it’s the tip of the iceberg. The cherry on top. While this new law is welcome, it's akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
If the UK followed suit with the rest of the world, teenagers would simply not have ever been able to have Botox or fillers. The reason why teenagers have been able to get their hands on (or lips in this case) fillers and Botox is because they are being targeted by unqualified practitioners who can overlook the fact that those they are injecting are children.
And you may be thinking – why won’t the government act beyond this law? Well, the answer’s simple, unregulated aesthetics is big business. And big business means the circulation of more money.
The aesthetics industry is estimated to be worth around £3bn a year. Anti-wrinkle injections and dermal fillers make up almost 80% of these treatments carried out in the UK. The government can collect VAT on these treatments, from VAT-registered practitioners. Many medically qualified practitioners are VAT-exempt, as they can prescribe treatments. So, in simple terms, if the government medicalise the industry, they will lose this income.
As long as the aesthetics industry is unregulated, the government continues to capitalise on vulnerable individuals. After all, you wouldn’t let a masseuse remove a tooth, would you?
