To wonder what’s going on with all the big lips

But again, it's only a 'fun look' to a specific sub-set of females, isn't it? There's nothing 'fun' about the potential long term health risks of the filler migrating in your body. But, the sub-set who use it probably never even passed GCSE Biology, so they are blissful in their ignorance.

And in a way, I actually get it, I really do. This female sub-set can never aspire to academia, or a successful professional career, or probably even owning their own home in a nice area. So they can only adopt the socio-economic goal indicators that they can aspire to e.g. how many times they've been to Dubai, who has the longest 'mermaid' extensions, who has the biggest pillow lips etc.

But those goals just aren't even on many women's radar, at all. It's nothing to do with envy, just that their ambitions and priorities are utterly different. My DD is 21 and her priorities this year are to hopefully win the Dean's Award and gain a First in her finals. She already has her graduate offer secured from one of the Big Four. Those sort of abilities & opportunities are completely unattainable to the Plastic Fantastic sub-set. Yet for the sake of a few quid DD could so very easily attain everything the PF aspire to with zero effort.

And that's why it has no value for DD because the PF 'look' just isn't a viable currency in her world.

Although I agree some people take ‘tweakments’ to the extreme, having skimmed the thread, I’m seeing a lot of ‘coping’ going on.

By this I mean I suspect that the core issue a lot of PP have with these trends is that they synthetically emulate a wider more diverse group of natural ethnic attributes which are harder for many women to achieve in order to be seen as ‘sexy/desirable’ by a lot of men.

Up until relatively recently in the UK, the standard for desirability was blond, thin celebrities. Although the vast majority of women hadn’t a hope in hell of looking like famous blond thin women, they could get away with buying a bottle of bleach and a pack of fags to stay thin, safe in the knowledge that many blokes wouldn’t be that fussed about features and body.

However, there’s now more exposure to diverse women and thus there’s been a push towards the more racially/ethnically ambiguous look e.g Kim Kardashian who has the curves of a black or Latina woman, tanned skin tone of a Middle Easterner, long straight hair of an Asian, plump lips etc etc.

Just eating celery and sitting under foils at the hairdresser is no longer enough to attract many men. They are looking at the entire package and that package occurs very rarely and is expensive to buy and get right.

Again I do believe some women have gone to extremes, or paid for shoddy work. However, I don’t think all PPs are genuine in their concern for these women. I think many are more angry that even if they did their best, their look is no longer the standard desired look - standard white British face and body with bonus blond hair and thin, which was achievable for many. This new ‘cherrypicking’ of all ethnicities of women is far harder.

Injecting something into your face to dissolve something else you have injected for cosmetic reasons. How depressing.

Time will tell. Have all these things injected by backstreet untrained amateur practitioners been subjected to years of testing, as pharmaceutical drugs are? I don’t know - you may know more, but I bet the beauty industry is far less regulated.

As a very secure, confident and reasonably attractive and stylish woman in my fifties, I worry about the pressures on the next generation. Personally I am lucky enough not to feel vaguely threatened by your definition of ‘pretty’. In any case, I don’t define myself by my looks, and I wish others didn’t too.

I don’t like Birkenstocks though. Or crocs or UGGs. Sorry to disappoint ;-)

What's the percentage of that? As in cancer, compared to eating bacon, or the damage fizzy drinks do to women's teeth and bones? As in, how often has it ever happened in the UK when licensed products have been used?

Yep. My 20-something kids are horrified by the Love Island look thankfully and are not remotely tempted. The young people I know are gorgeous and it’s certainly not insecurity or jealousy that put them off ‘tweakments’!

Going off topic slightly but still relevant ... What's all this lemon bottle stuff? Looks terrifying.

@MistyGreenAndBlue

Yes! I queried this information yesterday, but despite the pp asserting it so confidently they didn’t answer my questions. I can’t find anything about the hydrolic acid they mention on google. I think they’re confused.

But it’s a comfort to know that by injecting acid into your body you can dissolve the fillers, isn’t it (NOT)?

It’s worrying what people are prepared to do on the basis of ignorance.

Feelinglost10 makes her living out of women's insecurities and therefore doesn't understand that many women just don't want to look artificial and don't like the artificial look

I'm sure that many women who have subtle tweaks look fabulous, but this thread is about the extremes that many women go to. They don't seem to realise that they just become caricatures of themselves.

DD likes watching Love Island, and last year one of the women had such extreme lips that she couldn't even close her mouth properly, so she walked around with the vacuous look that people have when their mouth is open all the time.

Another woman the same age as DD (24 at the time) looked 10 years older than DD because of all the work she had done to her face.

The trope that we must be jealous couldn't be further from the truth.

I have to say, the women I’ve seen with the extreme version of this look HAVE made me feel threatened, but not in the way you mean.

The one in the dentist’s…didn’t dare catch her eye for fear of a mouthful of expletives, by the way she spoke to the receptionist.

To me, they might as well have a t shirt that says “I’m insecure, angry and desperate for a fella…any fella!”

@hehehesorry by your own logic, you must feel extremely threatened to produce that level of vitriol.

Nice try. It still looks ugly though.

Tell me more about this feeling "threatened".

It's a fun look, I think women who care about it one way or another feel threatened by it even if they don't like the look for themselves because it's very sexualised. I haven't met many pretty women who care what other women do to their face, but I've heard a few past it women talking down on it like their beauty advice is relevant. I suppose it's relevant to other women like themselves like it is on here, but nobody else cares what the boden birkenstock brigade has to say about beauty no matter how loud and often they say it. If you care this much about seeing lip filler or eyelash extensions I'd recommend an exercise class or something to take your mind off it.

If people like having it done and it improves their confidence then that's positive. However, I do wonder what happens if they stop getting it done and how it affects the skin

Definitely. I automatically assume a woman who comes out with this is so used to feeling jealous that they presume everyone does.

I want no part of it. I go bare face. I still think they all look like fish people from Bikini Bottom.

Oh yes they are. I see it all the time. And I don't believe you haven't seen it too. It just doesn't suit your narrative to say so.

Ok so all this is wrong. Sorry but I can't let this misinformation pass.

Firstly, fillers are mainly made with hyaluronic acid which does occur naturally I agree but which DOES NOT dissolve - ever. It migrates to other areas of the face and body. Most disturbingly often into the lymphatic system where it causes dangerous blockages that are permanent. These blockages affect your immune system and have been linked to cancer.

Secondly. The substance used to dissolve fillers is called hyalouronidase and is untested and unregulated and destroys not only fillers but your own naturally occurring hyaluronic acid leading in some terrifying cases to the skin becoming so weak it literally starts falling off the bone and hanging loose.
It's not worth it.

Makes sense I suppose. If huge shiny lips are supposed to look like vaginas then tiny little puckered lips are ... well. All the guys are into anal these days, right?

Lol polythene pam!! 😂

That reminds me of a lyric in a Beatles song;
"Well you should see Polythene Pam,
She's so good looking but she looks like a man."

Now every time I see these girls I'm going to think "polythene pam" 😂 (slang for sex doll for those who don't know).

I know an author of women's contemporary fiction, I've known her for a long time and she's changed massively since turning 60. She's lost weight and had work done, Last time I saw her she had a trout pout and I saw a post she put on Instagram recently she's now got turkey teeth.

My sons gf (21) is very natural, hardly any make up at all, even on a night out. All her friends are the same, they are at Uni in Edinburgh however, so I think it's true that it's part of a social demographic thing.
In contrast where I work in Glasgow there are a lot of late 20's early 30's women from more working class areas and they are filled and botoxed up to their tattooed eyebrows.
I do hope it's a fad and in the way out.

Yes definitely! I think that's what I meant, just men trying to look like women in general.