to ask who has had botox or fillers or plastic surgery of some kind?

[wrinklesandproud]

(namechanged for this).

I can honestly say that having any of the above has never entered my mind. I'll be 40 next year. I have some wrinkles on my forehead, a neck that seems to be looking increasingly wobbly and wrinkly, and crinkles all round my eyes. But I just thought that was what happened as you got older. No-one I knew until very recently has ever had any 'work done'. Botox was something you read about in Grazia magazine.

But we've moved recently to a new area and (public) school and it seems that with the people where we live it is the norm to go for regular botox and/or fillers and/or other surgery from boob jobs to liposuction. This is discussed the same way buying a new dress would be chatted about over coffee. For the first time in my life I feel as though I am the odd woman out for just going au natural. I am starting to be swayed by their way of thinking, whereas previously I never could have imagined me having any of this stuff done.

So I'm just curious to know how many mumsnetters have either had any of these things done (if so what) and if not, would you consider it?

I sort of feel as though having stuff done is cheating, but if you're the only sucker not cheating, you end up as the loser.

Don, you seem to be missing the exact meaning of disingenuous..and yes I am being disingenuous, I realise it 'raises the bar' for everyone else

...even so there is a limit to what cosmetic surgery etc can do, sure you can look 10 years younger but you will age eventually, and money does not guarantee a natural looking result

Fast forward and medical technology may some day advance to where the wealthy can look forever 30..that'll really give the rest of us something to feel pi$$ed off about!

'The lymph glands filter it out of the body, so they are being over loaded with toxins.'

can you link to some evidence Farbetter
or do you mean that you hope those who have botox will be punished with toxic lymph nodes?

up to you, but cosmetic surgery ALWAYS looks either ridiculous or invisible.

just because you live in sheep central, you don't have to be a sheep.

Regardless, things clearly haven't moved on as much as you'd like to think, if people who can afford to pay top dollar, come out so obviously sporting The Look.

Nicole K looks amazing in the flesh - properly stunning with flawless skin. She's what - 46? She looks a billion times better than most women of a similar age. Kylie too - she's about 45 and 5ft 2 inches if that - she looks amazing in the flesh too. Again far, far more attractive than most 45 year old women & both are in incredible shape. Good luck to them.

mercury perhaps vanity taken beyond a certain point IS something to be criticised. It is one of the deadly sins, after all!

I think there is a real difference between keeping yourself presentable and going to great, expensive and dangerous lengths to make yourself appear something you're not.

sure vanity can be problematic, Eccentrica, but who gets to say at what point it is excessive, what is too expensive and too dangerous.
I think your 'argument' is vague & woolly, not to mention full of holes!

OldBag

I don't agree that Jennifer Lopez looks natural.

(Kylie either)

They both have the kinds of figure and bone structure (and personal training regime) that will enable them to keep the beauty they have, but the beauty of a 40-something, 50-something etc. Instead they look odd because they are trying to hold on to the face they had at 30. It just isn't possible or convincing, to me.

Jennifer Aniston is another one who looks odd.

I am 43, so I'm quite interested in what these women who are around my age are doing. I honestly think it's a great shame they are doing this to themselves

Hopefully next time somebody mentions the pain of 'austerity' in the UK a few people will think of this thread and think 'bollocks'

In the past I've had fillers and also a boob job. It's a totally personal thing really - don't listen to anyone else's opinions about it. I personally think life is too short to be unhappy with something about your appearance when you can change it if you want to.

Oh, meant to say I would have botox when I need it if I could afford it.

Mercury: It is a medical fact (not woo) that lymph glands filter toxins from the body.

Swollen lymph glands are often a side effect of botox.
Lymph glands swell when they are over worked and / or infected.

If a toxin like Botox is put into the body it will put a strain on the lymph glands.

A member of my family has recently died from lymphoma, he has worked in a chemical plant all his working life.
The area has a high incidence of cancer.

Cosmetic sugery & procedures such as botox are part of a growing multi million pound industry. The marketing obviously works well if people even consider Botox to be an option.

Botox is routinely prescribed on the m&s for several non cosmetic indications. Presumably these patients don't have problems with their lymph glands!
And Botox doesn't cause lymphoma.

mercury unfortunately I don't have time to write a proper, thoroughly explored argument with citations right now, as I'm contributing to the thread in tiny breaks from report-writing! I have made some much longer comments upthread.

It's not a question of 'who gets to decide' as I don't think anyone would actively wish to stop anyone else doing whatever they want to their own faces/bodies. But you queried why people were questioning and uncomfortable with it, and I was trying to answer that.

Clearly a lot of people find it distasteful to carry out these procedures, and that distaste arises in part from a longstanding and probably valid dislike of vanity taken to extremes. I am not religious but I can see why each of the seven deadly sins would be a problem.

A little lust, gluttony, wrath, pride etc. make life worth living. But take any of them too far and they become detrimental to quality of life and happiness (your own and other people's).

Plus as mentioned above the cosmetic surgery industry invests heavily in feeding women's insecurities and self-hatred in order to generate more money, and has been shown time and time again to put profit before health, often to the point of endangering people's lives (see my earlier posts). It's not a great thing to be supporting really.

Jamie

I don't mean a great shame for them - everyone has the right to do what they want - I mean a great shame for women. It reflects sexism and ageism rolled into one

how odd! I replied to myself

Mercury: What a very nasty, offensive statement!

No, I don't wish cancer on anyone, including people who use botox.

I wish no one ill health.

Farbetternow, have a good read:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hodgkins-lymphoma/Pages/Causes.aspx

I wasnt disputing the function of lymph glands, I was disputing the connection between botox and lymph gland problems.

Sorry to hear about your relative but how is his cancer relevant to botox?

Farbetter, I just wish you'd try and construct a coherent argument to support your postion!

Chipped: How do you know that botox won't cause cancer.

It is a relatively new procedure.

I think we will be reading about it in 10 years time.
Who would have thought that breast implants could increase the risk of cancer in babies?