What are people doing to their faces?!

[Mania89]

I am mid 30s. Colour my hair, wear makeup, thread my eyebrows etc so not completely natural but my goodness what are people doing to their faces?! Young women who are beautiful now have so much injected into their faces that they cannot move them at all. I was looking back at photos in my mid 20s and was wondering why on earth did I worry about my looks at all. Hindsight is wonderful! And I am despairing that girls younger than this have already started to inject Botox and fillers. The world is going mad and don’t even get me started on weight loss injections for those who are not clinically obese! I have two daughters and really feel so worried for them up.

I am a huge advocate of body autonomy i.e. your body your choice. Piercings, tattoos, hair dye etc...

But I think any procedures that are medical or surgical should have a much higher threshold for use and assessment. I have had an appointment for a breast reduction for back pain, and even though the surgeon risk assessed me, I think there should be a mandatory screen for pysch and a min age of 21 before any of the procedures should be performed and they should ONLY be performed by a nurse or doctor.

It’s not exactly a classist issue and you shouldn’t make it as such because I agree that is a damaging and pretentious assumption. And I think you’ll find that women choose to do cosmetic procedures from all walks of life actually. Just take a look at royal families and billionaires from across the world, I would argue they are actually doing cosmetic work for themselves more because they simply have the resources to accommodate it freely

Botox isn't a classist issue. Over inflated lips and caterpillar eyelashes and eyebrows definitely are

I do agree OP, but I think I'll probably look to get some Botox in the next couple of years (34). I went out over Xmas and said to my partner that all the women look exactly the same but it may have been the same when I was in my 20s! My 9 year old DD is already influenced by this culture, wants skin care for birthdays and Xmas.

Is it any different to the outrage about ‘heroin chic’ or the boobs of the 90s?

monkeys are gonna monkey - and groom themselves how everyone else is - I suspect this too shall pass!

OP is expressing an opinion, perfectly valid, and I'd say a lot of people agree with that opinion.

People spend large amounts of money to make themselves look like clowns. It's weird. Not upsetting, just weird.

I’m terrified about all of this constant pressure on looks for my two young Daughters.

My Daughters have shown minimal interest in make up until going to their friends houses and seeing influencers on YouTube and on social media on their friend’s mobiles (my children are in Primary school) - no reason to have a mobile phone! My eldest is now constantly talking about skincare routines and products, pouting and contouring, and asking for all manner of expensive products.

I’m constantly trying to talk to them and show them examples of healthy skin and looks to try and educate them about what natural looks and natural aging are, and what could be damaging and permanently altering to their young skin.

Many of the Mums at drop off/pick up have had fillers and Botox, and also many other women in my town too who are younger, and they no longer look very human. It’s like a kind of metamorphosis, and I know I’m going to have to talk to my children about this soon too, as there are a lot of places that have opened in our area that offer these types of procedures and they’ve started asking questions about what they are.

I'm 70 and remember wanting to look like Blondie, Stevie Nicks. Had there been the option of a bit of surgery etc to make me prettier when I was 16 I would have had it if I could have afforded it.
Weren't we all jealous of good looking people.

You’re entitled to have an opinion, but does it affect you on a personal level? To be honest I’ve more important things to think about other than what people choose to do to themselves. I’m sure you have too!

If you start having botox before wrinkles appear and continue, then you will never have wrinkles - well that's what I've been told.

I've seen lots of older women who don't have a single wrinkle but I can tell immediately that they're pushing 60 or 70. If it's not the wrinkles that age us, then what is it?

I have heard some young women discussing this. And I think the thing they are told/believe is that Botox is most effective at keeping you look young if you start early and maintain it through life. If you start on your 40s it is “too late “ for it to work how you want.

so I think this is the mindset of why they do it even when they have young faces

I think they'll always be image trends. The difference is that we can look back and cringe at our 80s perms, plucked eyebrows and bad fake tans as it's not long lasting. Do inflated lips look normal years later when the filler has stopped?

This is exactly right. I see young women in their twenties and they have a look of a much older woman as a result of having had work done.

This in combination with the sharpie eyebrows and they look like a puppet. A bad puppet.

Jealous? Of plastic looking faces?

It's not the wrinkles it's the sagging. Though the 11s can make you look a bit grumpy or tired.

It's just an opinion. That's what a forum is for.

There weren't plastic looking faces in those days. Just good looking ones.

She’s not getting upset, she’s expressing an opinion. Do you always come at debates from the point of view of shutting them down ?

This idea is promoted by the providers wanting to hook them in to starting the years of procedures as early as possible, sadly. Refuse to accept it.

We're discussing the current trend, not 'back then'.

I think fillers and Botox in teenagers and young women are unnecessary. But if you're an older woman who wants a little lift/plumpness in your face then why not ?
I'm not a fan of the huge lips but not against Botox or some subtle filler, just as I said, over a certain age because young women just don't need it.
I'm 35 and wouldn't turn down some Botox for my frown lines !

No she's not upset at all. She's having a lovely time making herself feel better by criticising other women's appearance, safe in the knowledge she'll have a lot of agreement from people who also enjoy being spiteful about younger women . She knows the misogynist insults will start to come thick and fast, everyone will be reassuring themselves they look so much better than these women and are morally superior, more 'secure' and more intelligent to boot. A lovely time will be had by all, as usual.

I blame the Kardashians largely. It's obscene that they've manipulated a gullible public by pretending to be the glossier version of what they want to be, lying about it (through filters and minimising the amount of work they've had done) and having so much financial success for it. The buttock lifts are the final straw - hideous and just a marketing ploy. Why is anyone taken in by it? It's the racial aspect that I find particularly offensive.

Perhaps, as they spend so much time on tik tok and not on mainstream tv they don't realise that wrinkles or an interesting older face exists and that it can be interesting and attractive.
Only young immature faces appeal to them.

I agree this all started with the Kardashians, they've had a huge huge influence

Yes when you get we might have envied the natural beauty of a film star. However, I don't hold any envy of this trend at all. I've never aspired to look like a blow up doll.