Is it ‘normal’ now to have had some kind of work done?

[WingingWonder]

Just back from holiday- family resort- UK focussed, premium hotel/resort- everyone with young kids
I’m not exaggerating when I say probably 25% of women had massive fake boobs- out of proportion to body in style Vic beck early days, and then the reeeeeeally obvious lips- probably 30% again not a little help but think Lesley ash when it all went wrong.
There were then more with more subtle work, and a lot of Botox from scary to v neat,
A mix of ages
But it really got me thinking - we are fortunate, and have holidays a lot over last few years and every trip it’s more and more prevalent in the level of all kinds of ‘work’ visible
In balance also more people of all shapes and sizes just carrying on in bikinis with their kids, but I was just so surprised at how obvious it all was- DH even commented
So is this pretty typical now? Does this fit with your friend group?
I’d say for me I know of a few boob jobs, all bar one pretty subtle, and all bar 1 cosmetic not health.
Lip fillers only 1, pretty massive now...
Botox- growing number...
But actually most, say 90% nothing and pretty certain never would
Just musing really. Am I weird for not seriously considering it when I have some significant hang ups (I’m small but awful skin stretch marks and post operation scar damage to stomachs) I guess I’d just assumed I wasn’t ‘someone who would ever look good like that now.

I am in my 40's and I think a lot of women I mix with have very subtle botox/fillers but it isn't often discussed.

I don't think many have had surgery requiring a general anaesthetic though.

I did notice on our flights how many young women had the eyebrows and eyelashes done, my DH also noticed and he isn't massively observant. Agree with PP that the lashes/brows probably look great when fully made up or on Instagram but in an otherwise face devoid of make up in my opinion it is not an attractive look.

But to each their own.

I love lip fillers 🦆 always makes me laugh when people think they look natural.... just awful, they will all look like Katie price looking 60 at 41 🤔🥴

Actually I tell a lie - I know one women who had boob reduction after 30-odd years of harassment.

Yes Dippy but most are in late 20s, early 30s, but my mum and their mums/aunts have followed suit. I don't see the point in Botox and fillers once that age if the person hasn't previously been bothered, personally. That's when the work stands out or looks out of place but I can hardly preach so wouldn't dream of commenting on it. I started having small amounts of Botox in my 20s as a preventative measure, I don't see it as a 'fix' as that gives the frozen look. Better to just prevent lines before they form. Really taking care of my skin is much more important tbh

I saw a programme recently about it being the norm for young girls (20's ish) to have lip fillers now, so much that some feel naked without.

I also think that sometimes stuff can look great in photos but in real life when a face in is motion it can look really odd. Kim Kardashian crying for example.

Also how preventative is botox? do people who get it in their 20s stop when they hit 40? Surely it’s a life long commitment

I don't know if I'll stop, I don't have the eleven lines between my eyebrows for example, because they only form after years of frowning. So I'll maybe carry on having the odd bit of Botox over the years to keep it up but I won't 'need' it (no one needs it).

But aren’t things like 11 lines & forehead creases genetic as well. You see teenagers with them & they aren’t old. I only get a few small creases in my forehead if I raise my eyebrows & won’t get 11 lines as I don’t have them now in my mid 30s as my face doesn’t frown in that shape if that makes sense. I will get droopy eyelids though!

It's possible for some people to be genetically predisposed to develop wrinkles or droops in certain places (jowls in my family!) but I don't see how things like the 11 lines or forehead lines could form without those muscles being used repeatedly in the first place.

But that’s my point, if you stop using the botox & make the same expressions wont the lines just appear so you will need to keep up the tox. Like I said I will probably try it at some point I’m just not convinced by the preventative side

My lids are more hooded now (I'm mid 50s) so I wouldn't mind a bit of botox for them but that's because sometimes I can "see" them.

If I wasn't a coward and could afford it, I would have work done to take off a few years, but not to change my appearance if that makes sense.

In my circle (including younger friends and family), I genuinely don't know anyone who's had anything done. Either that or they've had it done very well.

I certainly understand people having stuff done, but I don't understand people having stuff done that makes them look unnatural (Russian eyelashes and sharpie brows etc.).

Fancy for me it's just logic that prevention works, the botox prevents the muscles from constantly working which form those lines. The lines are the result of years of frowning (for example), they won't magically appear once Botox wears off as they haven't formed in the first place. Anyone likely to have Botox is likely to have it again at some point anyway so it's not a worry.

I think it does vary widely by area. there's a wee middle class enclave near me where the look you describe is the school gate norm, but luckily that's not representative of where I live.

As an aside I agree with Floisme in that all this banging on about "good" or "subtle" or "just a weak dilute" botox is self-delusion. I'd no more tell someone they looked Botoxed than I'd say they looked old, but we all know.

You can only tell when people go mad with it or don't want to do research and spend good money. Especially with lip fillers. The duck lip jobs are done on the local high street by beauticians for £80 per ml.
With good Botox, it is undetectable. The 'botoxed' look is bloody horrible but usually done by people who actually want to achieve that fake look as a status symbol (quite an old fashioned concept now) or because they end up getting the whole lot done and not just the one or two areas. Good Botox= look like you've had a good night's sleep and aren't bad tempered. Bad Botox= ageing, frozen, scary blank look.

No! Not where I live. But I agree, sometimes it seems that way - I see a lot of women who've had stuff done in other parts of town/other towns. I think it does vary a lot from place to place.

Its not the norm where I am in the US, I know a few people who've had botox and fillers but they have never admitted to it, and like others no way would I say anything.
You can tell though, even when its done extremely well, and especially when you've known the person before they had it done too. It just gives a certain 'look' to a face, hard to put into words though.

I was thinking the other day, on Mumsnet a few years ago if someone posted saying they looked knackered and were worried about ageing, they'd get advice on healthy eating, drinking more water and a good skincare routine. Now more often than not the advice seems to be to hit the botox or fillers.

I use prescription retin-A, I personally wouldn't ever go down the botox or fillers route, or any kind of surgery, but if it makes the person happy good for them.

I live in the US too, in a place where you so see a fair bit of work, but it still isn’t the norm. I notice it a lot more among ordinary people in the UK when I go back. By ‘ordinary’ I mean people who just have a regular income and/or don’t work in a job where looking a certain way is deemed necessary.

It's quite common among my friends to get botox and fillers they are early or mid 40's. It doesn't interest me I'd rather spend my money on travel. Not all the work they have is good. A woman at work has just had her lips done she looks ridiculous. She was naturally beautiful now she just looks a bit fake.

I’m in my very early 20s and I think it’s normal for someone my age to get work done. I know lots of my age peers who have had filler in lips/cheeks/jaw/nose (including men). I have seen people a bit older who have had boob jobs & BBLs too. A lot of people have other minor work done such as veneers & teeth whitening, microblading, £££ hair extensions/expensive highlights etc

My generation did grow up with social media though so I think there’s much more pressure on us.

How do they afford it all? I’m always defending the youth & saying how life is so expensive for them when other posters blame avocado, mobiles & coffee.

Well fillers only cost within the low-mid hundreds, anyone with a part time retail job can afford that (albeit there are probably better ways they could spend their money!).

Think student loans, credit cards, overdrafts etc. General cost saving such as going to a cheap beautician, going abroad etc.

I had a breast reduction and lift earlier this year, at 61. I had a 32K, and I had had enough. Naked they aren’t perfect 🤣 but omg, the comfort. It was the absolute best money I have ever spent, should have done it a long time ago. Although I wouldn’t have anything else done, I can see how tempting it would now be to tidy up my post surgical belly etc to match.

Yes of course it might not be detectable straight away but I think the longer it continues, the more apparent it becomes. I imagine it’s because the rest of the face carries on ageing - wrinkles are just a part of it - so you get a growing disconnect. Or you start upping the dose, or getting work done on the new symptoms too, which is when you get those unmistakable face changes. And of course your neck / hands / arms no longer match.

People who work part-time in retail can afford hundreds of pounds for injectables?

I find it very weird that this has become the norm. I'm in my mid to late 40s and nobody I know well has had anything like this done. A few of the mums I see at the school gate have though. It's very obvious, doesn't look good at all, and is made even more obvious on their duck-pout FB profiles. They looked so much better before they had it done. It baffles me really. The only reason I'd ever have that kind of thing done would be if I'd had some kind of disfiguring accident.