The look once reserved for celebrities or the wealthy is now desired by people as young as 18 seeking plumper cheeks, lips and smooth faces as beauty standards are being redefined.

The phenomenon, popular with women in their 20s and 30s, has been fuelled by social media where an arsenal of face manipulating filters promote the ‘perfect’ face.
Big eyes, full lips, defined jawlines, smooth skin and not a wrinkle in sight.
Young people who like what they see want in and from the age of 18 they can legally walk into a beauty salon and get it.
It’s made way for the Injectable Generation who see altering their faces with filler as normal as getting a haircut or manicure.

It’s a drastic shift from decades ago when cosmetic treatments were seen as dramatic, expensive and risky. Yet, in 2020, it’s perceived as a way to feel good, boost confidence and, for the youthful, to prevent the sign of ageing.

If users “don’t go overboard” and use quality products, doctors admit these types of treatments are, for the most part, safe.

However, they warn of the risks and concerns with getting injectables too young and, alarmingly, the impact it could have on your mental health.

But it’s a trend that’s only gaining momentum as the industry booms under the power and influence of celebrities and the digital era.

STAR POWER

Celebrities and reality stars like the Kardashian sisters, Chrissy Teigen, Courtney Cox and Cindy Crawford have all admitted to using fillers or botox.

But others have spoken of their regret including Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna and closer to home Bachelor in Paradise contestant, Keira Maguire.

She was reportedly embarrassed by how she looked while filming BIP revealing her lips were eight times bigger than she intended.

But the biggest star behind the movement is Kylie Jenner who admitted in 2015 at the age of 17 she had lip fillers.

It prompted a dramatic shift in the beauty world that would be felt for years to come.

Australians spend around $1bn on non-invasive cosmetic procedures annually, with about $350m on Botox, according to Cosmetic Physicians College of Australasia (CPCA).

CPCA president Dr Michael Molton said that number is increasing by about five per cent each year.

Dr Vivek Eranki, from Cosmetique Cosmetic Surgery Clinics, said they were still experiencing the Jenner-effect with lip augmentation now one of the leading forms of cosmetic enhancements in Australia.

In their Brisbane clinic, they perform up to 2000 lip fillers each month and treat up to 5000 patients for various cosmetic enhancements with the most common being those aged 19-35.

“The 80s were the era of the over-plucked eyebrows, the 90s and 2000s were the eras of the ‘boob jobs’ and now we are seeing the era of the ‘lip fillers’,” Eranki says.

Cosmetic physician Dr Ricky Sia, from Brisbane’s Eleventh Heaven, said popularity has risen in the last two years.

“The huge rise we have noticed was when Kylie Jenner was very popular on social media with all the voluptuous lips and everyone was rushing to get their lips done,” he says.

“But people are now looking for more prevention and they want to look better and delay ageing.”

As well as chasing eternal youth, doctors say the most common reasons for wanting treatments were looking tired, angry or older than they should.

But Eranki says there are risks with too much too soon.

“As with all medical intervention, there are risks and in this case, there is a risk of facial droop or sagging which can make patients look older,” he said.

“All wrinkle relaxer treatments wear off in three months and in most cases facial droops or sagging resolves in a few days.”

Eranki says regular users would top up their botox every three months and depending on the person, their fillers every six to 12 months.

FACES OF A GENERATION

The beauty landscape has changed with more injectable clinics opening their doors to meet demand and deliver the desired look a generation of women are chasing.

Amy and Emilee Hembrow, sisters to social media fitness star Tammy Hembrow, opened their beauty clinic, SSKIN, on the Gold Coast last month. In just weeks, they’ve been inundated and, they say, anti-wrinkle has been their most popular treatment.

But the pair, who have both had various cosmetic treatments themselves, aren’t afraid to turn people away if they have unrealistic expectations or treatment is necessary.

“With us at SSKIN, we promote enhancing your natural beauty, not changing it or anything about your face, we want to enhance what you already have and make it more of a glowing youthful appearance,” says Emilee, who first had Dysport, a type of injectable, in her face at 24.

Amy, who started using filler under her eyes at 26, hopes they can remove the taboo.

“I think there’s definitely a stigma that you will end up looking fake and you won’t look like you, you will end up with a botched, unnatural look but we’re all about subtle enhancements.”

Kristen Matthews, 31, who gets filler in her lips, forehead and frown lines, says she was influenced by her insecurities and the power of social media.

“With the lips, it was a social media thing, it became quite popular a couple of years go and was trending a lot,” says, Kristen, who gets her treatment at Injex Clinics in Brisbane.

“You would see Instagram pictures of before and afters of the injectables and the work being done was beautiful, it wasn’t something you see on the Botched shows with huge, ridiculous lips. It’s not like that at all.” Matthews says she was quickly addicted.

“Within six months, I noticed it (lip filler) was disappearing and I thought ‘I don’t like my lips small anymore’ and I began to go every six months.”

Matthews, who has three kids, budgets about $400 every six months for her treatments and imagines she’ll “do this forever”.

“It is such a big thing now and everyone gets it done,” she says. “For me, it’s such a normal thing. I look back on pictures of me 10 years ago and I think I look better now with those little enhancements.”

RISING CONCERNS

But as the trend rises, so do concerns on the mental and physical impact on young patients.

Psychologist Ben Buchanan, who treats patients after they undergo cosmetic procedures, says many people getting these procedures actually have a mental health issue.

“One in five people who get a cosmetic procedure will have the diagnosis of body dysmorphic disorder,” he says.

“It’s a mental disorder where they are obsessively preoccupied with their appearance to the extent it interferes with their daily living.

“So that means the motivation for one in five people seeking out these sorts of treatments is trying to reduce the futile anxiety they have around it.”

Buchanan says it’s made way for alarming statistics.
“Unfortunately, we know 85 per cent of people with body dysmorphic disorder who get a cosmetic procedure done will feel worse afterwards and they will be more self-conscious about their appearance.”

Eranki said they will not treat patients who are motivated by alarming reasons or if they request to look like Kylie Jenner.

“We turn them away if the treatment is pushed by a break-up or by someone else, their best friend or boyfriend who says they need lip fillers.”

However, according to Buchanan there’s strong research to suggest the majority of people who do get cosmetic treatments have a positive result.

“There is no shame in getting cosmetic procedures and injectables because the vast majority of people who do get them are happier as a result, just not those people with body dysmorphic disorder,” he said.

But it’s vital, says Buchanan, for clinics to have thorough mental health screenings before performing any treatments. “More and more people coming in are realising they thought the cosmetic procedure was a solution to body image anxiety but realised it’s actually a problem in their brains rather than on their face or body,” he says.

Molton shares the same concern. “The cohort who are 18 are driven by peer pressure and social media, they’re playing a gamble here and not understanding,” he says.

“If they’re 18, we should be sending them off for a psychological review and you shouldn’t be treating them.”

Social media has propelled the obsession, says Eranki, who believes previous generations were just as concerned with their looks only they didn’t face the pressure.

“The current generation has greater pressures placed on them from the idea of ‘perfection’ propagated by social media,” he says.

“Given that current generation are digitally active from a young age on social media, some may feel pressured to seek external validation from social media ‘likes’.”

Amy Hembrow believes this is why it’s important to let professionals guide you.

“I do see where you might see people would feel some pressure because they see it around them but that’s where it comes down to the doctor and nurse you’re seeing,” she says. “Our team are really educated on providing tailored treatments and not pushing anything on someone that they don’t need. Everyone’s skin is different.”

Despite it’s popularity, Eranki believes it is not a “necessary” treatment for younger people. Instead, he suggests they adopt a healthy skincare regimen before considering cosmetic intervention.

“When somebody who is 18 is worried about wrinkles and has Botox and gets the frozen look, it’s inappropriate,” he says.

“We always advocate for healthy skincare and ensure they have a good barrier sunscreen, good moisturisers and cleanser.

“I think they should avoid it (cosmetic treatments) as long as possible… I’m a big advocate for less is always more.”

But he says, if people were considering it, they should weigh up the risks.

“It’s getting more and more trivialised… it’s not as risk-free as some people think,” he says.