Known as the ‘doll maker’, Dr Naomi McCullum is queen of Sydney’s injectorati, adored by a community of “beauty achievers” who she’s transformed into high-voltage bombshells.

For 16 years, she’s been a pioneer in non-surgical cosmetic procedures, sought out by a legion of fans wanting to improve, enhance or completely make over their appearance.

But it’s her ultra-feminised dolls — the glamorous patients with super plump lips, contoured cheeks and angular jawlines — that she’s become known for. Search #dollsofdrnaomi on social media, and her gleaming dolls stare back at you, their unreal beauty attracting scores of Millennials to her clinic, The Manse, in Paddington.

“It’s almost an exaggerated level of hotness,” the diminutive 40-something doctor says of the look her dolls strive for. “It’s taking it to the beauty limit.

ARE INJECTABLES THE NEW NORMAL FOR YOUNG WOMEN?

BEING a client of Dr Naomi is a status symbol in Sydney’s pro-plastic community. It’s also an elite club, her business is so busy she doesn’t take new patients, her six doctors now handle most of the work.

Not everyone comes to The Manse for drastic makeovers. About 60 per cent prefer more “natural” procedures, a sprinkle of Botox, skin rejuvenation, addressing a childhood flaw.

“I have this gorgeous patient who is nearing her 70s who’s in corporate-life and her brief to me is just, ‘Naomi, all I want is for you to do is to make me not look like the old lady in the office’.”

But in an age of dermal fillers and fat dissolvers, nobody has to live with the face they’re born with, and about 40 per cent come to be completely re-sculpted. They’re the beauty achievers, the dolls, and they’re young, many in their early 20s and 30s.

Dr Naomi’s Instagram feed is filled with graphic videos of their makeovers and they’re not for the squeamish: lip fillers, thread lifts, fat dissolving injections and hairline placement can be bloody and painful. They’re also expensive: one filler session can cost between $750 to $2000, then there’s the top ups and maintenance visits.

“You can’t get that kind of beauty without doing everything,” she says of her dolls. “They’re basically just becoming flawless.”

There are clients who want Barbie-level glamour, others go for more subtle enhancements. There are older dolls too, but few over-40s consent to sharing their makeovers online: “It’s definitely a generational thing.”

Not that her younger dolls are fazed. Many look forward to seeing their procedures on Instagram, in fact they expect it.

“It’s painful, it’s expensive but the reward is huge,” says Dr Naomi. “The reward is looking in the mirror and feeling better.”

ATTITUDES to cosmetic procedures have profoundly shifted in recent years. Inspired by social media juggernauts like the Kardashians, women aged 18-25 are the fastest growing demographic seeking injectables like Botox and dermal fillers to get the face of their dreams.

“I definitely think it’s all about vanity, 100 per cent, but it makes you feel great,” says doll Sabrina Brandon, 28, who’s had filler, Botox and a breast augmentation. “It’s like getting your nails done or going to the hair salon. You walk out and feel fabulous. It just gives you so much more confidence.”

Kylie Jenner’s lip fillers were behind the original rush for plumper pouts, which put Dr Naomi’s clinic in overdrive some years ago. And as taboos around cosmetic procedures continue to vanish, her business keeps on growing.

Not that she needs more clients, nor is she trying to set beauty trends. Rather, she’s embraced the right of others to strive for aesthetics they deem beautiful, and by sharing that on social media, has amassed a devoted fan base. Her Instagram account has 189,000 followers, the most of any in Australia’s cosmetic medical industry and among the top internationally.

“BEFORE I came here, I followed Dr Naomi on Instagram and no one could compare” says Unity Daniel, 30, who’s just reshaped her jawline at The Manse. “Everyone else I followed was doing work that was too natural for me. I wanted to be a cartoon version, super sexed-up, the big lips. She was the only person I could find doing it.”

While Unity’s looks is over-the-top glamour, she’s no ditzy fembot. Smart, well-travelled with a masters in PR, she was also beautiful before she began getting work done.

“I never felt the outside reflected who I was on the inside, which was very gregarious, over the top, like Patsy Stone. I loved that exaggerated over-the-top look,” she said.

After watching Dr Naomi’s dolls on Instagram, she says she was in a “trance” by their fine features, big lips and high cheekbones.

“I came to Dr Naomi with a specific face plan. I knew what I needed to take away, where I needed to add things to achieve the aesthetic goals I’d set for myself. I planned it meticulously and I saved and saved to get here.”

By the time her first appointment came around, she was “like a kid on Christmas Day”. But it’s not one visit and you’re Kim Kardashian. Unity’s transformation has been gradual. All up, she’s spent $30,000 on her face and a further $70,000 on her body, including veneers, hair extensions, nails, and upkeep.

“All the things I’ve done have boosted my self esteem enormously. Now I feel how I always knew I was, the inside is now reflected on the outside, it’s cohesive.”

DR NAOMI earned her moniker ‘the doll maker’ at her first clinic in Paddington. She’d graduated from medicine in 1999, and worked at a top cosmetic dermatology clinic in Sydney before opening her own in 2002. At that stage, the non-surgical cosmetic industry was tiny.

She worked hard to build her business, training and studying at every opportunity, joining every society that existed, and bending over backwards for clients.

The first six years were tough, but by the time the injectable revolution took off, she was on the cutting edge. “We called our clients dolls because we were adults making our dolls beautiful.”

A dedicated cosmetic patient herself, she had her share of botched procedures as a medical student, which has led her to advocate for tougher regulations in the industry.

“I had two botched rhinoplasties by incompetent plastic surgeons. They were very poorly skilled at every step of the way, from assessment to after-care,” she said. “This is definitely why I feel so strongly about transparency, and always want patients to have as much information as possible.”

Although non-surgical procedures such as dermal filler and anti-wrinkle injections are seen as less invasive than surgery, they still come with serious risks. Complications can include infection, necrosis and blindness, and she says patients are being put at risk by underqualified injectors, counterfeit injectables and clinics where Skype calls with a doctor substitute for proper consultations.

“Enrolled nurses shouldn’t be injecting to start with, the training they’ve done is nothing.” she said. “There are people out there struck off by AHPRA who are still out there injecting. It’s a risky business because it’s aesthetic, things can go wrong.”

BEAUTY has long been a battleground, with a constant debate raging around what women should or shouldn’t look like. With many of Dr Naomi’s clients preferring looks that are not exactly subtle, she deals with her share of ‘plastic negatives’.

“I hate people who want to control other’s bodies,” she says. “Beauty for everyone is individual. It’s about what they want to see in the mirror, not what some paternalistic doctor wants to impose on them.

“I have my views about what is beautiful to me, what is beautiful to society, and I’m happy to discuss this with patients. But I don’t plan to impose a look on someone who doesn’t want it.”

There are times, she admits, when she doesn’t love the looks her patients ask for.

“Do I ever say no?” she says. “I’ve banned people. I’ve put people on filler bans.

“Safety is obviously number one so if they’re choosing something that’s just plain unsafe then no. But aesthetically, it depends.”

She’s had clients request looks that are far from the beauty norm, some straight up weird.

“I’ve helped an Elvis impersonator who wanted his face to look like Elvis from the jumpsuit era and a 50-something Asian woman who wanted to look like a baby.”

But a lot of what is considered out there to outsiders, is normal at The Manse. Vulval rejuvenation, penis enlargement, ear enhancement, elbow and knee enhancement, even finger wrinkle removal are all par for the course at the doll factory.