The UK is to tighten up cosmetic surgery regulations following a huge increase in the number of procedures, writes Lynne O'Donnell in London
Kylie does it. Princess Di did it. Nicole has probably done it. Natasha Hamilton admits that she has, and Jordan has done it so often she's lost count. Across Europe, women are embracing cosmetic surgery with the zeal of religious converts, with the British leading the way and the Irish fast catching up.
Long notorious for a relaxed approach to grooming, British women who once left home with wet hair and regarded manicures as a waste of money are now forking out £200 million a year on physical renovations. These days, it's not just hairdressers whose clients want to emerge with the movie-star looks of Jennifer and Renée. Teenagers and women in the autumn of their lives are begging plastic surgeons for Nicole's nose, Kylie's lips, even JLo's derrière.
Breast enhancements, facelifts and tummy tucks are the most popular operations, accounting for most of the 16,367 cosmetic surgery procedures performed in Britain last year. That figure was an astounding 52 per cent leap on the 10,738 operations recorded in 2003, according to the British Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
In Ireland, the trends are tracking Britain and the industry is worth up to €30 million a year here, according to Jeffrey Burton, legal and compliance officer with the Advanced Cosmetic Institute in Dublin, Ireland's largest cosmetic surgery group, established in 1993 and with four clinics around the country.
While British men account for only 8 per cent of cosmetic surgery patients in the UK, in Ireland it's more like 15 to 20 per cent, Burton says. Like their British counterparts, they go in for nose jobs, ear reshaping and "liposculpture" to remove chest fat.
"Years ago, there was the idea that male cosmetic surgery was no more than penis enlargement," Burton says. "That still happens, but it's no longer the whole story."
As the taboos dissolve, and even such bastions of traditional British reserve as the Daily Telegraph declare plastic surgery acceptable for modern middle age, awareness of the possible dangers in undertaking invasive cosmetic procedures are also growing. The British government and professionals in both Britain and Ireland have called for tighter regulation of cosmetic surgery, fearing that the popularity of procedures is attracting an unscrupulous fringe of unqualified practitioners.
As prices drop and instant beauty appears ever more accessible, seemingly simple treatments, such as injections of Botox (a variant of the botulism virus that temporarily freezes muscles to make wrinkles disappear) and collagen to pump up lips, are being offered by beauticians and dentists who are not qualified to administer them.
While major disfigurement and deaths have yet to be reported in either Ireland or Britain, some believe that unless controls are introduced, it is just a matter of time before slipshod practices could result in tragedy.
Reports commissioned by England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, and released in London last week, shed light on the ugly underbelly of the cosmetic surgery industry and prompted the British government to promise tighter regulations by early 2006, to bring cosmetic surgery into line with the rest of the medical profession.
The Healthcare Commission, which inspects National Health Service and independent healthcare provision, notes that large parts of the industry, especially those involved in dispensing such treatments as Botox and collagen injections, operate outside any regulatory regime. More than 70,000 of these non-surgical procedures are said to take place in Britain each year, performed by up to 20,000 people, many of whom have no specialist qualifications.
One dentist working in private practice, who does not want to be identified, told of pressure from her manager to administer Botox. "Dentists do injections all the time, so many of them see it as an easy switch from dentistry to Botox, and the money to be earned is phenomenal, about £300 a pop," the source says, adding that her unwillingness to do the same could cost her her job.
In Ireland, "Botox parties" are increasingly popular, says Burton, who describes as "stupid" those people who "drink wine and have Botox injections" at functions where, typically, a GP or nurse administers the substance without any basic medical checks.
Unlike those in England, however, the authorities in Ireland have shown little interest in bringing the industry under control, Barton says, adding that the Advanced Cosmetic Institute has been lobbying for tighter regulation for years.
"There is no actual term for a person who performs cosmetic surgery," Burton says. "Anyone who is a surgeon can put up a shingle and call themselves a cosmetic surgeon and start doing operations they are not properly qualified to do."
In the meantime, however, demand soars, fuelled by a media obsession with youth and beauty that has convinced 40 per cent of teenage girls in Britain that surgical changes to their looks will make them happier.
"As long as celebrities feel comfortable talking publicly about what they've had done, it stimulates demand," Burton says. "With the growth of reality shows, like Desperately Seeking Surgery, and Nip-Tuck and celebrities talking in magazines about their nose job or breast enhancement, it affects all ages."
While Kylie Minogue's pout is as much a subject of tabloid speculation as her love life, her sister, Dannii, admits to breast augmentation and regular Botox injections, as does Patsy Kensit, while "glamour model" Jordan claims to have lost count of the breast-enhancement operations she's had.
Anne Robinson (60), the "queen of mean" hostess of The Weakest Link, toured the chat-show circuit last year after radical remodelling, including eye and face lifts and rhinoplasty, which took 20 years off her looks and probably extended her television career by a decade. And last week, Princess Michael of Kent (60) was photographed by a London tabloid leaving a clinic after Botox injections, forcing her to retract claims that good genes and even better moisturiser were to thank for her enduring beauty.