Love them or hate them, when it comes to altering the world’s perception of what’s beautiful, there are few people more influential than the Kardashian/Jenner clan. A recent study by flawless.org (an NHS-informed, not-for-profit advice website) has collated a list of the most influential celebrities when it comes to British people’s plastic surgery interests and Kylie Jenner came out on top.
Think back, pre-2007 (when the first episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians aired and Kylie was still a kid). The celebrities that owned the noughties, and filled the pages of Grazia, were the likes of Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and the Olsens. All incredibly slim with a less-is-more approach to beauty.
Our First Glimpse Of The Kardashians
At the time, the Kardashians were a welcome palate cleanser. Real-looking women with curves, who didn’t claim to ‘wake up like this’ but unashamedly made an effort: over-lining their lips, fake tanning and packing their hair with impossibly glossy extensions. Before KUWTK, most celebrities denied having work done but here they were, this outgoing and searingly honest family, taking us inside their day-to-day lives including Hollywood clinics and shining a light on the treatments they had, from CoolSculpting to vampire facials.
The Kardashians, and later the Jenner sisters, have made glam squads and aesthetic doctors famous. Jen Atkin launched haircare brand Ouai off the back of taming the Kardashian family’s hair; Kim's go-to makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic (pictured with the star, below) signed with L’Oreal Paris and their go-to injector (the man behind those billion-dollar beauty brand-making lips) Dr Ourian gained a lengthy waiting list of clients and a massive 3.5 million followers on Instagram. But, while many have reaped the rewards of being in the family’s inner circle, the constant aesthetic tweaking is having a real and, in some cases, negative effects on women the world over.
The Reality TV Effect
Flawless.org's survey found that 40% of participants said that celebrities and influencers are a big source of surges in cosmetic surgery. And it’s not surprising when you compare the 2007 Kardashians to the 2019 Kardashians —the curves both on their bodies and faces have been warped and stretched beyond the realms of what’s natural.
Aesthetics expert, Dr. Kate Goldie says that what people are experiencing now is “visual adaptation. If you look at ‘weird’ for long enough it changes what you perceive as normal.” By 'weird' Dr. Goldie means, for example, overly pumped-up lips or excessively filled faces. A study from BBC 5 Live further cements this idea of perceptions changing, it showed that after watching just a couple of episodes of Love Island, 11% of 18-34 year olds were more likely to consider lip fillers. Because it’s not all down to the Kardashian/Jenners, while they may have been the catalyst for this aesthetic shift, the knock-on effect is that reality TV stars on shows like Love Island and The Only Way Is Essex are reinforcing the message that filled faces are 'normal'.
Who Are The Biggest Face Influencers Of The Reality TV Scene?
The survey by flawless.org noted that behind Kylie Jenner, former Love Island contestant Megan Barton-Hanson, followed by Kim Kardashian and Love Island’s Molly May Hague were all influential when it came to people searching for aesthetic and surgery inspiration. Other personalities on the list included Katie Price and Charlotte Crosby. But, unlike the Kardashians, these reality stars don’t all have the world’s best aesthetic doctors on speed dial—Katie Price has recently been back and forth to Turkey for invasive procedures, a place notorious for its cut-price treatments. Some of these women are taking their lips and the contours of their faces and bodies to the limits of what’s both beautiful and normal. Filter down further, to the women not on TV, and most don’t have the financial means to pay for the treatments and upkeep. The options for those seeking surgery? Not great: plunge into debt or look to deals from less than reputable injectors.
"If you look at ‘weird’ for long enough it changes what you perceive as normal," - Dr. Kate Goldie.
Currently in the UK, anyone can inject filler without too much training. Lauren Goodger has completed a four day course that costs £2999, and enables her to inject people’s faces with filler, while Love Island’s Rykard Jenkins has also trained to be an aesthetic practitioner. Would you rather a trained surgeon, doctor or nurse, who has a thorough understanding of the anatomy of a human’s face inject you, or a reality star?
Aesthetically-enhanced faces are becoming the norm, even if you’re too young to get injected. We’re bombarded on social media with people – some very young, like Kylie Jenner – who have altered their appearances using filters. Instagram and Snapchat’s surgery filters are not just careless fun, they can have a real impact on how younger people want to look. Dr. Dirk Kremer coined the term “Snapchat Dysmorphia” and believes that young women today are trying to emulate Snapchat filters in real life.
“It plants a seed in the minds of many. People think that if they can look that good temporarily with a smartphone filter, why can’t they do something that will replicate that look on a more permanent basis? Instagram culture is influencing many younger patients, with the desire to portray themselves in the best way possible being stronger than ever. This is backed up not just by plastic surgery, but also other cosmetic treatments that are growing in popularity, such as teeth whitening and non-surgical treatments like Botox and dermal fillers.”
The 'Tweakment' Trend
Much like the restrictive diets of the noughties, today injectables are a way for people to change their appearance and in some cases, to push their bodies and faces to the limit in a quest for ultimate beauty. “‘Looking good is more important than ever and we’re now judged by likes and followers not on our success, but our image and what that image represents,” Dr Kremer tells Grazia. “We’re not driven by the entrepreneur on Instagram with no images and no likes, but the beautiful woman with staged photographs and hundreds of likes. In short, good looks are now synonymous with success. Plastic surgery and cosmetic treatments have become more and more accepted over the last ten years and now everybody talks about it. It’s not just something for the privileged.”
"Looking good is more important than ever and we’re now judged by likes and followers of not our success, but our image and what that image represents"
This uptake in aesthetic treatments goes beyond trying to emulate a favourite celebrity. In the last decade we've experienced a cultural shift - our perception of what's normal and what's beautiful has changed. But then, on the other hand, who are we to judge what another person does to their face or body? Megan Barton-Hanson told Grazia last year, "If [surgery] makes me feel better I don't know why that's seen as a negative thing? I was still beautiful in my own way back then, I've just changed a few things, I was comfortable then and I'm comfortable now."
Looking To The Future
Trends in beauty are constantly changing because our perception of beauty is forever evolving. "Faces go in and out of fashion," Diana Vreeland once said. In the 18th century, for example, double chins were aspirational, while the Victorians favoured pale skin and big eyes were all the rage in the swinging sixties.
Dr Kay Durairaj, who's based in Los Angeles and sees plenty of people who want to push the boundaries, says “we need to educate people that beauty isn’t distortion, it’s about maintaining what you have and ageing gracefully.” More and more aesthetic doctors are encouraging patients to think about their treatments as a long game. Rather then booking in for ad-hoc Botox and filler appointments with various people or chasing one-off deals, find an expert you trust to help you map out your face for years to come. “Do things judiciously and you’ll look better for longer,” adds Dr Durairaj.
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