A WORRYING trend is seeing girls as young as 15 flocking to cosmetic doctors to get their fresh, unlined skin pumped full of dermal fillers and Botox to look like their favourite celebrity.
The puffed and plumped ‘rich-girl face’ look has become the plastic surgery trend, inspired by celebs such as Kylie Jenner and Ivanka Trump, with their signature bee-sting lips, smooth skin, raised eyebrows and strong, chiselled jaw lines.
But the surge in under-18s desperate to look like their idols and seeking this kind of treatment has many in the beauty industry worried.
Harley Street cosmetic surgeon Dr Dirk Kremer said the “average age of people undergoing non-invasive procedures” had fallen to “the early twenties or even 18 and 19.”
He is now calling on MPs to make it illegal for children to have cosmetic fillers and Botox, to save them from complications that might arise from under-qualified or cowboy practitioners.
Despite this, many young women are still queuing up and saving up to go under the needle.
Here one woman tells Sun Online why she won’t stop getting cosmetic treatment until she has perfected the ‘rich girl’ look.
Dolores Tomas, 22, is a beauty therapist from North London
“I took a picture of Kylie Jenner to the cosmetic doctor when I was 19 and asked for lips just like hers.
My lips were quite thin with no shape or volume and I’d always have to use lip liner and fill it in with pencil to make them appear bigger.
I’m on Instagram loads and so many of the celebrities and influencers I follow had this “rich-face girl” look with lovely plump lips and they really influenced my decision.
I showed the doctor the picture of Kylie’s lips, explaining how I loved the cupid bow shape then handed over the £250 and had 1ml of Juvederm injected into my lips.
No one at the clinic mentioned anything about my age and after a week of swelling, my lips looked amazing. Really plump and full.
My family had their reservations at first but when they saw the result they were impressed. My mum even started to think about having her lips done!
The lip filler usually dissolves after 6 to 8 months but my lips didn’t go down for a couple of years, at which time I booked in to have them done again.
After having my lips done again, I started to think about Botox.
Angelina Jolie is my idol looks-wise with her smooth shiny skin and strong jawline and I had this vertical frown line between my eyebrows I wanted gone.
My family were very sceptical about someone as young as me having Botox – they thought I was beautiful as I was and shouldn’t mess with my face – but I insisted it was just making the best of what I had and it wouldn’t change my face.
And that’s the whole point about this “rich-girl face” look. I never had hang-ups or insecurities about the way I looked.
I didn’t want to look different; I just wanted to enhance the features I already had.
After paying £300 and having Botox on my forehead, the frown line disappeared and I had so many positive comments from friends and family.
On Instagram, I’d get private messages from young girls complimenting me on my full lips and asking where I’d got them done and did it hurt and I’d always message back, explaining the process and how it was such a positive experience.
My boyfriend thinks I look lovely the way I am now and should stop
Dolores Tomas, 22
I believe the work I’ve had done so far on my face has boosted my confidence – and my career.
I have 15,000 followers on Instagram and since having the work done on my face, I’ve been approached by a lot more advertisers who want me to promote their clothes and products and I’m definitely earning more money.
Most of my friends have had filler or Botox too.
It’s so common now and has become the done thing.
What’s great is that it’s not permanent; all the filler dissolves back into your body and you don’t have to keep doing it. You can just stop when you want to.
Doctors have warned over the deadly side-effects associated with unregulated lip fillers – which can cause blindness or a stroke.
Leading cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho, founder of the Esho Clinic, said people can cause “catastrophic” damage to themselves by jumping on the filler bandwagon.
He said: “From hematomas to infections, abscess and tissue necrosis (where blood vessels become blocked with filler leading the tissue in that area to die), there are so many consequences to consider.
“People can go blind and suffer a stroke.
“There’s a risk of infection, abscesses can form and tissue necrosis is also a risk. People can be permanently disfigured.
“My fear is that something really bad will happen before people take note, which is why I’ll always be fighting for legislation.”
The only problem is that the look does become addictive. As soon as I started to see my lips go down, I was desperate to have them done again.
My dad and my boyfriend are probably the only ones that are quite vocal about not wanting me to continue having Botox or fillers.
My boyfriend thinks I look lovely the way I am now and should stop and my dad says I shouldn’t be messing with my natural face at all.
But I’ll definitely continue with my lip fillers and Botox and I’m thinking of a jaw line filler soon to make it more chiselled and defined. Then maybe I’ll stop…”
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