A warped concept of beauty has taken hold among young women

‘There are so many better things to spend your hard-earned money on.’ Photograph: Science Photo Library/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

How sad and shocking to read Georgina Lawton’s article about young women getting Botox and fillers in their 20s (Vampire facials, under-eye fillers, ‘prejuvenation’: how did cosmetic tweakments get so extreme?, 6 May). There are so many better things to spend your hard-earned money on: holidays, theatre, saving for a deposit, paying into a pension, giving to charity – the list is endless.

Those of us from the second wave of feminism can hardly believe the extent to which the frivolous and unnecessary beauty industry has inveigled itself into every aspect of women’s bodies – nail bars, brow bars, lash bars, intimate waxing – even before we get to unnecessary surgery.

There are not enough trained doctors, we are told, yet there seems to be no shortage of plastic surgeons coining it in from altering young women’s bodies. Very young girls seem to think it is normal to have pumped-up lips, stuck-on eyebrows and exaggerated false lashes with thick pancake makeup. How did this all happen? The damage to the planet that these industries cause is also deeply concerning.

Michelle Mansell

Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan

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