One of the UK’s leading aesthetics doctors says he is facing “overwhelming” demands to look like social media filters and Wicked’s Ariana Grande.
Dr Ed Robinson told how he is turning away self conscious 16 and 17 year olds, asking for treatment, which is illegal.
He told how he was backing The Mirror’s fight to crack down on cosmetic cowboys after being faced with youngsters lying about their age in failed bids to get their features altered.
Others, he said, take part in “treatment tourism” and travel elsewhere, such as Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland, where you can be under 18 and get such procedures.
He says others visit his clinics asking to look like US singer and Wicked actress Ariana Grande.
Ariana Grande attends the Golden Globe awards
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Image:
Kevin MazurGetty Images)
The Wicked star recently accepted the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival and joked: “I never thought at the age of 31 I would be hearing the words ‘rising star’ again, so I want to start by thanking my good friends Botox and Juvederm’. She later confirmed she was “four years clean” of having fillers and promised to say if she started having such treatment again.
Dr Ed said: “It’s very common for my patients to reference such celebrities in their consultations…
“I would however caution patients in terms of the practitioners they seek out. Non-medic injectors will frequently advertise ‘celebrity packages’ like the ‘Kylie Jenner’ package. This doesn’t promote natural aesthetics, as each individual has different anatomy which needs to be assessed.
“Non surgical treatments cannot and should not make like a different person. The risks associated with treatment from unlicensed medical practitioners also needs to be considered.”
TikTok is planning to ban some beauty filters for users under 18 such as ones that alter lip size, eye shape and skin tone. The animal ears or dogs nose comic filters will have no age restriction.
The GMC registered doctor and hospital anaesthetist welcomed TikTok’s promise to restrict the filters but would like other social media platforms to follow suit.
Dr Ed, who has clinics in Hale, Cheshire and London, says he is worried about the mental health impact of the social media filters leaving teens with low self-esteem and a “warped view” of what they look like.
“I have recently experienced a surge of patients bringing in filtered photos of themselves as inspiration for their treatments,” he said.
“They are literally trying to make themselves look like their filters.
“They are requesting injectable procedures, and sometimes surgery, in order to look like the heavily filtered version of themselves. “
They want their skin smoothed out, more contours in their face just like the filters. When people are constantly viewing their lives through these filters…it gives people unrealistic expectations.”
As a result he said when patients look in the mirror they are seeing the “worst version of themselves’.
He said the ‘Bold glamour filter’ is a favourite amongst users, which smooths the skin and enhances features, removing any imperfections.
He said youngsters had also come to him wanting to improve their skin and have the ‘snatched’ look – leaving the face with low body fat and ‘chiselled’ jaw and chin’.
“Like the Ariana Grande sort of face basically,” he explained and said he also received requests to look like Zendaya.
“People want glass skin, that really shiny, completely perfect, no blemishes skin,” they see on social media. I have people with very good skin coming in…it’s ludicrous.
Dr Ed Robinson turning away teenagers trying to trick their way into treatment
“Anyone can put a ring light on and put oil on and make it look like that. But that’s not reality, no one is walking around like that and not something you should be trying to achieve.
“I find it very concerning that it has got to the point where these 16 and 17 year olds are requesting to book in procedures for as soon as they legally can or even beforehand. “
He says he has turned away teenagers seeking aesthetic treatments, who do not realise that it is illegal at their age.
“Lack of exposure to ‘normal’ looking people is very damaging for their mental health and hopefully the TikTok ban can help curb this spiral of low self-esteem.
Dr Ed Robinson turning away teenagers trying to trick their way into treatment
“The consequences of this trend are very troubling and medical tourism is a scary, modern reality with many travelling abroad, to places such as Turkey, to get cheap treatments.
“Others visit back-street clinics where non-medics perform different procedures, gravely risking the health of patients.
“I back the Mirror’s campaign pushing for more safety in an unregulated industry,” he said.
“I’ve followed the Mirror’s campaign and I’ve been really impressed by it and fully support it.”
The hospital anaesthetist says he has been picking up the pieces from dodgy procedures both in his clinics and in the NHS hospital where he works.
One woman had her leg amputated after developing necrotising fasciitis, the flesh-eating bug, after injecting herself with a ‘fat reducing substance’ she’d seen used on Instagram and injecting it in her leg.