According to a young Mancunian woman festooned with eyeliner, tattoos and pumped-up lips, a major motivation for having cosmetic treatments is to make yourself look more like Kylie Jenner and the Kardashians. Big lips, square jaw, tiny waist, big bum, big boobs now its become commercial enough that we can get it, she explained.

This may not be an aspiration shared by everyone but you might expect that the people who provide these appearance-altering procedures would be subject to strict regulation. Not so, as medical journalist Michael Mosley was horrified to discover in the startling documentary, The Truth about Cosmetic Treatments. You dont need a licence or even any training to start injecting somebodys face with fillers, despite the risks of disfiguring infections or blindness.

The rush for self-renovation has been accelerated by social media and the way that established treatments, such as face-lifts and nose jobs, requiring full-scale surgery, are being replaced by less invasive techniques.

Teaming up with blogger Mehreen Baig, Mosley explored the freaky world of lip and nose fillers, microneedling and botox, and bravely volunteered to have his own crows feet blitzed by a gadget which, as its operator enthused, melts the skin instantaneously. Once the rawness and swelling on his face had subsided, Mosley was disgruntled to find that it hadnt made much difference.

Other customers were left similarly deflated. Julie, whose fractionated CO2 laser treatment left her face covered in tatters of dead skin, enjoyed some improved skin elasticity, but tests revealed no noticeable dermatological changes. The only treatment that seemed to have a significant effect was the stem-cell facelift undergone by Kim, who paid 6,000 for the privilege of having the cells injected into her cheekbones. She was delighted with her smoother, younger-looking face.

Mosley had assembled a panel of punters to look at before and after photos and assess whether the treatments had made the contestants look more attractive. They lost their personality, one man said. As dermatologist Tamara Griffiths warned, then, its a case of buyer beware.

THEARTSDESK.COM

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The Truth About Cosmetic Treatments was a startling and sad documentary - iNews