Lifestyle journalist Kate Spicer is 39, single and, like many women, not 100% happy with her appearance. Follow Kate as she immerses herself in the wide range of bizarre, radical and cutting edge procedures now on offer to normal women willing to undergo a grueling quest for exquisite, youthful looks.
Lifestyle journalist Kate Spicer is 39, single and, like many women, not 100% happy with her appearance. She's always been skeptical about the beauty industry but now, as she approaches her forties, she's contemplating action. And with £1.8m now spent everyday in the UK on cosmetic procedures, she's not alone. This film follows Kate as she immerses herself in the wide range of bizarre, radical and cutting edge procedures now on offer to normal women willing to undergo a grueling quest for exquisite, youthful looks. Just how far is Kate willing to go? And will it be worth it?
"A lot of the journalism I write is about popular culture and trends," explains Kate. "I often will immerse myself in that subject matter because if something is popular with a lot of people, unless you try it, I don't think you're ever going to understand why."
As a streetwise journalist, Kate is well aware that the beauty industry and the media bombard women with unrealistic images of physical perfection and is skeptical about the practitioners of exotic and invasive procedures - and indeed those people who indulge in it. "The images of beauty we have in our society today are incredibly artificial either in terms of the work the individual has had done or in terms of the technological shenanigans you can use on a photograph," says Kate.
With a personal interest in improving her looks and a beauty industry cynic's interest in exploring just how easy it is to be sucked into the world of cosmetic improvement, Kate wants to find out what's really involved in our quest to look beautiful. "I've got two motivations here," says Kate. "One is can I get to look better? Can I get to look hotter? But there is a more earnest desire - to try to be the guinea pig that illustrates just how ridiculously seductive that world is".
Researching the very latest procedures now available to all, Kate's journey takes her from wallet-busting nightingale-poo face masks and bull semen hair serum to the latest Fraxel laser technology and stem cell fat transfer procedure. Kate has always said she would like to grow old gracefully but as she starts road-testing the treatments on offer here and in the States, the former cynic appears seduced by the results they claim can be achieved and the instant effect the treatments are having on her looks and her confidence. But once seduced, will she know where to stop? As a streetwise journalist, Kate is well aware that the beauty industry and the media bombard women with unrealistic images of physical perfection and is skeptical about the practitioners of exotic and invasive procedures - and indeed those people who indulge in it. "The images of beauty we have in our society today are incredibly artificial either in terms of the work the individual has had done or in terms of the technological shenanigans you can use on a photograph," says Kate.
With a personal interest in improving her looks and a beauty industry cynic's interest in exploring just how easy it is to be sucked into the world of cosmetic improvement, Kate wants to find out what's really involved in our quest to look beautiful. "I've got two motivations here," says Kate. "One is can I get to look better? Can I get to look hotter? But there is a more earnest desire - to try to be the guinea pig that illustrates just how ridiculously seductive that world is".
Researching the very latest procedures now available to all, Kate's journey takes her from wallet-busting nightingale-poo face masks and bull semen hair serum to the latest Fraxel laser technology and stem cell fat transfer procedure. Kate has always said she would like to grow old gracefully but as she starts road-testing the treatments on offer here and in the States, the former cynic appears seduced by the results they claim can be achieved and the instant effect the treatments are having on her looks and her confidence. But once seduced, will she know where to stop?
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