Resilient make up and artificial beauty at a high price

By Anna Rebecca Mason on Nov 24, 09 04:21 PM

Whizzing down the slides at Disney's Blizzard Beach was ridiculously good fun. After a day of landing headfirst in splash pools, my Bourjois waterproof mascara had, admirably, smudged only a tiny bit. My sister's Latisse-fed magical lashes, however, still looked as luscious as ever- as did her beautifully groomed, perfectly arched eyebrows.

'Semi-permanent make up' she said with a wave, pointing out that her lip-line had been done too.

(The lip-line can look a bit dodgy, truth be told, once the lipstick has faded, leaving a rather harsh, unblended outline behind- a la those Las Vegas porn stars. )

I've seen a few cases of overdone plastic surgery down here in Florida. Strangely distorted, bee-stung lips; tiny little noses and very round, very smooth, shiny cheeks: hmmm.

America, as we all know, is BIG on nips & tucks. Driving around the wealthier neighbourhoods up in Boston, we saw plenty of large, posh houses displaying signs for cosmetic surgery consultants inside. T.V. is saturated with adverts for it. After seeing those commercials featuring people with perfect smiles, I'm hankering after a little dental work myself. But some of those smiles look ridiculous! Big, bright, super-white teeth: I've heard them called 'picket fence smiles".

I'll take a little less perfection, thankyou. Surely a mouth full of dazzling chompers is going to make the rest of your face look crap by comparison? My sister has a full set of porcelain veneers- and at 1500$ per tooth, they didn't come cheap.

Reading this I realise I've made my Stateside sister out to be rather high maintenance. And, well- she is! But it's safe to say she didn't get that way 'til she upped and moved sticks to America, land of good and plenty- and Sephora.

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