At 23, we are offered “preventative” botox. Filters that refine the nose, smooth the skin and enlarge the eyes are constantly running on Stories. Around you, the “little touch-ups” are told like an appointment at the hairdresser. Refusing to touch his face almost seems suspicious.
This climate has a name: aesthetic inflation. Beauty journalist Jessica DeFino uses it to describe the rise of tweakments, these micro-interventions and heavier operations that lower the barrier of entry to aesthetic medicine, while increasing the pressure to change one’s face. The English-speaking podcast makes it the heart of an episode, which can be listened to as a salutary clarification.
Pressure to change your face: when “natural” no longer seems enough
Changing your face today is not just a spectacular rhinoplasty. It is also a discreet blepharoplasty of the eyelids, “tip stitches” which slightly straighten the tip of the nose, a few units of botox to smooth the forehead or refine the oval. These procedures are quick, often ambulatory, presented as simple adjustments. And then the line between care and transformation becomes blurred.
In this landscape, the word “natural” has slipped. A so-called “natural” face can combine injections from the twenties, sophisticated skincare and permanent filters on the networks. Result: keeping your expression lines or drooping eyelids gives the impression of being “late”. The podcast reminds us that this feeling does not arise from an isolated individual choice, but from an environment where retouching has become the silent norm.
Aesthetic inflation: how the standard of the face is slipping little by little
Aesthetic inflation refers to this progressive shift in the baseline. When more and more people modify their features, the standard of “normal face” shifts towards these retouched faces. Those who don’t touch it suddenly appear tired, unkempt, even less professional, even though their features have not changed.
Behind this shift, there is a very organized industry. According to data relayed by Jessica DeFino, the American anti-aging market increased from approximately 3.9 billion dollars (nearly 3.6 billion euros) in 2016 to 4.9 billion dollars (approximately 4.5 billion euros) in 2021. Brands are now directly targeting very young women, with promises of “preventative” anti-aging and a pseudo-scientific discourse that confuses real dermatology and marketing.
Podcast: talk about surgery and injections without judging faces
In the podcast, journalist Helen Pidd chats with Jessica DeFino about what these procedures entail, from blepharoplasties to nose wires to botox. They detail why these gestures are exploding, particularly among increasingly younger women, and how this new norm weighs on those who do not resort to it. The central question remains simple: how to evolve in this world without feeling obliged to do so.
The episode also offers another way of talking about it. The idea is to shift the focus from individual choices to the system that pushes these choices. Before an injection or an operation, the podcast invites you to ask yourself a few key questions:
- Does this desire really come from me or from constant comparison with others?
- What would happen if I decided to do nothing, concretely, in my life?
- Who makes money if I accept this gesture on my face?
Without deciding, the conversation opens a space where we can reflect on our relationship with the mirror, agree to like a wrinkle, or on the contrary choose a touch-up, but with full knowledge of the facts. A starting point to regain a little power over your reflection.
What is aesthetic inflation applied to the face?
Aesthetic inflation describes the normalization of aesthetic retouching that shifts the definition of a “normal” face toward increasingly altered features, making unretouched faces visible as “insufficient.”
What are the most common facial tweaks?
We are mainly talking about botox and filler injections, eyelid blepharoplasty, tensor threads finely placed on the nose or oval, often presented as light and quick gestures.
How can you resist the pressure to change your face without judging those who retouch themselves?
The podcast suggests criticizing the system rather than individuals, focusing on your own comfort, asking questions of practitioners and allowing yourself time before making any decisions.
