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The beauty trap
(AFP/Choo Youn-Kong)However, in a cruel society where double standards apply, beauty is skin deep, while ugly, it seems, goes down to the bone
(AFP/Choo Youn-Kong) (AFP/Choo Youn-Kong)
(AFP/Choo Youn-Kong)
However, in a cruel society where double standards apply, beauty is skin deep, while ugly, it seems, goes down to the bone. Literally.
With advancements in cosmetic procedures that have made South Korea's beauty and skin care clinics a tourist destination, restructuring the skull and facial bones to reach a perfect craniofacial ratio is doable.
But going under the knife ' either to extend youth or to have a completely different, to-die-for look ' is still spoken of scandalously in Indonesia.
When Titania Aurelie, the teen daughter of the formerly married singers Anang Hermansyah and Krisdayanti, recently posted her self-taken photos on Instagram, they went viral on the Internet.
The changes were apparent. The once healthy looking 16-year-old with dark skin and braces had been transformed in few months into a doll with large eyes, a sharply-defined face and fair skin.
Anang and Titania told reporters in March the transformation was due to an intensive diet and make-up. 'I have lost 10 kilograms from the diet. I don't care [about people's comments]. I didn't undergo any surgery,' she said as quoted by tempo.co.
The statement didn't stop people from guessing ' or commenting.
Wulan, a 32-year-old mother of four, said she had spent Rp 1.7 million (US$145) a week the past 14 weeks on injections and pills that helped her lose 20 kg at a beauty clinic. On top of that, she paid Rp 1.5 million every two weeks to treat her sagging facial skin after losing so much weight in a short time.
Although she suffered rashes from her injections, the woman ' whose eldest son has reached his teens and youngest will turn 2-year-old next month ' said she was undeterred.
Physical appearance will lead to differences between a beautiful woman and her plainer sister ' regardless of whether it is seen as an advantage or a curse.
While self-improvement remains an introspective journey, cosmetics and beauty enhancements are believed to be able to improve the lives of women from the outside in.
Dermatologist and beauty-product consultant Lilik Norawati said beauty, for some, was defined as what makes women attractive to others or qualities that please the aesthetic senses.
'For Indonesian women, by definition, beauty is both about the exterior and inner selves. Each has an important role and both are inseparable. A woman is perceived a beauty if she has the two elements balanced,' she says.
For medical professionals, Lilik said beauty was the overall look of a woman that included even skin tone, regardless of the complexion, as well as clean and healthy hair and fingernails. 'A symmetrical face and proportional ratio of the body also reflects health,' she says.
But health is the first thing to be sacrificed when it comes to instant beauty.
Last year, there was a craze over beauty products sold online, including day and night creams, skin bleaching and peeling creams without brand names called 'baby pink cream' after the pop singer Syahrini, who is known for her pinkish face.
Many users complained of burning sensations ' and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency had yet to test the products.
Lilik emphasized the health factor in the quest for beauty, saying that 'beauty is evolving. The concept of beauty changes from time to time in line with changes in society'.
