The Kylie Jenner Effect

In pursuit of the Insta-filter perfection of today’s selfie-obsessed social media celebrities, an alarming number of teens and 20-somethings are going under the needle and knife.

- Alexandra Carlton

Karina White was 21 when she first decided to change her face. “I began with getting my lips filled,” says the registered nurse from Sydney. “I did that a few more times and a bit of Botox here and there. Then I got my under-eyes done. I had hereditary hollows under my eyes so I got them filled.” Her doctor suggested that her fresh new eyes would be complemented by a cheek augmentation – so White got that too. And in May last year her breasts went under the knife – increasing in size from a 10A to a 10E. In total, the 24-year-old estimates she’s spent $20,000 on both surgical and non-invasive cosmetic procedures. “It’s not that it’s addictive,” says White, who believes that her procedures are largely undetectable by others. “But you start to say to yourself, ‘You know you’re not natural anymore so you may as well fix the next thing.’ ”

White is one of a growing number of women and girls in their teens and early 20s who see surgical and injectable cosmetic enhancements as a normal part of their grooming routine. Celebrities like Kylie Jenner, who confessed to a lip augmentation at the age of 17, and Glee actress Naya Rivera, who admitted to getting breast implants when she was 18, are one of the strongest driving forces behind young women’s increasing fascination with changing their bodies.