The “Love Island phenomenon” is being cited as a reason for a substantial surge in the number of women, predominantly younger individuals, pursuing cosmetic surgery.
Additionally, there has been a rise in the number of local salons providing cosmetic surgical services.
One plastic surgeon shared with Sky News that younger women are increasingly opting for dermal filler packages and specifically requesting the “Love Island aesthetic”.
Malin Andersson, a former participant on the ITV dating series, posits that cosmetic surgery can lead to an addiction.
She recounted to Sky News her experience of beginning lip fillers in her late teenage years, stating that she found it difficult to stop.
Younger women increasingly opt for dermal filler packages, specifically requesting the ‘Love Island appearance’. Pic: iStock
“I began to experience significant body dysmorphia. I’d gaze in the mirror, scrutinizing my lips, thinking they weren’t sufficiently plump. Subsequently, I continuously sought more procedures,” she revealed.
Andersson believes myriad influences are driving women to alter their medical appearance, including “social media, traditional media, the news, online platforms, [and] diet culture and magazines”.
Nevertheless, she emphasized: “Ultimately, it relates to not being true to oneself.”
“I desired to change my appearance, as I didn’t receive affection from my caregivers during my upbringing, and I believed that altering my looks would lead to being loved.”
According to cosmetic aesthetics physician Ed Robinson, following the latest season of Love Island, requests for such treatments skyrocketed by twelve times, particularly among very young females.
“With Love Island, I noticed a significant uptick in requests from younger, predominantly female clientele, seeking dermal filler packages to achieve the Love Island appearance they observed on television,” he explained.
Love Island 2024 villa. Pic: ITV/Love Island/Shutterstock
He expressed concern regarding this trend: “Aesthetic treatments should not be about mimicking someone else. They are meant for slight, nuanced adjustments to enhance your appearance, tailored to your unique anatomy; conservative approaches are invariably preferable.”
“However, we observe this frequently, and the Kardashians serve as another illustration. Each time they mention they’ve undergone a procedure, there’s a marked increase in individuals desiring those precise treatments.”
Influential celebrities such as the Kardashians can shape the demand for cosmetic interventions. Pic: RW/MediaPunch /IPX
‘A public health concern’
Dr. Robinson’s observations appear to align with a broader national trend.
The global analytics company Experian has discovered that over the last five years, the number of beauty salons providing treatments has risen by 31%. In Scotland, there was a remarkable increase of 42%, while the North of England experienced a 46% growth.
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For Julie Cameron, associate director at the UK charity the Mental Health Foundation, the increase in young individuals pursuing cosmetic treatments represents “a public health concern”.
She remarked that young people are being motivated to incur debt while seeking irreversible aesthetic procedures, which could have “harmful implications on both physical and mental health.”
“The trend of making decisions at much younger ages is genuinely alarming, especially when 15 or 16-year-olds opt to undergo lip fillers after having engaged in skincare regimens from the ages of 10 and 11; what might come next?”
