Episode 1 Inside the Body Beautiful

This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

More people than ever want to radically change their bodies.

Obviously, I don't want to look like a transvestite,

I want to look like I'm still a boy.

And many are choosing the quick fix of plastic surgery.

I'm a bit shivery, and just extremely tired.

This is a film about what happens in our bodies and brains

as we go under the knife.

I'm tweeting the pictures to people. Facebook's going wild!

And the needle.

When it goes in, you can feel it!

Using computer graphics

we'll explore how and why we are changing our appearance.

Even though women know that they're airbrushed,

you still want to look like those supermodels.

I'm going to dissect the space behind the breasts now.

We'll reveal the dramatic side-effects.

The major side effect was erections!

And the devastation it can bring.

She was transferred over to Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital

where she expired.

Through the highs and lows,

this is the inside story of how cosmetic surgery works.

Lucy is a 24-year-old beautician from Essex.

MUSIC: "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna

# Like I'm the only one that's in command

# Cos I'm the only one who understands

# How to make you feel like a man Yeah... #

SHE SCREAMS

Oh, well done!

That was the weirdest thing in the world!

-Did you see me?

-Was it good?

-It was amazing!

Lucy is confident with extreme sports.

I think if you've done a skydive, you can do anything. Hopefully.

HE LAUGHS

Did you see me picking my lips?

So did you get pushed out or did you jump it?

SHE LAUGHS

But she's never been confident about her body.

I started dieting when I was younger because I was quite big.

And it did massively get me down.

I joined a gym and my mum came with me and I completely changed

what I was eating, and in total, I lost about 4 stone.

In two weeks, Lucy's going to change her body again

and is having cosmetic surgery to enlarge her breasts.

So after dieting, my boobs are really saggy

and I just need them fuller, so I actually really hate my boobs now.

She knows how she'd like her body to look.

Never going to look like Kelly Brook

but if you ask me what I thought was a beautiful woman, I'd say

someone like Kelly Brook, Beyonce, J-Lo.

You know, voluptuous women.

They haven't necessarily got massive boobs, have they?

Kelly Brook, maybe her, but...

They're not super-skinny, are they?

No, exactly!

Her mum has mixed feelings about Lucy's boob job.

At first I thought it was a bit dramatic

but she has got quite an issue with her body

so if it makes her happy...

But I think you're worried because at the end of the day it's an operation, isn't it?

I just look at myself and think no, I'm not happy with

the way I look, and I know I can change it so why not?

When you go out - you get dressed up,

and go out with your friends and everyone is looking lovely.

I suppose that is my biggest issue with my body now.

If you're in relationships, it's something you are conscious of,

when you're with someone.

As long as you don't want your bottom done next...

I don't need that!

Cos you're bottom's fine!

In 2011, nearly 40,000 women and 5,000 men went under the knife

for cosmetic procedures.

And the most popular operation - the boob job.

Lucy's surgery is tomorrow

and today she has to decide what size implants to get.

-Hi Lucy, come on in, I'm Nick.

-Thank you.

During her consultation, a 3D image of her breasts is created

and then simulated, so she can see how they'll look

with the implants inside.

It gives everyone an opportunity to try before they buy.

Have a look. When you go out to try a dress on, or a pair of jeans,

you try them on, and this is the same kind of thing.

If we can remove that off...

Look straight ahead and...

Inside Lucy's breasts, there are around 20 milk-producing lobes

that spread out from the nipple.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, these lobes fill and swell

making them bigger than normal.

Breasts also change in size throughout a woman's life

as she gains and loses weight.

That's because breasts are also made of fat.

Bigger breasts simply means more fat.

Whilst dieting, Lucy lost fat in her thighs, buttocks,

waist and her breasts, which is why they got smaller.

So those are the three images we require

-and we'll run through the assessment.

-OK.

Where I've lost weight that's a lot more noticeable

and like I say I feel, I just hate them.

Before her operation

Lucy has to choose between a C or D cup breast.

So, this is you as you are,

and here we have the implants that you've been discussing.

So what we've done is simulate the placement of the implant

Here we've got much fuller.

Is that the equivalent to a D?

Yeah, yes, equivalent to a D cup.

It definitely fills it out more, doesn't it?

I feel like you're getting much more what

I want to achieve with this one, as much as it's only slight.

I feel like you're gaining a lot more here.

So I'm now seeing that the issues that

I want to correct are going to be corrected from the surgery.

It's definitely put my mind at ease

and I'm feeling a lot happier about the surgery.

It's not just women who feel self-conscious about their bodies.

A recent university study found that more guys worry

about their body image than girls.

Sales of male skincare products are five times higher than in the '90s.

But not every man's needs are met by a facial

or a back, sack and crack wax.

HE MOANS

Surveys reveal the top concerns for men

are beer bellies, and bald patches.

MUSIC: "Filthy Gorgeous" by Scissor Sisters

# Cos you're filthy... #

Ollie's a 27-year-old hairdresser from Cheshire.

That'll have to do.

He started losing his hair in his teens.

Don't hurt me.

-Would I do that?

-I'm very sensitive today.

-Very sensitive.

-Yes.

Self-esteem is definitely affected by hair loss.

I started noticing I was losing my hair at 19.

I'm in the hairdressing industry

and it does make me feel a little bit envious.

People are coming in with magazines and you can create them new styles

and you think, well, why can't I do that with my own hair?

I want to portray this sort of image to people that I'm trendy,

I've got the latest cut and stuff...But I can't.

So I don't think people realise how much it gets to me.

Steph, you'll know won't you, how upset I've been over it?

I don't think you can help it. Your own body image.

No matter how many people compliment you, it's not going to take it away.

You'll feel, or you have felt, that people are just being kind.

It affects my confidence when I'm out people look over

and sort of look at me I think, "Oh, God, what are they looking at?"

It's never the shoes, it's always directly at the hair.

Hair is made from keratin,

the same material that makes our nails and skin.

It's one of the toughest materials in our body.

In fact, all the hairs on our head are strong enough

to support the weight of two elephants.

Above our skin, the hair has no living cells

but deep inside the hair follicle,

the base of the hair is alive.

Here, blood vessels transport nutrients so new hairs can form.

Normally each hair grows for between two and eight years

before it falls out and is replaced by a new one.

But on some parts of Ollie's head, this cycle has been disrupted,

leaving him with bald patches.

These follicles are on their way out.

So Ollie's decided to undergo a major surgical procedure -

a hair transplant.

At the moment, you can see my hairline is quite far back.

So I'm hoping that my hairline will come to here

and all this bit will be filled in.

Going to transplant this, here, to the front of my head

so the texture hopefully should be the same from back to front.

If I could go now and have it done, I'd just have it done.

I just want to be there now. I'm not nervous at all.

And even if they had to do something horrific to give me hair

I'd have it done, because as far as I'm concerned

I'm not prepared to be miserable for any more years.

And if something can be done, I just want it done.

Tonight, Ollie's meeting his mates for a drink.

I won't go out unless my hair is right!

This is the ironing process.

I pull it all out, just to have extra body.

It makes it easier for me to be able to cover up the bald bits.

All right, you guys? Hi, you all right?

I definitely think having a hair transplant will change my life.

Oh, a gin and tonic, and...

Ollie's brother, Jo, is 19.

He's got a receding hairline already but he's had

basically good training on how to cover these patches up, so...

He's got this fringe that he never lets me cut off because

I had a fringe like that when I was 19. Ah, a few more years!

It doesn't bother me.

I'd shave me hair off, it doesn't bother me at all.

Our chromosomes are inside every cell of our body.

These hold thousands of genes

that tell our bodies how to develop and function.

Scientists have discovered many genes that are linked to baldness

and one of these is passed down from your mother.

But it's not just men that can inherit baldness.

And today 5% of hair transplants are carried out on women.

Seb has got the hairline I really need right now.

He's got the same granddad as me

so maybe it could possibly happen to Seb as well.

See, if I had Seb's hairline, I'd have a full-on quiff,

I really would.

I'd be perming this front section here and having a big quiff.

Look at him, you can't even see a scalp.

Have you got a scalp?!

That's the only good thing that comes with my hairline.

I know I've got a scalp!

I don't think people see your hair as much as you do.

I think they do!

What do you think - blonde or brunette, should I go?

Bit of both, get some highlights!

Blonde...

Or brunette? Brunette?

-Brunette definitely - it brings out your eyes!

-Does it!?

In a couple of days, Ollie will face his gruelling eight-hour operation.

It will lift my self-esteem, it will lift my confidence,

it'll be just be a boost in so many areas that it's worth having done.

It's something to look forward to. Feels like Christmas, to be honest.

A recent survey found over 60% of people

are not happy with their body image.

I'd say my least favourite part of my body is probably my legs.

My hairline.

Probably my thighs, and my bum. And my stomach.

But what's driving so many of us to do this?

And I've got a really big head so I can't wear hats.

People have told me I have a strange-looking nose.

This part of my chin!

-There's no hair over there.

-There's no hair over there.

# Just bust a move

# Huh, huh, yeah... #

Psychologist Dr Martin Tovee is a body image expert.

He's with a group of volunteers to see the sort of pressures

that are making people today feel bad about their body.

He believes the way in which celebs and models are photographed,

and even airbrushed can have a massive impact.

Lots of these really impossibly attractive bodies and faces,

and they are impossibly attractive,

because they don't exist in real life -

it gives you an artificial bar you have to try and reach.

So you're always going to be striving for this unrealistic ideal.

And do the volunteers agree?

I think the media has a big effect on how I feel.

This magazine has only got, like, models in it.

You have all these images shoved into you all the time.

You still aspire to be as perfect as them

even though you know it's not real.

I would like to see in magazines pictures that aren't Photoshopped

but I don't think it will ever happen.

I just don't think that's the world we live in.

Younger people tend to be more susceptible to these images

because everybody's connected up, they have their iPhones,

they have their Facebook. It's not just celebrities these days.

A lot of people are having their Facebook profile Photoshopped.

Less than 5% of people can naturally attain the body ideals

being portrayed in the media today.

You can't achieve these bodies in real life

other than by artificially changing your body

in a very invasive and sometimes quite dangerous way.

While airbrushing affects how we feel about our own body,

research shows there are many things that make us more attractive to others.

You might think looks are number one

but Martin is going to carry out an experiment to see what else counts.

If you're interested in what makes someone attractive,

it's not just their simple appearance,

it's their behaviour, it's their personality that's important, too.

And to test this out, Martin's got a trick up his sleeve.

Two of the volunteers are planted - they're actors -

and later on

they're going to help find out whether personality really counts

when it comes to attractiveness.

He said Mikela has oil-drum thighs.

He was horrible.

It's not just our body shape we are unhappy with.

Many of us even want to change our colour.

Today, 70% of Brits want a tan.

Tans have been fashionable since the '50s...

..when film star Brigitte Bardot brought the bronzed look to the silver screen.

In the '80s, sunbeds and cheap flights made the tan available to everyone.

But as tanning soared, so did the dangers...

and today over 1,600 Brits die each year from skin cancer.

Yet we still love to tan

and some people will go to extreme measures to get brown...fast.

In three weeks, 20-year-old Niall is going to Ibiza with his mates

and wants to bronze up before he goes.

Appearance is important to everyone. I think everyone makes an effort.

So, if you look good, then you will feel more confident.

His biggest worry is looking pale while he's out there.

Usually when I'm in the sun I go a bit pink.

Er, I'm not the best tanner.

But I want to look brown whilst I'm on holiday.

And to kick-start his tan, Niall is going to inject himself with

Melanotan 2, a synthetic hormone that darkens the skin.

When I first heard of tanning injections,

it was through friends,

cos a lot friends have done tanning injection before

and I did my own research on 'em and found a few websites with 'em on.

The tanning drug Niall is using

has not been officially tested for safety in the UK,

so it's illegal to sell.

There is, though, no law against buying the unregulated injections.

I'm doing the course before I go on holiday to get a tan,

but also to boost myself, like,

so when I'm over there I'll be able to get a tan easier.

Our skin has two main layers - the outer part

acts as protection from the outside world,

while the inner part is where our nerves, sweat glands

and hair follicles are.

And the outer layer of skin is where our tan begins.

Here, dark microscopic granules of melanin give skin its colour.

The more melanin you have in your skin, the darker you look.

This outer layer is constantly falling off as dead skin,

to be renewed with new cells from underneath...

so our tan only lasts a few weeks.

Tonight, Niall's going out with his mates in Huddersfield.

-We're here!

-All right, guys?

-All right, guys?

-How do? All right?

-All right?

People just want to be browner, don't they?

Everyone wants to be brown. It's the same...

You buy a bottle, you rub it in.

That's the girl's option, but the guy's option,

it's seen as quite camp if you wear fake tan, sort of thing.

I wouldn't get a spray tan.

LAUGHTER

-It stinks. Fake tan stinks.

-It's a ball-ache, isn't it?

Especially if you get it wrong and you get all streaky

and you're on a night out and it starts raining.

You look like a complete dickhead!

So a lot of people think that it's better to take Melanotan

because it's a more natural look.

If people do sort of spray-tan, especially if you're male,

it's sort of frowned upon, I think.

Niall's mate Alex has used tanning injections before.

Did you get any side effects when you used it?

Not really, I mean...

I got a bit of extra...extra sort of moles on my skin.

Moles can be a precursor to cancer.

When you actually did the injections, does it hurt at all?

My ex-girlfriend who did 'em, she actually said that she felt sick.

ALL CHEER

Melanotan users have reported nausea,

darker moles and vomiting.

Yeah!

And, as it hasn't been scientifically tested,

there could be more dangerous side effects.

Once the drug is injected into the bloodstream,

there is no way it can be expelled from the body

and it's not known how long it stays in your system.

Needles can also put users at risk of infections

such as HIV and hepatitis.

In September 2012,

Melanotan user Jenna Vickers

collapsed and died at a tanning salon.

The exact cause of her death is not yet known.

Hairdresser Ollie is on his way to have a hair transplant.

I don't feel nervous at all about it to be honest.

Um, I'm a great believer in what will be will be

so, it' something I really want done.

I've been going bald since I was like 19, so I'm quite excited, really.

I've got Facebook and Twitter so I'm sure I'll be... have plenty to do.

Ollie is one of the 20% of guys that start going bald in their teens.

In 2011, Wayne Rooney had a hair transplant

rumoured to cost £30,000.

His operation, and other celebs like him,

have made hair transplants less of a taboo

and they are now one of fasting-growing cosmetic procedures for men today.

Good morning, Ollie.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-Yeah.

-How are you feeling?

Yeah, fine.

You're happy with the hairline where it finishes?

Ollie and his surgeon, Harris Haseeb,

have to agree exactly where his transplanted hair will go.

Yeah, I quite like that, yeah. I just would like a few more hairs there.

This receding... It's not receding, it's natural.

I'd rather it be a little bit more straight, but not all the way round

so it's like, "Oh, look at him and his straight hairline."

But I want it to be a little bit more...

If you bring it forward, it becomes feminine.

Obviously, I don't want to look like a transvestite.

I want to look like I'm still a boy,

-but I'm...

-What I'm saying is

I think you have lost a lot, especially on this side, the temples,

and I think we should address that.

Men can begin the balding process almost as soon as puberty kicks in.

At this time, the testicles pump the sex hormone testosterone

all around the body.

Are you happy with that?

Yeah.

As testosterone enters the scalp,

it is converted to the chemical DHT,

which locks onto receptors on the hair follicles.

Ollie has more receptors on his hair follicles

than men who don't go bald.

For reasons not known,

the DHT triggers his hair follicles to shrink.

As they get smaller, they produce weaker, shorter hairs.

Within a few years, these have shrunk so much

they are barely visible.

But the hair at the back of Ollie's head doesn't have this problem.

So these hair follicles will be implanted,

one by one, in the bald patches.

-Ollie?

-Yeah.

-You're going to feel a few sharp scratches.

-Going to feel like bee stings.

-Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, not a problem.

A local anaesthetic totally numbs the area,

so the surgeon can cut out a strip from the back of Ollie's scalp.

Not one for the squeamish!

All right, I'm going to start making incisions now as I start scoring.

So how thick's the strip that you're taking?

It's about 18 centimetres. It's about one centimetre wide.

Just enough to go down to the fat, just see the fat and that's it,

because then you have nerves...

-Can you suck some of the fat out?

-Ha, wishful thinking!

WOMAN LAUGHS

That's such a weird sensation.

-It feels like my scalp's being pulled off.

-It's not, though.

-No, I know.

I'll expect a massage in a minute as well, so when you're ready...

-Very demanding, isn't he?

-I know!

To be honest, I'm just enjoying this situation...right now.

I'm tweeting the pictures to people. Facebook's going wild.

Now, I'm going to put it on that tray first and...

I expect to get about 1,800-2,000 from that strip.

Hopefully, I'll get more than 1,800

but that's the least I would want from that strip.

Right, so if we do an estimate now...

Next door, Ollie's strip is dissected into individual hair follicles.

So, from the strip it's going into small slivers like this,

and then cut around the...the follicle like so.

To do all the cutting I would say would take between two...two hours.

Meanwhile, the front of Ollie's head is being prepared with

hundreds of tiny incisions, where each follicle will be inserted.

Three hours in and Ollie's hair is finally being

transplanted into his scalp.

My hair's going in, it's amazing!

Might be able to have a French plait after all. You never know.

As long as I don't have a big shiny head any more, I don't care.

95 to 97% of these hair follicles will take.

So these hairs, the hair, will it just keep renewing itself as normal?

Yeah, it will go through the cycles again

-and it will keep doing it for the rest of your life.

-Cool.

Some experts warn

having hair transplants in your early 20s is too young.

As hair continues to recede,

the transplanted hair can be surrounded by new bald patches.

-Hi, have a look.

-OK.

Wow, yeah, what a difference. Yeah, that's brilliant.

While Ollie can see the marks where the new growth will be, it will

take months until he knows if his new hair has actually begun to grow.

-Happy?

-Yeah, very happy. Fantastic.

It's been a completely pain-free procedure.

I've really enjoyed it.

And to have a result that you can visibly see as well is also

nice to see. So, yeah, very pleased.

Cosmetic procedures are meant to make us more appealing.

Yet research shows there are many different ways to appear more

attractive to others.

Generally, I look for personality more.

For the first impression, the face is most important.

I want someone that is going to make me laugh.

Honestly, 100%, it's the personality!

Scientist Martin Tovee is carrying out a psychology experiment to test

if personality really does influence how we judge someone's appearance.

How attractive you find someone

is not just down to physical appearance.

A lot of it is about behaviour and personality.

And what we're trying to find out. is to what extent does this

actually hold true?

Unknown to the group of 20 volunteers, two of them are plants.

Thomas and Rhys are actually actors.

During the experiment, Thomas has been asked to be mean and selfish

and Rhys, friendly and kind.

A week earlier, everyone was asked to rate how attractive

they found 40 random faces including Rhys and Thomas's.

The scores showed how attractive

they were from their appearance alone.

Now Rhys and Thomas

spend the whole day interacting with the other volunteers.

Nice to meet you too!

-There are so many students here.

-Yeah.

Rhys made eye contact,

was interested in other people and smiled a lot.

-I know.

-Hello, Australia...

Thomas didn't make eye contact,

wasn't interested in what people said and interrupted them.

I was asking a question.

-I didn't hear what you said.

-You've had a good time?

Yeah, I have. A really good time.

Rhys was a nice guy.

He was lovely. He was really nice.

I thought Rhys was a really nice guy, really chatty, lovely.

Thomas, I really didn't like him towards the end.

I spilled some water accidentally, and he said, "Oh, what a retard!"

Oh, you retard.

-So I was a bit taken aback.

-You don't really have to say that to someone.

Thomas was a little bit strange, I thought, at first,

being a bit brash and it did affect my opinion of him.

But did it actually change how attractive people found

Rhys and Thomas?

So, what we're going to do is hand out some questionnaires.

The volunteers are asked to rate each other on attractiveness.

Scoring on a scale of one to ten

where one is unattractive, ten is attractive.

-Look at me.

-I can't believe I used that picture. Such a mistake.

Rhys and Thomas will be scored again

but this time their behaviour will be taken into account.

And once the scores have been added up,

Martin will be revealing some surprising results.

The number of people having cosmetic surgery is rising by 5% every year

yet a recent Government report suggests we are not being

properly advised of the risks that these procedures can carry.

Claudia Aderotimi was a 20-year-old student from Hackney.

Her dream was to be a music star like her idol Beyonce

so she auditioned to be a dancer in hip-hop videos.

She thought she wasn't being picked because her bum wasn't big enough.

So, desperate to succeed, in 2011 she secretly went to America

to have backstreet silicone injections in her buttocks.

The illegal procedure was carried out in a hotel room

and went horribly wrong.

A female experiencing some trouble breathing and some chest pains.

She was transferred over to Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital.

Soon after the silicone entered her bloodstream,

she developed chest pain and struggled for breath.

Claudia died of a blood clot in the lung hours later.

Lucy has had body image issues since her teens

and today she is finally having her breast surgery.

I feel quite excited. Obviously the nerves have hit in a bit

cos it's a big thing but I am more excited than anything.

-Good morning, Lucy. How are you?

-Hello. Good, thank you.

Before the operation, Lucy has to agree with her surgeon,

Chris Inglefield, what size implants they're going to use.

In a 3D simulation, she went for the larger D cup

I preferred the shape from the profile with this one.

My concern, especially with the left side is that you don't

have enough tissue to cover the width of the implant.

There's a bit of a balance between getting that extra

bit of fullness and what's going to be in your best interests long term.

OK.

Whatever size we end up with, you're still going to look fabulous.

-That is the important bit.

-Excellent!

For all woman having their breasts enlarged, one in five will

need their implants replaced within ten years.

In 2012 it was discovered the controversial PIP implants

were up to six times more likely to rupture.

These were found to be made from industrial not medical silicone.

# We don't know what we've been told Toxic PIPs have got to go! #

And around 47,000 British women had been given them.

PIP implants have now been banned.

Now in theatre, Lucy is under general anaesthetic

for the 45-minute operation.

She's 24, but some women have surgery as young as 18.

What we need to make sure is that their breasts have stopped growing,

so we don't think about breast augmentation at a too young age,

where they may still be developing.

So we say 18 to 20 is a reasonable time.

Most women will have stopped developing their breasts

at that stage.

Dr Irvin, are we OK to start?

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

OK. Just going to get started.

Incisions are made under each of Lucy's breasts

so her scars will be hidden.

Infiltrating local anaesthetic behind the breast

which will help make sure she's nice and comfortable when she wakes up.

We're going to dissect the space behind the breast now.

This is going to be where the implants are going to be placed,

on this left side.

One of the main nerves which provide sensation to the nipple area.

There are three main nerves

branching out inside a woman's breast and nipple.

These transmit electrical signals to the brain,

stimulating breast feeding and sexual pleasure.

One in seven women find that their nipples are less sensitive or

completely numb following breast implant surgery,

due to nerve damage.

I actually look for that nerve and make sure it's protected

so she will recover normal sensation once healing occurs.

To prevent infection, antiseptic liquid is poured over the silicone implants

and a plastic sleeve stops them from touching Lucy's skin.

What I say to patients is that there is a small risk that the implants

can fail, but these implants should last her the rest of her life.

Lucy's breast implants are placed behind her milk glands and fat

so they shouldn't affect her ability to breastfeed later in life.

Sometimes, women with smaller breasts will have their implants

placed underneath the muscle as well, to look more natural.

Although this can take longer to recover.

That's the implant in.

So we just check and make sure it's sitting smoothly,

it's in the right place.

And I think that's a nice size for her,

she was thinking about going a little bit larger,

a little bit fuller,

but I think this is going to give her a very natural lovely

shape that will keep her happy for many years to come.

Then we simply close these incisions with a dissolving suture.

It's a suture which takes about three or four months to dissolve.

With the operation over,

Lucy now has to go through several weeks of painful recovery.

Nearly half of Brits between 16 and 24 have considered

cosmetic surgery and many are turning to quick fix treatments

that don't need any recovery time.

Let's have a quick read. Are there any that you like?

28-year-old Kirsty from Bolton is getting married in 18 months' time.

We're getting married on the 8th March 2014, which just

seems like absolutely ages away.

-'It's practically planned isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's pretty much all planned.

Cos I've been nagging him to propose for years!

It's been the most prepared wedding ever.

All that's left is to choose the rings...

I think something like this might look a bit too bling next to mine.

It depends whether or not you want something just to

sort of be a little more understated.

I do like that.

..and decide if she should get Botox for the big day.

I'd possibly consider having Botox

but only because I just want to look my best on my wedding day,

I don't want to look old.

I would have preferred her to have it later on in life

but there's a reason for having it, and that's the wedding.

Today, Botox is the world's most popular cosmetic procedure.

But it was originally discovered as a cause of food poisoning.

In fact, Botox's full name, botulinum toxin,

means sausage poison in Latin.

Just five litres of pure Botox

could paralyse and kill the entire human race.

In the early '90s, Botox was accidentally

found to reduce wrinkles by paralysing facial muscles.

Last year alone,

over a billion pounds was spent on this magic wrinkle cure.

Before Kirsty dives into Botox,

she's having a face scan to find out what's causing her wrinkles.

Hello, Kirsty, I'm Alison. I'm doing your treatment today.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-Just follow me this way.

The machine detects any damage under the surface of Kirsty's skin.

Close madam's eyes. Thanks very much.

Our skin is kept smooth by a layer of interconnected fibres

called collagen, found under its surface.

Over time, this collagen deteriorates, causing the skin

to fold and wrinkle.

And up to 90% of these skin changes are due to sun damage.

Do you ever used sunbeds, Kirsty? Have you ever used them in the past?

Yes. I used to go on probably four times a week,

maybe even a bit more.

So this is the graph and we've got the wrinkles here,

which isn't very good actually for a lady your age. Not at all.

If you hadn't been using sunbeds, Kirsty,

you've have probably had about a quarter percentage of that.

By protecting her skin in future, Kirsty can stop further damage,

and help repair some of the harm already done.

I'll be staying away from the sunbed

and investing in a very good fake tan, I think.

-Fake tan, yeah. And when's the wedding?

-It's 18 months off.

OK, so you've got a countdown of 18 months to get yourself sorted.

Now, she'll also have to decide

whether she wants Botox before the big day.

20-year-old Niall wants to bronze up for his holiday to Ibiza.

His tanning injections have arrived - 1ml vials of Melanotan.

Now that it's arrived, I'm going to start straight away.

I'm pretty eager to do it.

I will be doing 0.1ml a day for about ten days

and then see how I feel with that first.

I'm taking it at night so, if I do feel sick,

which is one of the side effects,

then I can try to sleep it off.

Niall is going to inject himself for the first time.

I feel a bit nervous, but I think anyone injecting themselves would be

a bit nervous. You're used to getting injections off like a nurse,

or a doctor. That's what I'm a bit nervous about.

But I just want to get it over and done with.

The Melanotan has entered Niall's bloodstream

and is on its way to his heart.

From here, it's pumped all around his body to reach every

part of his skin.

But it also goes to his brain,

where it can cause unpleasant side effects.

Within a few hours,

Niall could start to feel his body reacting to the drug.

It's about one o'clock and I still haven't been to sleep yet.

I feel like I have an empty stomach

and lost my appetite. I've got a bit of a headache as well which

is stopping me from sleeping. I'm going to try and get some sleep now.

To kick-start the tanning drug,

Niall will have to use sunbeds over the next few days.

'I'm hoping to achieve a decent tan. I reckon I'll go fairly dark.

'Darker than I would do. I won't be going pink as usual.'

But I'm just going to hope for the best.

Sunbeds and natural sunshine produce powerful ultra-violet rays

that penetrate the skin and damage the cells.

Niall's body is responding to the UV rays by triggering

the release of melanin, attempting to protect his skin from damage.

UV rays in some sunbeds can be more than ten times stronger than

the midday sun and can increase skin cancer risks by 25%.

The World Health Organisation

has now put sunbeds in the same cancer risk category as cigarettes.

In Niall's skin,

the UV rays also act on the injected drug, triggering

his cells to produce even more melanin, making his tan even darker.

'I've heard good stuff about it, so I reckon it will be better than

'when I'm usually on holiday.'

I do reckon it'll be the darkest I've ever been, yeah.

Lucy is coming round after her breast operation and starting

to feel some of the side-effects of the general anaesthetic.

I feel really tired, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open,

but other than that I feel a little bit tight on my chest,

a little bit tender, a little bit shivery as well,

I don't particularly feel cold, but I am shivery

and just extremely tired.

Six hours later, Lucy is ready to go home

but will feel tender for several weeks.

It's been four days since her operation.

I actually felt horrendous the next day. I was feeling really dizzy

and really sicky and I was actually sick quite a few times

which for me is really rare.

I'm never normally sick. I couldn't eat all day.

The thought of food made me feel horrendous.

And that was a pretty awful day.

So, it's Friday today

and I just thought I'd show everybody how my scars are doing.

Well, you can't see my scars, it would be more the bruising.

Let me show you from the side.

They feel really swollen here.

Really swollen here. They're still quite numb underneath.

Can't really feel anything at the moment.

But otherwise I'm really happy.

Two weeks later, it's time for Lucy's check-up.

So, if I could get you to come on the bed.

So, I'm just going to clean some of the dressings off here

and let you have a peek of what the sutures look like.

-Tell me when you can see.

-Yeah, I can see.

-Yeah?

-You can barely see it.

-That's the marking there.

-They look good, they're really small.

-It looks really good.

-So you should be absolutely fine.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Excellent.

-Good.

I feel really good

and seeing the scars today, I'm really happy with everything.

So, so far, so good.

-OK, Lucy, see you.

-See you soon. Thank you. Bye.

While Lucy's scars are healing well, it will still take several

months for the muscle and tissue underneath to fully mend.

Boob jobs and Botox are among

the top three procedures women are having.

And 28-year-old Kirsty from Bolton

has decided to go ahead with her Botox.

'I'd like to have it done quite far advance of the wedding'

just because you hear stories about droopy eyes, droopy lips,

stuff like that.

Can you imagine walking down the aisle with droopy eyes?

That wouldn't be a good look, really, would it?

Side effects of Botox can also include bruising and

if not injected properly can cause problems with double vision,

eating and speaking.

In July 2012, Botox guidelines were changed,

so you now need a consultation with a doctor to get a prescription.

How are you feeling?

A bit nervous, but excited.

So we're treating your crow's-feet.

Our facial muscles move thousands of times a day,

etching lines into our skin.

Botox paralyses the muscles and stops the lines being reinforced.

If you can just smile for me. I'm just going to make sure

I'm 1cm away from the orbital rim.

You'll just feel a sharp scratch.

That feels really strange.

The Botox is injected into the muscle around Kirsty's eye,

targeting the tissue.

And smile again.

When we smile, nerves trigger the muscle fibres round the mouth

and eyes to contract.

When it goes in you can, like, feel it.

It doesn't hurt though. It's all right.

Where the Botox is injected,

it blocks the connection between her nerves and muscles.

As a result, the muscle fibres near her eye never receive

the signal to contract.

Within a few days,

part of Kirsty's face will be paralysed for up to three months.

Enjoy your Botox!

-See you!

-See you in two weeks.

-Thank you very much. Bye.

Two weeks later, and the Botox has fully kicked in.

'I started to notice it about three days after, really.

'I just smiled in the mirror and I just had nothing on the side,

'no kind of crow's-feet on the side of my face at all.'

Right, see what do you think of that as a whole finished look.

Yeah, that looks good. I like that.

-Hi.

-Hi, how's it going?

-Do you like the make-up?

-Yeah. It's lovely.

Thank you. Natural, isn't it? Like, not overly...

-It looks really nice, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Really nice.

Noticeably different straightaway.

She was pretty anyway so... Are you happy with it as well?

Yeah, I really like it. I think it looks really nice.

Back at the psychology experiment

and Martin Tovee has been testing a group of volunteers to see

if personality really counts when it comes to judging attractiveness.

He recruited two actors to help him.

Nice to meet you too.

So many students here.

And the results are now in.

Now, we haven't been entirely honest with you.

Two of you are not actually volunteers. Two of you are actors.

Tom and Rhys, would you like to step forward?

Tom and Rhys have been playing a part.

One of them has been nice, friendly, outgoing.

Everything I said was true.

One of them was being a bit surly.

I'm not an arsehole! Honestly.

He said that Mikela had oil-drum thighs!

And how did this impact on the results?

What we found was the nice guy

scored significantly higher on the second presentation,

when you knew something about him.

Personality counts.

That's a rule of life, really.

Yeah, you just don't judge somebody on how they look. It's like...

With his personality taken into account, Rhys's score

for attractiveness went up by over 20%.

These kinds of results show that how you judge someone,

even if you think you're just judging them

on their physical characteristics, you can't exclude their

personality and behaviour. You find the nice person more attractive.

You find the unpleasant person less attractive. People like smiles.

I did score him low because I thought he was horrible.

The chirpy guy got more points, definitely.

You can spend thousands of pounds changing your body

but these results show that you can

appear far more attractive to people just by being nice.

It's been two months since Ollie's hair transplant

and he's at Gay Pride in Brighton.

We're going to go get drunk, party, dance.

He's now completely recovered from his surgery...

'For the first month it was quite uncomfortable to sleep and stuff,

'but it's fine now.'

I don't feel any pain. All the sensation has come back in my head.

It was quite numb at first where the scar was and obviously at the top

of my head here where I had all the grafts but, no, absolutely fine.

..and his new hair is just beginning to grow.

I can see very, very tiny hairs growing now

but it's a real waiting game.

I think it's getting denser here, cos I can feel that growing

and then there's odd hairs growing around, and my head's quite itchy,

like there's hairs waiting to break through the skin.

Ollie's new follicles have now reconnected to the blood

supply in his scalp.

The blood brings the nutrients needed to grow the hair.

The follicles slowly come back to life,

and start to produce his new strands of hair.

I feel pleased that I've had it done.

I feel a bit proud of myself that I've been brave enough to

have it done.

It's something that I really wanted.

Something that's going to enhance my confidence.

Something that's going to be there for life.

This hair is always going to stay, so it's money well spent

for me to feel uplifted, really.

It's been six weeks since Lucy's breast surgery

and she has almost fully recovered.

Today she is out with her mate Georgie.

-How was work?

-I didn't work today.

I went and had my first bra fitting since the surgery.

What do you reckon I am?

I think 32D.

Try 32F! Literally. Absolute shocker.

But how do you feel about that? Considering you were expecting a C.

Well, I'm chuffed cos obviously I did say to him.

-I was debating, wasn't I, wanting go bigger?

-Yeah.

So, I'm pleased I did it, I'm pleased I took his advice and never went

any bigger, cos I think I'd struggle to get bras now. So, I am pleased.

One woman said well you've got your money's worth, which is very true.

You definitely have, that's amazing!

And, for now, Lucy is more confident in her appearance.

I would never have got my boobs out for anyone in the past,

but now I've had it done, everyone's like,

"Oh, can I have a look? Can have a feel?" I'm like, "Yeah."

I'm really proud of them.

So, with the pain and the feeling ill afterwards

and everything, do you think it was worth it?

I think for a couple of weeks off work

and a bit of pain I've been through, it really has all been worth it.

Niall's been in Ibiza only a few days, and he's already darker.

It's like, we've been here for three days, I've put sun cream on twice

-and I haven't burnt.

-You are browner, yeah.

The way that you look, obviously you're going to be more

confident if you think yourself that you look better.

And stuff like that.

It does build your self-confidence.

Everything looks better with a tan as well so...

Especially when it's summer.

Although Niall seems to have escaped most of the reported

side effects from the tanning drug,

he did suffer from one uncomfortable one.

The major side effect was erections.

Like, it has been a pain in the arse really.

I had a bit of trouble at work,

so I sat at the computer and I couldn't move cos I had an erection.

The whole day. For about seven and a half hours. It were terrible.

With the dangers of injecting Melanotan still unknown,

the Government has repeated its warning

not to use the unlicensed drug.

But for now, Niall is happy with his results.

I'm very pleased with it actually.

Worth the money definitely.

If I was to go on holiday again, I'd probably do the same that

I've done now. Do it a week or two before.

More young people than ever are changing the way they look,

by going under the knife and needle.

Now I've had the boob job, I feel kind of more in proportion.

I guess I feel a bit more womanly so I definitely much prefer my body now.

Many do it to try and match an impossible, air-brushed ideal -

the perfect body and the flawless face.

It's something that I really wanted.

Something that's going to enhance my confidence.

Something that's going to be there for life.

But research shows if you want people to find you attractive,

the way you act could be just as important as the way you look.

Next time, we explore how fat works...

Everyone just wants that beach body.

..what it can do to us...

You feel disgusting.

You couldn't have a worse relationship with your body.

..and the extremes we'll go to to shift it.

There is just no fat there whatsoever.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd