It has been one of the biggest boom industries of the past few years.
But now woman are being urged to curb their enthusiasm for turning back time
with cosmetic procedures and embrace their natural looks.
A series of books are being released which say there is too much pressure on
women to make themselves look younger with drastic remedies such as facelifts,
tummy tucks and Botox injections.
Just as the fashion for rejuvenation has been led by stars such as Demi Moore,
45, who has spent more than £200,000 on her face and body, the authors have
recognised a backlash is underway, spearheaded by famous faces such as Helen
Mirren and Joanna Lumley, who believe in growing old gracefully.
One author is American Valerie Ramsey, a 68-year-old great-grandmother and
catwalk model who has written Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any
Age.
She said: "Although our perception of the over-forty club of women has finally
started to change, we still live in a youth-obsessed culture.
"But the key to ageing gracefully is to be proud of your age without being
confined to looking it."
Among her recommendations is finding a suitable role model.
"While it's fine to like the latest teen queen and even be inspired by them, an
older model will usually display courage, strength and wisdom because they have
lived long enough to earn them.
"Beauty is in the way a woman carries herself, in her energy and presence."
Another book is Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over
45, by U.S. author, Christopher Hopkins.
The makeover expert said: "We have been programmed to believe that only things
outside our control, such as surgery or injections, can truly ameliorate the
impact of ageing."
And in Redesigning 50: The No-Plastic-Surgery Guide to 21st Century Age
Defiance, Oz Garcia suggests women can avoid "crazy" cosmetic surgery and "age
with beauty that is not just about being natural but about being intelligent and
mature".
Record numbers of people are now going under the surgeon's knife to enhance
their looks. Last year an estimated 100,000 operations were carried out.
There were also 472,000 non-surgical procedures such as Botox injections and
hair removal.
Oscar winner Helen Mirren has turned down offers from private surgeons for free
treatment.
"I'm very vain but not fond of needles and scalples. I will try to get away with
make-up, jewellery and a nice frock," she said.
Miss Lumley said trying to conceal her age could damage her career.
"If you are 61 and are offered the parts of grandmothers, there's no point
looking like a doll."
British Vogue editor Alex Shulman added: "Feeling weird about getting older is
tightly bound up with feeling weird about what one has not achieved in one's
life thus far.
"If one is so competitive, wouldn't it make sense to opt out of a competition
that can never be won?"
The popularity of surgical procedures could even be on the wane, according to
the president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
"So many people have rushed into surgery over the past few decades that there
will be those looking in the mirror this morning saying they have pushed the
envelope too far," said Douglas McGeorge.
"There will also be those starting to age who look at those women and realise
surgery isn't the answer. These women recognise that ageing isn't necessarily
something they want to hide."
But Barry Jones, of the Royal College of Surgeons, was sceptical of women's
ability to ignore their own vanity.
"An ageing face has never been viewed as more beautiful than a young face," he
said.
