Mackenzie Burge walks into the dimly lit cafe in Calgary’s East Village with her long blonde hair in a high ponytail, hiding under a puffy black winter jacket. She stands in the entrance distracted by a phone conversation before hanging up as she walks over, apologizing profusely even though she isn’t late. There isn’t a stitch of makeup on her face, but the 23-year-old looks flawless with long dark lashes, plump lips and perfectly shaped eyebrows.
Perhaps without asking, it would be difficult to know Burge has had multiple procedures, starting with breast implants at 18. The Calgary lifestyle blogger and bartender says she felt she was in a good place to make this spontaneous decision.
“I woke up one day and was like, you know what would be great? Like, big, big fake boobs,” she says. Two weeks later, she had the surgery done in Calgary.
Although she is young, she is just one of many women electing cosmetic enhancements in their early adult years.
Canada Health doesn’t track statistics, and the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons (CSPS) doesn’t track any data. But American numbers continue to rise for both surgical and nonsurgical procedures among young women. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics show from 2010 to 2016, the number of dermal fillers and Botox injections among 20 to 29-year-olds jumped over 35 per cent.
Dr. Mitchell Brown, Toronto area plastic surgeon, University of Toronto professor and member of CSPS and the Canadian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons among others, says even though we don’t have Canadian statistics, looking at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics he notices a definite increase in nonsurgical procedures, such as Botox and dermal fillers.
“I think when you look at the trends, you’ll probably note that the numbers of people that are having it done at earlier ages is increasing,” he says.
Graphic by Amber McLinden. Photo courtesy of Jakub Gorajek on Unsplash.
Graphic by Amber McLinden. Photo courtesy of rawpixel on Unsplash.
Editor: Amber McLinden | amclinden@cjournal.ca