Tell Us How You Really Feel

We asked 100 Bustle readers — including a school psychologist, a barista, a lawyer, and a stay-at-home mom — to bare their souls about the cosmetic interventions they crave, the celebrities shaping their ideals, how they feel about GLP-1s, and their plastic surgery regrets. They didn’t hold back.

On average, you got your first beauty treatment at 21 years old — but wanted one much earlier.

“I reaalllyyy wanted a nose job when I was 14.” — Megan, 24

“My mom let me get my arms waxed at about 10 because they were so hairy. I looked like a pink suckling pig afterwards.” — Lilly, 39

“I remember being a teenager watching botched plastic surgery shows and still thinking I’d take the risk to get rid of my ‘saddlebags’ (which truly did not exist).” — Brittany, 39

“I was 7 and wanted surgery on my elf ears.” — Katy, 38

We asked you who the most beautiful woman in the world was when you were in high school — and who you think it is now. And guess what? Angelina Jolie reigned supreme on both counts. (Another perennial beauty icon: Beyoncé.)

Honorable mentions:

• Then: Megan Fox
• Then: Cindy Crawford
• Then: Julia Roberts

“Taylor Swift… I used to curl my hair to look like her in 2008.” — Emma, 29

“Ooof, Blake Lively probably. Should I admit that?” — Laura, 34

“I wanted to look like Alexis Bledel SO badly.” — Mary, 36

• Now: Zendaya
• Now: Margot Robbie
• Now: Margaret Qualley

“Angelina Jolie is jaw-dropping. I think Beyoncé is God’s favorite.” — Alyssa, 35

“Kim Kardashian still slays, sorry.” — LG, 37

“Major crush on Florence Pugh over here.” — Liv, 28

One-third of you have had Botox in the past year.

33 was the average age for your first Botox injection.

One-quarter of you have used a GLP-1 medication (such as Ozempic or Mounjaro) in the past.

• Of those of you on GLP-1s, 45% don’t tell your friends and family
• Of those not taking GLP-1s, 39% would try them if they were free.

9% of you have had fillers in the past year.

36% have gotten a skin treatment — such as a chemical peel, laser resurfacing, or microneedling — in the past year.

32% use prescription retinols.

7% have had plastic surgery in the past year.

How important is it to maintain the look of the features you were born with?

Very Important — 30%

Somewhat Important — 41%

Somewhat Unimportant — 14%

Very Unimportant — 13%

Do you and your friends talk about cosmetic procedures?

“I’m inquisitive about whether or not people are getting things done because it feels like everyone is at my age.” — Emma, 29

“We discuss how many, many people look bad after Botox or plastic surgery.” — Lisa, 58

“Most of my friends get Botox and try to convince me to as well.” — Mary, 36

“The friend who has had the most plastic surgery I’ve seen naked. She was very proud.” — Alyssa, 49

12% of you have had breast surgery, with 6% getting an augmentation, 6% getting a reduction, and 2% getting a lift.

8% have had a rhinoplasty.

2% have had a BBL.

Only 1 of 100 reader-respondents has had buccal fat removal.

5% have veneers.

5% have had liposuction, while 9% of you have had noninvasive fat removal procedures (such as CoolSculpting, injection lipolysis, and laser lipolysis).

When you were a teenager, what kind of treatments appealed — or didn’t appeal — to you?

“I wanted everything I could possibly get: a nose job, eye lift, liposuction, breast enlargement, Botox… the full works.” — Soph, 33

“I thought I would never want to wax.” — Olivia, 29

“I wanted a boob job before I had boobs.” — Emma, 29

How have your ideas about cosmetic procedures evolved as you’ve gotten older?

“Now I want Botox, not rhinoplasty.” — Dawn, 40

“I still want the boob job.” — Heidi, 22

“I was actually offered a tummy tuck by my well-meaning and very vain boomer mom for my 40th birthday and was insanely insulted and turned her down.” — Jean, 51

93% want to err on the side of having too few treatments, rather than too many.

13% of you have felt bad about getting a treatment or procedure, while 56% of you have felt bad about not being able to access one.

21% regretted getting a procedure.

“I tried EmSculpt and not only was it deeply uncomfortable, but it was pricey and I saw no obvious change.” — Kate, 43

“Lip filler. Toooooooo much.” — Dana, 46

“Botox in my frown lines. It did something funky to my smile.” — Laura, 34

“Midface lift. I went to a well-known plastic surgeon and I looked terrible after I gained a little weight. It’s been fixed now.” — Jenn, 35

91% of reader-respondents believe in “pretty privilege” — and two-thirds believe they’ve personally benefitted from it.

28% have noticed a difference in how people treat them after they’ve had something done.

“Light BBL — [there’s a] difference in how men treat you.” — Jenn, 35

“With Botox, I’m treated as younger and assumed to be less experienced and naive.” — Ren, 30

“Sometimes I do feel like my daughter is nicer to me when my hair looks better (she's a teenager and very into beauty).” — Lisa, 51

Are there things you wanted to change about your face or body when you were younger that you no longer dislike?

“I was embarrassed by how tall I was at a young age (5’10” by 13). Now I sort of enjoy towering over your average American man.” — Jessica, 46

“Breast growth at puberty. I’m trans, so that actually really worked out for me in the long run.” — Elissa, 37

“Oh no. I’ll spruce up every part of me that I can.” — LG, 37

“I wanted to grow boobs when I was younger, and they finally came in when I was 17. I thank the Lord for them daily.” — Sarah, 45

Conversely, are there things you’d like to change now that you weren’t worried about when you were younger?

“I was never self-conscious about my lips until lip fillers became a thing, but now it’s something I think about wanting to change often.” — Sarah, 31

“Thanks to social media, I’m now thinking about ridiculous things like canthal tilt and philtrum length.” — Em, 29

“When I was younger, it never occurred to me that (1) my butt would be flat someday and (2) that would be considered a bad thing.” — Victoria, 32

When money’s tight, do you cut back on beauty?

“I won’t cut back on Botox!!!” — Melissa, 58

“I cut back, or I wait until I’m in a country where it’s cheaper to have them done.” — Alyssa, 35

“I find it in my savings.” — Dana, 46

If money were no object, what procedures would you have done?

“Whatever Lindsay Lohan and Selena Gomez got done this past year.” — Jenn, 35

“Literally suck all the fat out of my body and give me a little filler in my lips.” — BP, 26

“I want to go to the plastic surgeon’s office and have them do whatever they assume I came in for.” — Kayleigh, 36