Cosmetic Enhancements

Some woman on morning television today claims the world record in plastic surgery procedures. She's had something like 1000 things done for a gagillion dollars. I can't conceive of wanting to get so much work done. I don't put such temporary things as eyelash perming, keratin treatments on my hair, and facials in the same category. Does the tattoo on my foot count as a cosmetic enhancement? The salon that I go to has a permanent makeup artist. Women go in and get makeup tatooed for the eyebrows, eyelids, lips. They wakeup without that dreaded morning face. The artist's ad card is a little disconcerting. She has before and after shots for eyes, mouth and . . . nipples. While I totally cheer for this service and the help it gives to women who have had reconstructive surgery on their breasts after mastectomies, I still want to fold my arms over my chest and whine when I look at the card. Yes, sure, I let a tattoo artist stick needles in the top of my foot to create my lovely starfish. As much as I'm sure that permanently lined eyes would look fabulous, no, I am not letting someone do the same on my lids. At 53, I'm fortunate that I don't have masses of wrinkles. Some grooves on the upper lip, one between the brows, some light crow's feet at the corners of my eyes. I do like to take care of my skin with a good cleansing and moisturizing routine. My esthetician started me on this great moisturizing stuff hyaluronic acid. We have it in our bodies but it diminishes with age. The substance holds something like 1000 times its volume in fluid so I apply it after dampening my face. No lie. This is plumping up some skin cells and reducing the look of those lines. Turns out that HA is the same stuff that's in some of the injections people get for wrinkles. (Different stuff than Botox.) Good cleansers, a moisturizer, wearing sunblock, coloring the gray in my hair, doing the eyelash perm, good hair care, manicures and pedicures -- These things make me happy. Procedures that require anesthesia and stitches? I'll reserve those for life-saving or health-restoring measures. How about you? How far will you go to enhance your appearance?