A new wrinkle in attitudes

As the fashion and beauty editor at the popular women's magazine Viva, Marta Sadkowska is in touch with the changing face of Poland. And more and more, those changes are because of cosmetic surgery. Over the past five years, Sadkowska thinks the level of interest in cosmetic surgery among her readers has increased by 50%. "We are getting more e-mails and letters sent to us asking about cosmetic surgery," Sadkowska said. "And the popularity of interest is not just in the big cities but also in the provinces and in the villages. Viva gets a lot of mail from these smaller places about plastic surgery."

Most of the inquiries come from women readers and most of them are curious to find out more about the safety of procedures and the side effects and associated risks. Sadkowska estimates that half the readers are curious about facial procedures and the other half are curious about body corrections. "It also varies according to the age of the readers: The older ones want to change their face and get rid of wrinkles. For them, it's not about body shape because historically there is not such a concern about the body in Poland. I'd say that's only appeared in recent years and now the younger girls are worried about the shape of their bodies and getting changes to their breasts and having liposuction."

Sadkowska thinks this growing interest in cosmetic surgery is linked to the changing political and economic scene in Poland. A middle class is emerging with people who are now making better wages and can afford to pay for surgery while Polish surgeons have become more sophisticated since the fall of the Iron Curtain, traveling abroad to conferences, earning more money and purchasing better equipment. "And what's more, there are Polish pop stars who have cosmetic surgery here, although in Poland it's not popular to admit it," Sadkowska said. "There is no cultural acceptance of it in Poland. To improve your appearance and boast about it in Poland is taboo."