Attaining beauty is no longer beyond price
The proliferation of plastic surgery and other beauty treatments is not only the result of a greater disposable income, but an increasing belief in the importance of good looks to personal and professional success.
"Mass media bombards us. Every woman wants to look like Cindy Crawford," said Alicja Biedrzycka, the head of Balttur, a hotel and recreation center that provides weight loss and beauty treatments in Jastrzebia Gora.
Interest in surgeries has doubled between 1999 and 2000, sources said. While plastic surgery is becoming increasingly common, so are other, less invasive and less expensive services.
"Plastic surgery is for the chosen ones," said Teresa Sekowska, owner of Vita-Glob, a clinic that offers plastic surgery. The average price of a procedure with anesthetic is zl. 4,000-zl. 5,000, not a small amount given the current average gross monthly salary of zl. 1,992.
Cost is not the only deterrent, however, as the results of some kinds of surgery are irreversible. Those who prefer less drastic improvements may choose from an increasing range of alternative procedures such as birthmark removal or permanent make-up. Facilities that provide these kinds of services tend to be a cross between a beauty parlor and plastic surgery clinic.
"They don't take the daily bread away from the plastic surgeons ... Sometimes they take from us the services we have neither time nor inclination to do," said Bartlomiej Noszczyk, a surgeon at the Melilot plastic surgery clinic. While plastic surgeons perform breast augmentations, nose jobs and liposuctions, minor beauty improvements done at beauty clinics such as the Laboratorium Kosmetyczne Dr. Irena Eris take place on advice from, and under the careful eye of, beauticians and dermatologists.
A client at a beauty clinic who wants to get rid of wrinkles may, for example, choose a Botox treatment. Botox is, incidentally, a poison. But there's no need to panic injected locally in a small amount, the substance relaxes stressed muscles and smoothes the face. This, along with other medical procedures used to help turn back time, is a hit among older women. Younger women prefer treatments that nurture the complexion or prevent skin from aging. The removal of unwanted hair with lasers is very popular among women of all ages. Other services offered by beauty clinics include lip enlargement, skin regeneration, and acne scar and tattoo removal. In these cases, prices are usually calculated in hundreds, not thousands, of zlotys per procedure.
Even men, traditionally averse to beauty treatments, are being seen at beauty clinics more often these days. "Men are beginning to take care of themselves," said Erika Kowalik, the representative in Poland for East Europe Franchise, which established the Collagena beauty clinic network. The numbers still favor women, though. "Men are usually dragged in by their wives or girlfriends," said Maria Noszczyk, dermatologist and consultant at Laboratorium Kosmetyczne Dr. Irena Eris.
The increasing number of men in beauty parlors and plastic surgery clinics is just one of the signs that attitudes are starting to change. "When I came here (in 1995), I was surprised that people were hiding that they had had plastic surgery done, that they didn't tell it to their friends, that it was regarded as a secret," Kowalik said. When Collagena opened its first clinic with an entrance directly facing Aleje Jerozolimskie, the highly visible location discouraged some potential clients, who only took one look around before walking away. As a result, the company moved its premises to the back of the building. "We even had to make sure there was a back door," Kowalik said. But times have changed the second Collagena clinic in Warsaw has one entrance in the front.
