The proliferation of cosmetic procedures raises a lot of questions about how our society views aging and mortality. Are humans, especially women, scared to age, and why? Influencer culture has certainly made beauty (and vanity) a more compelling and seemingly valuable part of female existence. Women are also getting married and having kids later in life so they may feel they need to retain their youthful beauty longer in order to find a lifelong partner. I would posit that as our culture becomes less religious, aging and our inevitable death become something to fear rather than accept and embrace.

Ironically, in our quest to make ourselves forever young and beautiful, we may end up looking older and uglier. Fighting against nature is ultimately a futile exercise.

[‘Everyone’? I think Amber is discussing an important issue, but I also think this is a phenomenon that mainly occurs among the ‘influencer’ set, including celebrities. Actors, and especially female actors, *are* under tremendous and unfair pressure to maintain youthful appearances, have an understandable impulse to reach for extreme measures. The narcissistic ‘influencer’ impulse is less understandable, but not inexplicable either — and Amber hits the nail on the head. The only value in society these days is image, and the incentives result from that shift. — Ed]