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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAJess says she became addicted to cosmetic procedures
A young woman says she barely recognises herself in old photographs after a Love Island-inspired transformation. But after spending an estimated £8,000 on the work, she isn't happy with the result.
When Jess Pendrey booked her first lip filler appointment at 18, it would go on to become the start of an obsession with cosmetic procedures. In just three years, the bartender also had chin filler, jaw filler, cheek filler, nose filler, masseter Botox, composite bonding in Turkey, a £4,500 breast augmentation and non-surgical body contouring treatments.
Now 21, Jess is preparing to embrace a more natural look. She has issued a heartbreaking warning to others after becoming addicted to cosmetic treatment, the Mirror reports.
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"I was never happy," she said. "I was always waiting for the next thing. I was spending all my money. All my wages were going on these appointments."
Jess spent thousands of pounds on an endless pursuit of the next treatment she believed would make her happier. Working as a waitress at the time, Jess says virtually every spare penny she earned went towards funding her next appointment.
Now she's preparing to have all of her her lip filler dissolved as she embraces a more natural look, after taking inspiration from Love Island contestants for years. While nobody in her family or friendship group encouraged the procedures, Jess says social media constantly did.
Her mother strongly opposed every treatment, but Jess often booked appointments without telling her. "My mum hated everything I had done, ever, but I just kept going back for top-ups," she said.
"It was so easy. You can see something online, book it the day before and completely change your face."
Jess says she became fixated on the polished aesthetic promoted by influencers and former Love Island contestants, particularly Lucinda Strafford, whose glamorous appearance she desperately wanted to emulate. "Lucinda was a big one when I was 18 or 19," she said.
"Looking back now, she's a very pretty girl, but she's her. She's obviously spent money on what she looks like. But that's not me."
Rather than boosting her confidence, Jess says each procedure simply fuelled the desire for another and it became a vicious cycle. "Every part of my body I could touch, I did," she said. "Everything became a competition. I'd follow a new girl and then I'd want whatever she'd had done."
She describes scrolling through social media feeds packed with before-and-after videos, clinic promotions and discounted treatment packages that made cosmetic procedures feel both normal and irresistible.
"You see exactly what they've had done and how they've managed to look a certain way," she said. "Every day you're seeing a new offer. There are packages on offer. I even bought a 4ml tweak package where they did my nose, jaw and cheeks all in one day. I went straight back to work afterwards."
Jess believes social media often presents an unrealistic standard of beauty, with influencers showcasing heavily edited images that bear little resemblance to reality. "Creators post the best photos of themselves," she said. "That's not what they actually look like. No-one is perfect."
Her obsession with appearance soon extended beyond social media. Even on nights out, Jess says she constantly compared herself with other women. "I would look around the room and fixate on what everyone else looked like," she said. "The only thing I thought I had going for me was the way I looked."
She received cruel criticism online for the amount of cosmetic work she had done, and the experience really opened her eyes to the cruelty of anonymous social media users.
"I'm lucky that I don't really care what people say, because if I'd been in a bad place it could have really affected me. But I was shocked by how people were hating on me for getting work done. Anyone who commented something bad was on a private account."
Now, Jess is taking steps to reverse some of the changes she made. She is due to have her lip filler dissolved and says pursuing modelling has also encouraged her to appreciate the features she was once trying to erase. To get filler dissolved, sessions can range from £150 to £300 per area. The procedure uses an injected enzyme called hyaluronidase to safely break down hyaluronic acid-based fillers.
However if filler has migrated, it can cost thousands to reach more complex areas and can be painful, with some describing intense burning sensations as the solution spreads through the tissue.
"I'm building up my modelling portfolio now, and they actually love unique faces," she said. "I miss what I used to look like. I look like a completely different person. People don't even recognise me anymore, and that really stressed me out."
Although she doesn't regret her decisions, as she believes they have helped her grow, Jess hopes other young women think carefully before following beauty trends online.
"It didn't make me feel any better," said Jess, from Brighton. "I think everything happens for a reason, and I was always going to try it. But I don't even really look at social media anymore because it's so toxic."