The promise of a lengthy reprieve from looking older has hit home with baby boomers and Gen-Xers alike. The new goal is to maintain rather than repair sun-damaged, aging skin, so that with a few tweaks in your 30s and 40s, you can look the same from 35 to 50. But many doctors note that these procedures don't work miracles and warn of the general risk of any surgery. Critics attribute the boom in cosmetic surgery to a youth-obsessed culture. Call it mass consumption from the fountain of youth, but plastic surgery no longer is limited to celebrities and ladies who lunch.
People even take out loans to get the work done.
Increasingly, the young want to stay bright-eyed. As with their health, more people are taking a proactive approach to their looks. Unlike traditional face lifts, the latest generation of cosmetic procedures leaves few scars and requires smaller, if any, incisions, reducing risk, cost and recovery time. Nonetheless, many remain cautious. Chemical peels, using glycolic acid, and microdermabrasion, using aluminum crystals to blast off old skin, are called lunch-time peels because they can be done in an hour.