Medical Beauty Goes Mainstream

Dear Reader,

I consider myself a pretty secure person. Or at least I did.

The catalyst for this change was a visit to an aesthetic clinic in my neighbourhood in South Delhi. Dozens of such clinics, advertising procedures like Botox, fillers and body contouring, have popped up in recent years, and I decided to go in for a consultation.

I met with the dermatologist. She asked me what my concerns were.

"Nothing in particular," I told her. "I'm just here for a consultation."

Then she began listing them out.

"I see some acne scars, you had acne before, right? I see bad dark circles. It looks like you don't sleep much or maybe you work a night shift. I see pigmentation, I see sun spots. Even your jaw, it's quite masculine."

"But we can fix that," she added.

Her recommendation: botox to slim my jawline.

A week later, I still find myself looking in the mirror, examining my scars and jaw.

It's not new for women to want to look better. For decades, Indian women have experimented with homemade beauty treatments, and more recently, fairness creams.

But something is changing.

India's medical aesthetics market, which includes injectables like Botox and fillers, as well as treatments like body contouring and laser procedures, is already worth around USD 650 million and is growing rapidly, particularly in metro cities.

Today, Indian women don’t just want to look fairer. They also want a sharper nose. Smoother skin. A more sculpted face. 

Aarti, a 34-year-old psychologist, told me she gets lip fillers once a year. She had naturally thin lips and struggled with chronic dryness. Since getting fillers, she says, her lips are more hydrated and don't peel constantly. She doesn't plan on getting any other procedures.

Another consumer I spoke to, Benzi, an Indian-origin tech worker in her mid-30s who lives in Dubai, has a different view. Over the years, she's had Botox, fillers, laser treatments and more. She told me she edits her photos less now because she already looks the way she used to try to look through filters.

Then she said something I couldn't stop thinking about.

She told me that when she looks at old photos of herself, she sometimes wonders how she ever allowed herself to be okay looking like that.

That sentence stayed with me.

On one hand, these are adults making choices about their own bodies. Who doesn't want to look a little better, a little more confident?

On the other, beauty has no finish line.

There is always a smoother forehead. A sharper jawline. Fuller lips. Clearer skin.

And that raises a bigger question. As procedures like Botox and fillers become more common, are we becoming more confident in our appearance? Or are we learning to feel less comfortable in the face we were born with?

That's what I explore in the latest episode of The Signal Brief.

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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