34 Reviewer-Loved Products To Nail Your Beauty Routine
A cult-classic Clinique Almost Lipstick Tinted Lip Balm in Black Honey if you want to keep dry, chapped lips AWAY. This bb is lightweight, slightly glossy, and has a little dash of magic. I mean, I'm guessing it's magic — because the way this glosses you up and complements all different skin tones so beautifully is beyond anything ordinary.
A moisturizing hair serum here to breathe some life back into your locks and rescue them from eternal dryness. This delightful blend is derived from seven incredible oils: argan, olive, coconut, apricot, marula, jojoba, and camellia. This reviewer says it gives you gloss without the grease, and that the scent alone makes them want to keep using it!
Medicube's "Zero Pore" Pads that do their job so well, they turned this skeptical reviewer into a believer. They contain lactic acid, salicylic acid, and a dual-textured surface to help control excess sebum while exfoliating dead skin and refining pores, all while keeping you looking like a true ~glow-getter~.
A pore-clearing cleansing oil because it uses the calming powers of heartleaf oil to soothe irritated skin and eliminate makeup residue, blackheads, and sebum while preventing pore congestion. It's also hypoallergenic and works wonders for sensitive, acne-prone skin.
A reviewer-beloved teeth-whitening pen — you'll see the difference almost immediately, and it'll help you avoid having to go get it done by a pro. It's painless, minty fresh, and helps whiten your teeth after years of drinking coffee, tea, wine, and basically anything that isn't water. 🙃
A satin-finish TirTir cushion foundation, which has had the whole TikTok beauty community in a chokehold. This all-star gem lets you enjoy 72-hour flawless coverage and offers effortless blending to hide redness, blemishes, and under-eye bags. Plus, it comes in 40 shades and is *packed* with hibiscus and red propolis extracts for a boost in skin elasticity. Perfect for beauty enthusiasts who love effortless applications anytime, anywhere.
A gentle LilyAna Naturals retinol cream that this reviewer (an esthetician of over 13 years) has deemed "The BEST hidden gem!!" This magical cream supports natural collagen production, combats uneven skin tone, and smooths rough texture. How, you ask? It comes jam-packed with all the goods, including botanical hyaluronic acid, shea butter, organic green tea, organic jojoba oil, and vitamins A and E.
A TikTok-famous VieBeauti eyelash growth serum to help with upkeep when you can't make it to the esthetician for extensions. Apply to your lashes daily to help them become longer and stronger within just a few weeks! You'll be resisting the urge to flutter your lashes like a cartoon character every time your S.O. walks by in no time.
A surprisingly effective instant foot peeling spray that'll make your footsies so baby-soft and pretty, they'll be a good uh... backup plan. (You know, in case your current career doesn't pan out. 👀) This not only helps gently remove dead skin, but also moisturizes dry and cracked heels, so you'll really get some refreshing bang for your buck. For an ~extra~ peeling effect, use an exfoliating mitt!
A bottle of Elizavecca Hair Treatment some reviewers say is even BETTER than Olaplex, which is over three times the price! It's infused with collagen, ceramides, and protein extracts to help repair your hair if it is damaged, over-processed, or has just spent too much time with that flat iron. Simply apply it on wet hair after shampooing, wait five minutes, and rinse it out.
A SeoulCeuticals toner mist — a powerful potion that not only hydrates and plumps your skin but is also a *miracle* worker on blemishes, helping keep those pesky breakouts at bay. It's made with 98% naturally derived ingredients like refreshing cucumber, antioxidant-rich green tea, tamarind, soothing aloe, and rejuvenating marine minerals for a perfect dose of dewy radiance.
Good Molecules Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel, which is like treating your face to a morning espresso shot. It uses the power of yerba mate, caffeine, and peptides to soothe the delicate skin under your eyes, and also contains three forms of hyaluronic acid to moisturize. And here I was thinking there was only one type of hyaluronic acid — the more ya know!
And a cruelty-free under-eye brightener to help balance out the bluish tones of under-eye shadows and dark circles. And bonus! It's infused with hyaluronic acid and shea butter to nourish your skin and give you a radiant glow. Wear it by itself or under your concealer for a more full-coverage look!
A paraben-free self-tanner with a dreamy mousse formula that glides over your skin smoothly, ensuring an even application without those pesky streaks. In just one hour, you'll be glowing like you just got back from an exotic, tropical getaway — and you didn't even have to step a foot outside.
Dermora's foot exfoliation mask — you apply the two bootie-shaped masks on your feet for an hour, wash your feet, and then, over the next five to seven days, enjoy the disgustingly satisfying experience of watching all of your dead skin fall away to reveal baby-soft feet. Reviewers swear by this for calluses and rough, cracked skin!
A travel-friendly SPF 50 Airy Sunstick Smoothing Bar — ya know, because K-beauty doesn't have ENOUGH wins. This genius product is designed with a curved stick that makes it super easy to apply, and a non-sticky, white cast-free formula that blends ridiculously well with your makeup. (Seriously, what kind of sorcery is in this thing?) Top that off with its lightweight "soft matte" finish, and you've got yourself a new summer staple.
A light, silky Touch in Sol No Poreblem primer to banish the flaky patches and dryness that dare to mess with your glam. This ultra-hydrating primer will create a base for your makeup that's so satisfyingly smooth, you'll be singin' 🎶smooth operatorrr. 🎶 It also works *chef's kiss* wonders when it comes to minimizing the appearance of spots, blemishes, and pores!
And a tube of Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later eye primer because it'll make the eyeshadow look you created 10 hours ago look like it's only been 10 minutes. It helps keep your eyeshadow from wearing off, smudging, or creasing, and enhances your eyeshadow's color and vibrance!
A bestselling Sol De Janeiro firming cream if you want to be known for smelling like a walking Italian bakery, leaving the enchanting scent of salted caramel, pistachio, and vanilla everywhere you go. Enriched with caffeine, guarana extract, and coconut oil, this miraculous little jar of cream will help smooth, firm, and add a glow to your skin. But may I just highlight again its intoxicating scent? According to the reviewers, you might just get a little obsessed.
And a Gold Bond neck and chest firming cream, because our décolletage is too often forgotten when it comes to skincare needs. This elixir is a pro at improving your skin's firmness, texture, *and* elasticity. Its salicylic acid gently exfoliates dead skin cells while its stress response proteins boost your skin's moisture retention to help improve smoothness and suppleness. It also contains glycerin and aloe, which adds some extra hydration. Iconic, truly.
A lash-extending E.l.f. Cosmetics tubing mascara that reviewers are saying is a great alternative to the pricier one from Thrive Causemetics. This quite literally wraps your lashes with lengthening tubes for a fuller appearance. A unique benefit of this? It makes it SO easy to remove at the end of the day — no mindless scrubbing needed! It's even enriched with a dash of jojoba seed oil to condition your lashes while providing that striking length.
A Naturium cooling gel body wash — you might literally hear your skin breathe a sigh of relief once you lather this on after a *hot*, sweaty day. It's infused with citrus essential oils and mandelic acid, a gentle AHA that helps neutralize body odor, keeping you fresher for way longer than you'd ever expect. Bring it on, summer.
Or a Baccarat Rouge 540-inspired Cremo moisturizing body wash enriched with white jasmine, red currant, and sweet amber so you can smell ~expensive~ (cue the lip bite 🫦) without affecting the weight of your wallet too much. This reviewer even calls it "life-changing" and says they'll be buying this for the rest of their life!
A pack of two dark-spot corrector soap bars, which you can use on your face as well as your hands, neck, bikini area, inner thighs, and underarms. Its wonderful mix of shea butter, olive oil, turmeric, hyaluronic acid, and retinol will give hyper-pigmented areas an even glow by helping to reduce scars and restore moisture.
An easy-to-apply fungal nail renewal formula if you wanna get those toes lookin' healthy and sandal-ready for the sunny season. Apply this fast-acting formula, and you can start seeing visual improvements in as little as two days!
The TikTok-famous Medicube Turmeric Overnight Wrapping Peel Off Mask that this esthetician reviewer says is great for a special occasion and makes their skin feel hydrated and smooth the next day. What better way to get a nice, fresh start to your morning than to literally ~shed~ your skin as soon as you wake up? This mask features hydrolyzed collagen, vitamin C, and turmeric that work together to help even your skin tone and improve elasticity. Put it on before bed and peel off the old you in the morning!
A Briotech spray because it might even give the pricier Tower 28 spray a run for its money. Packed with the same key ingredient, hypochlorous acid, this skincare gem will quickly become one of your staples as it helps to soothe inflammation, calm angry red patches, and fortify your skin's barrier.
A benzene-free mattifying dry shampoo powder to trick people into thinking it most definitely has not been a week since you last washed your hair. This is infused with biotin, black ginseng, and root-boosting powder and comes with a conveniently attached puff so that you can dab, dab, dab away all that excess oil and grease to instantly add some volume back into your hair.
Retinol body lotion that'll enhance your already beautiful skin. It's overflowing with powerful ingredients like vitamins A and E, ferulic acid, shea butter, and green tea to help diminish the look of deep wrinkles, fine lines, sagging skin, crepey skin, and even sun damage — all while giving your collagen production a *major* boost to help with firming.
An illuminating L'Oreal moisturizer because it'll have you looking glowy, sun-kissed, and ready for that lunchtime walk you planned your whole day around. The glycerin and shea butter in it also give it a mega hydrating factor. It's a lotion, glowy foundation base, and highlighter all in one bottle. Oh, and it has over 33,000 5-star ratings!
A set of antimicrobial toothbrushes that have thin "floss" bristles, which help naturally eliminate the buildup and debris that tend to linger on other toothbrushes. The tip of each flossing bristle is as thick as a single human hair and is formulated with nano-silver, which may help kill off microbes left on the bristles. And if you have sensitive teeth, no worries — reviewers say these bristles are super soft.
A Wonderskin lip stain, which reviewers rave about because of how true it is to its long-lasting, transfer-resistant reputation! It glides on as a vibrant blue hue that you can peel off to reveal an adorable, rosy lip stain. So treat yourself, and ~kiss~ those constant lipstick re-applications goodbye. 💋
An *iconic* Revlon one-step hair dryer and volumizer (with over 400,000 5-star ratings!!!) that will save you more than double the time it takes you to style your hair with a traditional blow-dryer and round brush — it'll give you soft, smooth waves with just a few passes!
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Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
TikTok's Obsession With Hormone Balancing Fact-Checked by Experts
Hormones…are confusing. They're these little invisible chemicals that ultimately control nearly every major thing our bodies do, like our metabolism, mood, sexual function, and sleep cycles. Lately, they've been getting a lot of attention, especially on the Internet. By now, your FYP has likely fed you the phrase 'hormone balancing,' a trending term that's touted as a cure-all for essentially everything. Some creators on social media discuss them while hustling supplements (Magnesium! Folic acid! Zinc! Ashwagandha! B6! Inositol!) that allegedly balance your hormones to fix mood swings, weight gain, gut issues, lack of energy, allergies, PMS and menopause symptoms, and more. Over on Amazon, you'll find dozens of books making similar claims; some of which also promote following a special diet to do the trick. And brick-and-mortar clinics and at-home hormone testing have popped up, offering tests that promise to check for these hormonal imbalances. Doctors are seeing an uptick in questions about hormone levels too. "Patients are pointing to symptoms that a lot of people may feel, like fatigue, weight gain, difficulty losing weight, mood issues, and problems with sleep and libido,' says Karen Tang, MD, a board-certified gynecologist at Thrive Gynecology in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and a TikTok creator with more than 465,000 followers. But these kinds of symptoms can show up for a wide variety of reasons, really; experiencing one or more of them doesn't immediately mean that something is off with your endocrine system, aka the group of glands (think: ovaries, testicles, pancreas, thyroid, pituitary) that makes and regulates your hormones. Most people seeking out this information are just trying to get some relief or make some type of progress on the symptoms they're experiencing. But with so many conflicting messages and grifts out there, it's hard to know what to trust. 'People are taking advantage of women's genuine confusion and lack of answers from the traditional medical establishment,' says Dr. Tang, who is also the author of It's Not Hysteria. "There's a lot of room for science to give people more accurate guidance and information. Because right now it is sort of the wild west, where people can kind of make up any sort of claim.' We've tapped experts to bring some clarity to the table. Keep reading for the five must-know facts about hormone balancing that you probably wouldn't see on your Explore Page. There's actually no such thing as a hormone imbalance. 'Hormone imbalance' isn't a recognized medical term, but you can have a hormone disorder, or what is formally called an 'endocrine disorder,' aka when one or more of those glands we mentioned earlier makes too little or too much of a specific hormone, according to the NIH. Determining an endocrine disorder can get complicated sometimes, but in general, doctors are able to see this through blood tests (because your glands pump hormones straight into your bloodstream!). Your physician will know what's normal (if you want to get a baseline understanding for yourself, check out this infographic), but if you want a more specialized approach, you'll need to see an endocrinologist. In short, endocrine disorders are the more official term for what TikTokers are calling hormone imbalances. A lot of different kinds of these exist (more on that below) and they can be difficult to manage since they impact nearly every part of your body, from your reproductive organs to your mental and physical health. Endocrine disorders aren't as common as the internet makes it seem. "A lot of people have endocrine disorders, but definitely not as many as you would expect based on social media," says Dr. Tang. Common endocrine disorders include PCOS, type II diabetes, insulin resistance, and hyper- and hypothyroidism. PCOS affects about 10 percent of people of childbearing age with ovaries, and about one in eight women develop thyroid disorders in their lifetime. Your primary care doctor or gyno can usually diagnose and treat PCOS, thyroid disorders, insulin resistance, or pre-diabetes, according to Alexis Melnick, MD, an ob-gyn and reproductive endocrinologist at New York-Presbyterian in New York City. This can involve a slew of options, but generally some kind of medication will be a part of treatment (unless you go see a DO, who may provide non-medication options). There is no "normal" hormone level. Think of 'normal' hormones like a kid's growth bell curve, says Angela Koenig, MD, an ob-gyn at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, New Hampshire: You can be on the very low or very high ends of the height range and be perfectly healthy. And since it's normal for hormones to fluctuate, 'there's really not a clear definition of what having 'balanced hormones' means,' says Dr. Melnick. Hormones can vary a ton from person to person, day to day, sometimes even hour to hour, especially when the menstrual cycle is at play. Some people naturally have lower or higher baseline levels than others, without having a hard-and-fast hormone disorder. There isn't one test to determine your hormone levels. "Patients will say, 'Can you test my hormones to see if they're balanced?' but I don't have a test for that," explains Chantel Cross, MD, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist at Johns Hopkins. Doctors only check hormone levels if you have a collection of symptoms that might point to a specific endocrine disorder. "At that point, you test the relevant hormone,' says Dr. Melnick. This is usually a blood test. For example, if you experience irregular or missed periods, your doctor may suspect PCOS or hypothyroidism and test for those hormones to determine their levels. A doctor will also want to rule out non-hormonal conditions like autoimmune diseases and endometriosis, which sometimes can look like endocrine disorders with symptoms like fatigue, pelvic pain, bowel problems, bloating, and migraines. "A lot of people have those [symptoms] and they're like, oh, must be my hormones?" says Tang. "It's a little dangerous to not investigate other conditions that could explain it." Many influencers who talk about hormone imbalance might have negative opinions on birth control, which doctors say is misplaced. 'You could make the argument that if you want to balance some of these hormones, nothing does that as well as the birth control pill because it keeps them at a constant level," says Dr. Melnick. While birth control isn't for everyone, for some people it can be "life-changing" when it comes to hormones, says Dr. Tang (and in general, it is a life-changing and essential medication to prevent pregnancy!). "Birth control pills are so effective because they really lower the estrogen levels that can be 'out of balance' in PCOS," says Dr. Cross. "It also can block the receptor for androgens at the hair follicle. So it really helps the skin." Dr. Cross suspects birth control gets a bad rap because it tricks people into thinking their cycles are normal. When people quit birth control for whatever reason, as some have recently, they're often frustrated when irregular periods return because the underlying condition is still there—the birth control just stops the symptom, it doesn't cure the entire endocrine disorder. No matter why you're experiencing your symptoms, if you don't feel they're are being taken seriously by physicians, definitely speak up for yourself and seek out new care or a second opinion if necessary. "I think so often, especially as a woman of color, we're told [our symptoms are] 'normal,'' says Courtney Minors, RD, a registered dietitian specializing in PCOS and the supervisor of clinical nutrition services at Bethesda Hospital in Jupiter, Florida. 'But you don't have to feel that way. You can get help, you can make changes, and things can improve." Colleen de Bellefonds is a freelance journalist and editor who covers science, health and parenting. Her reporting and writing regularly appears in Well + Good, US News & World Report, Women's Health, The Bump, What To Expect, SELF and many other publications. She lives in Paris, France with her husband and two kids. See more of her work at or follow her on X @colleencync and Insta @colleendebellefonds.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
I tried Salt & Stone's viral deodorant — and it's the only aluminum-free formula that has ever worked for me
Lately, there's been plenty of buzz about aluminum in antiperspirants and whether they're linked to breast cancer. While studies are still inconclusive about a direct correlation, I'd rather not swipe a potentially harmful ingredient under my arms while waiting for science to decide. The problem is that many of the "safer" natural deodorant alternatives are underwhelming. I've tried various aluminum-free deodorants and have been left with odors or pesky shirt stains. Plus, after years of not sweating with an antiperspirant, I wanted a product that still manages to keep armpit moisture to a minimum. Just when I thought my search was futile, I started seeing Salt & Stone's aluminum-free deodorant all over Instagram and TikTok. With sleek packaging, sophisticated scents, and rave reviews, I decided to give it a try, and the results were game-changing. The Salt & Stone deodorant is the only aluminum-free product that keeps me fresh, (mostly) dry, and stain-free. First impressions Talia Ergas/Business Insider I'm a sucker for beautiful packaging, and Salt & Stone hooked me right away. The deodorant's sleek, minimalist design — plain black text on a muted, solid-color background — felt more like a chic skincare line. Better yet, the packaging is recyclable. To find my perfect match, I got the Mini Deodorant Discovery Set, which includes all five scents. Each one smelled more like a luxury fragrance than a typical deodorant, but my favorite is the warm, woody Santal & Vetiver. From the first application, it felt more elevated than other products I've tried. It goes on clear and doesn't stain clothes As for wetness control, it's not the total dryness I used to get from antiperspirant, but it's surprisingly close. Tapioca starch, one of the key ingredients, works by absorbing moisture to help keep you feeling dry, and for the most part, it works. If I'm wearing something ultra-delicate like silk that's prone to showing sweat marks, I might reach for my old antiperspirant that day, but otherwise, I have no complaints. Staining has also been a non-issue. I don't see any marks on most of my tops, and while applying it after putting on a dark shirt can leave some white residue, it washes right out (unlike the stubborn oil stains I've dealt with from other natural deodorants). Salt & Stone deodorant kept me dry and relatively smell-free after an hourlong hike Performance-wise, Salt & Stone delivers better than any natural deodorant I've tried. One morning swipe kept me fresh all day, and even the next morning, my underarms passed the "hug test" with my husband. After sweating through an hour-long hike on a hot and humid day, I noticed a faint odor only when I was practically nose-to-skin, but my husband, standing right next to me, couldn't smell a thing. But expect an adjustment period If you've ever tried switching from an antiperspirant to a natural deodorant, you'll be familiar with the dreaded detox period. Without aluminum, for the first time in a long time, your underarms start sweating again, and your sweat glands release built-up bacteria, odor, and residue from past aluminum-filled products. While your body is recalibrating, you may deal with more pungent smells, added moisture, and even skin irritation. However, if you stick with it past those initial few weeks, your body should readjust to its natural sweating process, and odor often becomes more manageable. That's when you can truly gauge whether your natural deodorant is working without the detox phase clouding the results. Even after the detox, many of the deodorants I tried fell short. Some (like Saltair's 5% AHA serum deodorant) irritated my underarms while others (like Ban's aluminum-free roll-on) required multiple daily applications to keep odors at bay. I thought I had finally found a winner in Each & Every's deodorant, which smelled amazing and kept me fresh — until I started noticing oil stains in the underarms of my shirts that wouldn't come out in the wash. But Salt & Stone glides on effortlessly without tugging, dries in minutes, and is never chalky like many drugstore brands. Why Salt & Stone works Unlike traditional antiperspirants, natural deodorants don't contain aluminum, which means they won't block sweat glands or stop moisture altogether. Instead, they focus on neutralizing odor while letting your body's natural sweating process do its job. Many natural deodorants rely on baking soda, a powerful odor-fighter, but its high pH can be irritating for some. Magnesium hydroxide is a gentler alternative thanks to its smaller particle size and lower solubility. Salt & Stone's formula uses both, creating a balance that, for me, has been gentle yet effective. (If your skin is especially sensitive, you might prefer a formula without baking soda.) Salt & Stone also steers clear of parabens, phthalates, and alcohol. The rest of the ingredient list reads like a skincare product for your underarms. It's packed with: Hyaluronic acid, a hydration powerhouse that can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water to keep skin soft. Prebiotics that help balance your skin's microbiome, which can be disrupted by excessive sweating or activity. Seaweed extracts that bring soothing, restorative benefits. Niacinamide, a compound that supports the skin barrier and helps improve texture. Things to consider Salt & Stone 's deodorant isn't without a few caveats. At $20 for 2.6 ounces, it's a splurge compared to drugstore options. Availability is also more in line with its premium positioning; you can find it at Sephora, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus, as well as online through the brand's website, those retailers, Amazon, and select specialty beauty shops. I learned the hard way that it's essential to keep the product out of the sun. I had it sitting near a window in my closet, and after a few days, the balm started to separate, and I noticed an oil ring on my dresser where the deodorant was. Since then, I've kept it upright in a drawer and haven't seen the same issue since. It's also worth noting that if you're switching from an antiperspirant to any natural deodorant, you'll likely experience a short adjustment period with more sweat and odor. Your body may need a couple of weeks to detox from aluminum before your body fully normalizes.
Epoch Times
5 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Have We Forgotten How to Accept Ourselves?
Even in the uncertainty of 2023—when inflation weighed heavy and families tightened their budgets—plastic surgery in the United States still saw a 5 to 7 percent increase, depending on which reports you trust. That means, while Americans delayed vacations or skipped dinners out, many still prioritized cosmetic surgery. And these numbers only reflect U.S. data; when you consider the countless people who travel abroad for cheaper procedures, the global increase is likely much greater. The question is: why? Some argue it's Zoom culture: staring at our faces on endless calls. Others blame Instagram filters or TikTok beauty standards. And while these may play a role, the deeper truth is harder to ignore. We are a society increasingly convinced that altering our outsides will heal what is restless on the inside. I stumbled down this rabbit hole myself online. One minute I was reading about mRNA, the next I was watching a woman describe how fat injections in her buttocks were decaying, releasing the smell of rotting meat. People in the comments accused her of being unhygienic, but the truth was simpler: when too much fat is injected and the body can't supply enough blood, the tissue dies and begins to rot. And as a farmer, I know that is a smell you don't ever want to encounter. From there, I couldn't stop scrolling. Women stacked surgeries on top of surgeries—breast implants, ab implants, butt lifts, nose jobs—until their bodies hardly looked human. My mind recoiled, not because of beauty standards, but because it no longer registered as natural. What level of disconnection from family, faith, and purpose does it take to risk your health in pursuit of a body unrecognizable to nature itself? Even when I lived in Los Angeles and was running restaurants, I saw the same thing in person. A customer would sit down with a face so altered by surgery and fillers that it was distracting. I would work hard not to let my expression betray what I was thinking, but it was difficult to listen deeply. Instead of hearing their story, I was caught analyzing how uneven the work looked, how the face no longer made sense to the human eye, and how much it pulled me away from seeing their soul through their eyes. The human-to-human connection was interrupted. I've also watched girlfriends begin with breast implants or lip fillers in their early twenties, then quickly move on to face injections. The irony is that these procedures, meant to keep them looking young, often made them look older—faces puffed up and filled before age had even begun to soften their natural beauty. If women in their 20s are chasing this look, what happens by the time they reach their 50s? Do their husbands look back at photographs of them before the surgeries with longing? The most shocking part is how dangerous some of these procedures really are. Take the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). For years, it held the title of the deadliest cosmetic procedure, with a mortality rate estimated at 1 in 3,000 surgeries—a risk far greater than abdominoplasty, which is closer to 1 in 10,000 to 13,000. Even with improved techniques, more recent studies still put the BBL death rate between 1 in 2,351 and 1 in 6,241—numbers that remain alarmingly high. Yet the procedure is booming in popularity, particularly among medical tourists seeking a cheaper price tag overseas. In fact, from 2009 to 2022, at least 93 U.S. citizens died in the Dominican Republic after traveling there for cosmetic surgery, with deaths spiking in recent years. So the question becomes: Why is one of the riskiest surgeries gaining more popularity than ever? Along the way, I also discovered something else: breast implants can impact breastfeeding. While most women can still nurse their babies, especially if the implants are placed under the muscle, certain procedures—like those done through the nipple—carry a risk of damaging milk ducts or reducing supply. And while the majority can breastfeed successfully, why risk it at all? Breastmilk is foundational to human health. This contradiction troubles me. We argue, rightly, that children shouldn't be pushed into gender surgeries—that God doesn't make mistakes, and we aren't born in the wrong body. But if that is true, why don't we question the culture that pushes women and men alike toward ever-more extreme cosmetic procedures? Why isn't there the same level of alarm about a society cutting into perfectly healthy bodies out of dissatisfaction with the mirror? My mother used to say, 'Don't put makeup on the mirror.' Whenever I wanted to change something outside of me to fix how I felt inside, she reminded me the work was internal. Wherever you go, there you are. Surgery won't change that. Of course, there are exceptions. Plastic surgery saves lives after accidents, restores dignity after trauma, and, in small doses, can offer people confidence. I don't deny that. I've even had it myself—after my earring was ripped out on a Super Bowl Sunday, I waited too long in the ER, and the initial repair didn't take. Doctors eventually had to cut into the interior of the earlobe and re-stitch it. That's plastic surgery too, and I'm grateful for it. But what troubles me is the cultural obsession with total reinvention, as though we could stitch our way into peace of mind. Underneath it all, I believe this obsession comes from the same root as so many of our modern crises: our disconnection from nature. When we are cut off from healthy soil, from true food, and from the basic rhythms of God's design, we lose our grounding. We feel alone, unmoored, and disconnected from who we really are. And in that emptiness, we look for comfort in the mirror, in the surgeon's office, or in the endless scroll of social media—rather than in creation, community, or the Creator Himself. Here's the truth: altering our bodies may give us confidence for a season, but it cannot fix what is emotionally broken. It cannot substitute for faith, family, or purpose. Only we can do that inner work. And only God can give us the lasting acceptance we crave. Until we remember that, we will keep filling operating rooms—hoping a new face or figure will finally make the mirror smile back.
