cosmetic surgery

The use of Botox is a hotly debated topic in the beauty industry with many celebs, including Kim Kardashian, admitting to going under the needle. As with any cosmetic procedure, the more educated you are on the topic the safer you will be, so we turned to Sydney's Dr. Naomi McCullum — a highly sought-after cosmetic physician — to find out the basics. Want to know if getting Botox hurts or how much it costs? Keep reading.

With the news that celebeauties Anne Hathaway, Holly Valance and Cat Deely tied the knot over the weekend, wedding season is officially upon us! We love a good celebration of love, and whether you're currently planning your dream wedding or simply dreaming of wearing white, you can never be too prepared when it comes to hair and beauty. We'll be rolling out our bridal beauty checklist over the coming months to help ensure you look perfect on your big day, so be sure to check back in. To find out what you need to consider six months out, keep reading.

Megan Gale has taken to Twitter today to defend allegations from The Daily Telegraph's Sydney Confidential that she uses Botox. "Sorry to disappoint your theories [Sydney Confidential] but I swear on my entire families lives that I have never succumbed to Botox," she tweeted. As one of our country's most successful models, Megan also mentioned a string of other procedures she hasn't had: "Oh [and] that also goes for fillers, restylane [and] any other toxic matter that we know very little about." It was a very honest and real attempt to defend herself and subsequently, her brand. The L'Oreal Paris ambassador, swimwear designer and all-round health advocate often tweets pictures and comments about nature walks she's on, visits to the gym or nutritious food she's made at home — the only proof we need that she's a natural beauty! 

"Pumping" is a cheap, fast way to make your lips fuller, increase your breast or buttock size, and smooth wrinkles. It can also kill you, cause horrific infections, and put you in incredibly unrelenting pain for the rest of your life. At best, it'll just permanently disfigure you 10 or 15 years down the line. So what is it, and how can you avoid it? NPR just did a fascinating story on pumping and its victims, and it was incredibly informative as well as terrifying. To find out what pumping is and what the red flags are, just keep reading.

Whether you're the bride-to-be or are just a guest hoping to pick up a groomsman, looking good at weddings has never been so important with many putting themselves through rigorous beauty rituals weeks, if not months, before the big day. It's no secret that Kim Kardashian wants her nuptials to Kris Humphries — rumoured to happening on August 20 — to be a day to remember and with all eyes on her, she's already started to prep for her wedding with a new hair colour. Her momager, Kris Jenner, is pulling out all the stops too, getting a facelift for Kim's big day. The 55-year-old's procedure has gotten the tick of approval from daughter's Kim and Khloe, with Khloe telling The New York Daily News, "She looks amazing." A 2010 study by Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons revealed that minor enhancements, such as Botox, were gaining popularity with brides with numbers being up 25 percent on the year before but how far would you go? Would you get a facelift before your wedding? Have you? Tell us your thoughts in the comments, we'd love to hear from you.

Main image: Kris Jenner before her face lift in May; inset: after the surgery in June.

Experimenting with a new look on American Idol recently led to rumours that Fergie had had plastic surgery, something the 36-year-old is quick to clear up a new interview with Allure magazine (she's their July cover girl): "I did two major drastic things, which is hair to the side—it was the first time—and the big neon lip," she says. "I wanted to try something different, and all of a sudden it was this big backlash. People were saying 'It's a fake Fergie.' I heard about some ridiculous amount of money that I spent on my face, which I think is absolutely insane." That doesn't mean the Black Eyed Peas front woman has always been 100 percent happy in her own skin, like most women she's had her share of body hang-ups, but she's learning to live with them: "I've learned to love my nose because it's unique. It's interesting, and it just makes me a little different." And how does she feel about getting older? "[Well] I’m definitely young at heart, and I always will be, I’m just trying to age gracefully."

Kids have always wanted nail polish and lipstick but recent reports of children getting boob job vouchers, fake tans and facials are scary to say the least. Poppy Burge from St Neots, England, had all her wishes granted when she was given a $9,000 breast augmentation voucher from her mother for her seventh birthday, telling Closer magazine: "When I got it all, it was a dream come true. All my friends were jealous. I can't wait to be like Mummy with big boobs. They're pretty." Her mum Sarah, a self-confessed plastic surgery addict who is known as The Human Barbie, says:

"Poppy is a normal kid who is good at sports and loves playing outside. Girls don't want Snow White and Cinderella any more. They want to be WAGs and famous like Cheryl Cole and Lady Gaga. I'm just supporting her and making her dreams come true."

Also making little girls' (who long for spa visits) dreams come true is a newly-opened beauty salon in Essex, England that offers facials, spray tans and makeup application specifically for girls ages one to 13. What do you think about it all? Has the world gone mad or do you think it's perfectly acceptable for a mum to buy her seven-year-old daughter a surgery voucher?

Salma Hayek has gone on record about cosmetic surgery, telling InStyle: "No surgical tweaks. No Botox either. I think it is terrible, these girls in their late 20s injecting their faces and lips. One told me, 'If I kill my muscles now, I'll never get wrinkles.' Can you imagine?" Instead, she's credits her amazing skin to being a self-confessed product junkie and the granddaughter of a cosmetologist who studied at Vichy Labs in Paris —  so you can see why her cosmetics line, Nuance, which has been in the pipeline for six years, but a dream for so much longer, is set to be a success, with experts predicting sales of US$35 million in the first year alone.

Which is no mean feat considering products are moderately priced between $7.99 and $19.99 — something that was important to the actress, with her telling WWD: "It is possible to create extraordinary product for a low price . . . I wanted to make simply the best product and give everyone access to the good stuff." The 100-line range will hit CVS Pharmacy in the US and online in August. Will you check it out?

Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Francis Palmer is betting that there's a market for people who want the effects of Botox without using botulism. The company he works for, MyoScience, has developed a machine that uses cold to freeze facial nerves. The device, which uses a series of small needles called "cryoprobes" to freeze muscles' nerves into relaxing, is currently in clinical trials and may soon be looking for approval in Europe.

To us, the procedure sounds kinda like receiving Botox injections, insofar as there are lots of little needle jabs involved and the mechanism of wrinkle relaxation involves disabling nerves for a few months. If this technique gets approval, would you try it rather than getting Botox? Or are you content to age naturally?