'I'M THE FURTHEST thing from a bimbo, so people would never expect that I've had breast surgery. I look brainy,' says Alison, the proud owner of size 34C breasts. A Hong Kong Chinese who spent much of her formative years in Canada, Alison is a fusion of evolving attitudes; and, at 43, the years have given her the confidence to have her natural 32A size enhanced.
'When I was younger I was too afraid to have surgery. But, now, while I wouldn't volunteer the information, I feel like, 'I've done it, so what?'' says the education consultant. 'I've matured now, I'm my own woman and I've started caring less about what people think.'
As it turns out, Alison is just going with the flow. Globally, the trend is for larger and perkier breasts. In Britain, more than 5,600 breast enlargement procedures were carried out last year - 51 per cent more than in 2004. Prompting New Humanist magazine to describe them as the new nose job, so popular that one Liverpool radio station even gave them away as prizes. In the US, an estimated 291,000 breast augmentation procedures were performed last year, a 9 per cent increase from the previous 12 months.
Although there are no statistics for the mainland and Hong Kong, local plastic surgeon Gordon Ma says more women are seeking bigger breasts. 'I think the demand for breast augmentation [surgery] has increased. There was a period when the demand in Hong Kong was slower because people were going to the mainland for gel injections, or flying to Thailand or the Philippines, where surgery is cheaper,' he says. 'Only when they encountered problems did they return here.'
In recent years, mainland beauty salons have extended their repertoires to offer women dubious but less expensive ways to enhance their bustline. One controversial method to hit the headlines recently involves the gel called hydrophilic polyacrylamide or PAAG.
Although it's approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the temporary removal of wrinkles and for lip enhancement, injecting the gel directly into breast tissue almost always 'ends in disaster', says local plastic surgeon Daniel Lee. At least six Hong Kong women had to have their breasts removed after complications developed from PAAG injections. Mainland authorities have since banned the use of the gel for breast enhancement, and the Hong Kong Department of Health is considering legislation to restrict the availability of the gel.