French women opt more for breast surgery

What relationship do French women maintain with cosmetic surgery? While the summer has settled and the injunctions to beauty and slimming weigh more than ever on the silhouettes of women, a new survey IFOP conducted in partnership with Happiness and Health among a sample of 1,317 women , representative of the female population aged 18 and over

First observation from the answers: the request for cosmetic surgery did not explode as some people may have thought at a given moment, but it did not not dropped. It stabilized at a level that remains high: women were 6% to have had plastic surgery in 2002 and 14% in 2009. Today, they are 10%. The decline seems significant compared to 2009, but 10% of the female population over 18, this represents about 2.5 million people.

This stabilization at a high level is all the more solid as it is accompanied by a very positive degree of satisfaction and a consequent potential demand. Practically, for 15 years, the degree of satisfaction has remained the same and hovers at record heights, since 4 out of 5 women consider their experience of cosmetic surgery to be very satisfactory or satisfactory.

Breasts first

the aesthetic operations most popular among women, is first that of bads: 49% of women surveyed chose a remodeling of their chest, while they were only 19% in 2009. Laser hair removal is also rated: 24% have adopted (against 8% in 2009). It is followed by injections to reduce wrinkles (12% of requests) and the gluing of ears (10% of requests).

In contrast, the most popular interventions in 2002 such as facelift, belly correction or that of the nose no longer seem to be fashionable. Thus, the remodeling of the nose represents only 5% of aesthetic procedures, compared to 18% in 2002.

Surgery to please oneself

The IFOP survey also looked at the motivations of women who had recourse to cosmetic surgery. Good news: the eyes of others and societal pressure seem to weigh less on women than in 2002. Henceforth, if they decide to have more beautiful bads, to be waxed, or to get injections of hyaluronic acid is above all to please themselves more (68% of respondents). 55% of women use cosmetic surgery to put an end to a physical complex, while 13% want to preserve their youth. Only 6% of respondents go under the knife to be more comfortable in their work environment, 5% to please their companion and 2% because they feel obliged to be young in today's society.

Other cliché undermined by the survey: the one according to which it is the "mature" women who resort to cosmetic surgery. On the contrary, all age groups are concerned: 9% of under-35s and 11% of those aged 35 and over.

There is also no notable distinction according to their geographical origin: in Paris (10%) as in the provinces (11%), women are more likely to be operated on. The highest rate of aesthetic surgery occurs in the Southeast with 13% of interventions.

Finally, all social categories are concerned even if some professions in contact with the public are more represented: the self-employed (16%), executives (12%) or corporate executives (14%). Female workers (6%), female employees (9%) and unemployed women (9%) are those who change their appearance the least with surgery.