How far would some women go to look beautiful?

By Irene Sugiharto

JAKARTA (JP): Beauty is only skin deep.

Really? Then why do some women break their bones in pursuit of it?

Many people believe that looking beautiful is every woman's dream. Beauty has different meanings for different women. To look beautiful, some women prefer the simple look, while others prefer a more extravagant look.

For Tari, a 29-year-old catwalk model at a modeling school in Jakarta, "being beautiful is about living healthy".

"I always drink a glass of water every morning after I get up and then continue with my meditation routine. My meditation is in the form of a breathing exercise that keeps me emotionally calm during the day."

She eats a light breakfast, nothing heavy, that enables her to keep going until lunchtime. This routine is followed strictly, to keep her fit and healthy. She referred to dieting programs that suggest you should eat only fruit for breakfast and nothing fatty.

Tari admits that cravings for fatty foods such as chocolates and ice cream always haunt her, but her modeling career encourages her to resist food temptations.

"However, for lunch I eat normally -- meat, chicken, anything -- because my body needs the nutrition these foods provide," she states firmly.

It is often said that women try to look their best to impress men, and to what extent this is the case, as opposed to simply feeling good about themselves, is another issue still to be debated.

Ines, a 27-year-old employee at an insurance company in Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post that her husband always wants her to look feminine and beautiful. She says she follows her beauty treatment partly because of her husband's wishes.

"He doesn't mind if I don't want to, but if I'm able to it would be great, he says. He's not a leg man but rather a makeup man.

"I regularly go to my hairdresser to get my hair done and have a routine cream bath, which usually takes hours and it bores me sometimes."

Tamara Geraldine, a 25-year-old model and sports presenter at a private television station, who has just started an acting career, takes vitamins and exercises regularly to stay fit.

"Body language is my regular exercise. It helps me to be internally healthy. I'd rather spend my money on health programs, i.e., aromatherapy or going to the spa, than on makeup," said Tamara, who spends around Rp 1 million (US$148) a month to keep her fit and beautiful.

"I agree that women do go through ridiculous beauty treatments, which is normal, I guess, but I am strongly opposed to plastic surgery.

"Those that have plastic surgery are people who lack self esteem," she added philosophically.

No body is perfect. Physically, all have their flaws, but that doesn't mean we need to change them, especially not with surgery, according to Tamara.

"A beautiful woman is one who can make herself look internally beautiful, who is able to attract attention not with her physical appearance but maybe from other things such as her body language."

There are many beauty products that are practical to wear, but nowadays some women are willing to undergo surgery for the sake of beauty.

Emma, a 36-year-old employee at a management consultant agency, admitted that she regularly visits a private doctor in eastern Jakarta to undergo beauty treatment involving the use of syringes.

Syringes, acupuncture needles, eyelash curlers and other painful beauty devices are used by many women to look good. "No pain, no gain," says a beauty specialist at a South Jakarta salon. Many women, like Emma, do not mind a bit of pain to achieve the look they want.

"I have sensitive skin and the treatments are with vitamins and not some heavy chemical products. I used to go through what is called an ozone treatment, where a needle is injected into my artery and about 250 cc's of blood is sucked out. This helps smooth my skin," she explained.

Now Emma goes through a lighter skin treatment where a small needle is injected into either her cheeks or hips, depending on which part of her body is to be altered. Emma says, "This kind of treatment enables me to be pimple free and to contract my big pores. The fantastic part is that it is cheaper and less painful."

So far, Emma has spent more money on the blood suction than on the vitamin injections. However, through experience she says both treatments are great and have given her similar results. Emma confessed that she could spend Rp 250,000 per consultation for ozone therapy, while only Rp 41,000 per consultation for the vitamin treatment.

The prices differ greatly according to the results of each treatment. Ozone therapy can help those with heart problems, and the vitamin injections enable women to have smoother skin and slimmer bodies. After five years of beauty therapy, Emma says she has not experienced any side effects. "The treatment has given me smoother skin." Her ultimate goal now is to have slimmer hips.

However, women that put themselves through such trauma for these beauty therapies still have to watch what they eat. Dieting programs always haunt them. They need to be careful so as not to waste the precious money spent on beauty therapies.

Sari, a 20-year-old graduate from a personality development school in Jakarta, offered her definition of a beautiful woman: "Beauty on the outside as well as beauty on the inside, and someone who isn't a snob."

For Sari, everyone is beautiful, but some people cannot maximize what they have through inner capabilities. Although she believes ugliness does not exist, however, she confessed she could spend up to Rp 500,000 in one month on beauty treatments.

Some people say that feeling confident about yourself will make you beautiful. Beauty shines from within, as they say. Difficult to believe for some people, but this old piece of wisdom still has the ring of truth about it.