Want to look like you’ve just stepped out of a magical fantasy adventure?
Apparently that’s not the reason modern-day ‘elf ear’ seekers want to sport the look! The latest growing fad among Chinese people, ‘elf ears has become one of the most sought-after procedures among China’s post-2000s generation recently, believing that it will help make their faces look slimmer and even younger.
“It is magic! I haven’t changed anything on my face and yet all my friends said I look different the day I got it done. (My face looked smaller, and I looked smarter etc,)” one user said of the procedure on a lifestyle sharing platform called Xiaohongshu.
Others have also flocked to hospitals seeking the procedure, regardless of gender. They’ve even left encouraging comments, such as:
“Oh I want it too!”
“Definitely worth it”
“So unbelievable”
At Shanghai-based Mylike Medical Cosmetic, a major domestic surgery service provider in the city, demand is so high that customers have to go to the extent of lining up to get the procedure done, as explained by a saleswoman Linlin to the South China Morning Post.
Yu Wenlin, a doctor specialising in otoplasty at Gaoshang Medical Cosmetic Center in Guangzhou, said he sometimes performs up to an astounding number of six elf ear surgeries a day.
“I only realised that actually many young people, mostly post 2000s, are looking for ways to make ‘elf ears’ after I helped one online celebrity do it at the beginning of last year. Then more and more people came to me after that,” he said.
China’s cosmetic surgery industry soared from RMB 87 billion in 2015 to RMB 176 billion in 2017 and currently continues to rise. It is the world’s 3rd largest cosmetic surgery market in 2018 and recent studies conducted by HSBC foresee an increase in its market size by 2019. Forecasts also reveal a boost in total spending of up to 800 million RMB ($122 million US) with the potential to reach 20.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2020.
Well, fads go in and out, so be careful to think about the long term effects before you commit to a permanent cosmetic procedure! After all, beauty is subjective.
*Cover image via Baidu
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