Scotland's rapidly growing cosmetic industry is part beauty - and part beast.
A surge in innovation and availability of clinics means consumers have more treatments to choose from than ever before, and the opportunity to benefit from world-class expertise to enhance their looks and rejuvenate their skin.
While the only option for previous generations was to go under the knife with expensive plastic surgery, advances in lasers, energy devices, and injectables such as Botox mean that roughly 90% of the procedures being carried out today are non-surgical, minimally invasive, and much more affordable.
On the flipside, an explosion in unregulated practitioners is being blamed for a surge in people suffering horrific injuries and disfigurements - sometimes with little prospect of compensation.
On August 26, the Herald will launch its latest in-depth series investigating the state of Scotland's cosmetic sector, how we got here, and what's next.
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Over the week, health correspondent Helen McArdle will explore the statistics on cosmetic surgery and find out why doctors are turning away from private hospital chains to set up their own dedicated cosmetic hubs.
We will look at how cosmetic surgery evolved from wartime advances in plastic surgery, and how techniques honed on burns victims gave birth to procedures such as the facelift.
We will examine the rise in patients going abroad for surgery, and the consequences for the NHS, and the history of cosmetic surgery in Scotland.
We will look at why a lack of regulation is leaving patients exposed to rogue operators, the catastrophic consequences of botched treatment, and the legal hurdles people face in securing personal injury payouts.
The series will also delve into the "exponential" increase in people studying nursing just to work in aesthetics and the nurses leaving the NHS behind to pursue a career in cosmetic medicine.
Procedures such as Botox have exploded in availability and affordability, with positive and negative consequences for consumers (Image: Getty)
We go 'behind-the-scenes' to try some of the latest anti-ageing technology first-hand, and discover the new trends shaping the aesthetics sector - from the brides spending a year getting their skin 'wedding-ready' to the bizarre rise of "salmon sperm" injections which promise to revitalise patients' complexions.
Herald business correspondent Kristy Dorsey will also investigate how fierce competition within the surgical and non-surgical markets is influencing safety, amid estimates that there are roughly 12 unregulated providers for every one regulated clinic.
We will hear the plans of one Scottish businessman who has stepped in to rescue a failing cosmetics business from administration, how some companies are keeping costs down by using local anaesthetic, and why a crackdown on remote prescribing is making the business model more expensive for some clinics.
Follow the coverage in full online by subscribing to The Herald.
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