Is The Future Fake?

How Far Is Too Far...

WORDS: ANITA KERR

I stumled across an advertisement the other day, peddling a rather bizarre new beauty concept, the Snap On Smile. This patented removable smile solution promised to 'change my smle and change my life' – pretty powerful stuff. But try as I might, I couldn't help thinking this may be the innovative latest breakthrough in cosmetic dentistry but it just looks like fancy false teeth to me.

I assumed that we had evolved from the days when husband and wife kissed each other goodnight, popped their respective falsies into glasses fizzing cheerily with Steradent, safe in the knowledge that two gleaming sets of gnashers would await them come the morn. I suppose this really begs the question as to how much of our real selves we're willing to reveal and more importantly how many suckers out there are going to buy it?

The days may be gone when women were content to lash a bit of gravy browning on their legs to tease the gents but personally I think we should get down on exfoliated knees and thank our lucky stars that the cosmetic industry has made such great strides. In my formative teenage years the only affordable beauty enhancers on the market were the inimitable Sun In (which left me looking more badger than Bardot) and fake tan that came in one shade – space hopper orange – and smelled like a packet of Kimberley biscuits.

Our mums had it easy. Irish culture had them practically stitched into their underwear until the wedding night. A frustrated male friend told me recently that you don't undress a woman these days, you deconstruct her! He has a point.

Read more about 'Is The Future Fake?' in the Autumn 2010 issue of WMB, on newsstands now!