Now that Tax Day has officially come and gone (and it’s Friday!) here comes the fun part…
What are you going to do with your tax refund?
(I LOVE these stories.)
The grown-up part of your brain is probably prodding you to put any windfall from Uncle Sam towards outstanding debt or savings, and that would be the mature thing to do.
But the other part of your brain…?
A recent study conducted by everything-beauty-related website RealSelf.com shows that A LOT of Americans are literally going to put their money where their mouth is: 36% of people reported that they plan to use their tax refund for cosmetic enhancements. (If you’re going to invest in something, your self is a pretty safe bet. The returns are priceless.)
(This is a monumental increase from last year’s numbers. For the 2016 version of this survey, 13% of those surveyed planned on spending their tax refund on cosmetic services.)
Which treatments specifically are of interest for 2017?
According to RealSelf, participants plan to schedule appointments for Botox, injectable fillers (such as lip augmentation, i.e. putting their money where their mouths are, literally), and body-contouring treatments (like TruSculpt).
These findings also show a shift in beauty-trends from 2016. Last year, breast augmentation and the Brazilian Butt Lift were high on the must-have list.
Full Disclosure: While these findings certainly mesh with recent statistics (according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 6.6 million Americans were injected with ‘tox / dermal-filler times last year alone), there are a few caveats to this story…
1. The number of survey participants is unknown, so while compelling — these numbers could be based off the response of 10x people, 10,000,000, or anything in between.
2. Survey participants were already members of the RealSelf community, meaning they already had a strong interest in cosmetic enhancements prior to taking the survey.
However, although perhaps a little skewed, the findings aren’t that surprising.
Naomi Fenlin, owner of Philadelphia-based About Face Skin Care notes that almost everyone cares (at least a little) about how they look, and these treatments have a huge effect on a person’s self-esteem and confidence — despite the price-tag. Even during times of economic uncertainty, she reveals that patients still proceed with cosmetic treatments because it boosts their happiness even when other aspects of their lives are out of their control.
“No matter the time of year, people always want to improve themselves. A tax refund allows a person to pay-it-forward, to them-self.” says Fenlin. “These treatments are safe and have little downtime, and most importantly, they make people happy.”