Addicted to Beauty
By Kari Croop,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Workplace reality series touts beauty as a glamorous drug.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.
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What's the Story?
Botox is the buzzword in ADDICTED TO BEAUTY, a workplace reality show about the antics inside a Southern California med-spa that offers its patients both surgical and non-surgical beauty options. The cast includes a high-maintenance front-desk receptionist who has trouble staying on task, a calculating executive assistant who's trying to learn the ropes from her nipped and tucked CEO boss, and a no-nonsense spa director tasked with keeping everyone in line.
Is It Any Good?
If you can accept the fact that the "reality" you're seeing here probably isn't real, you might be halfway entertained by the sheer absurdity of people who can say things like, "Getting an injectible is something that's quite normal; it's like taking vitamins" or "I have protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act because I have ADD" with a straight face. After all, the show is hardly breaking new ground in terms of programming and actually takes the genre a few steps back with scripted dialogue that sounds and feels a bit unnatural ... much like the surgically altered mouths that crank it out. The producers are clearly pushing over-the-top receptionist Gary as the comic relief. But even he can't make this show a hit ... or can he?
If nothing else, Addicted to Beauty is a fascinating (and often frightening) study of the youth-obsessed culture we've created, a world in which beauty can be bought and sold to anyone who's willing to pay for it. But there's an added layer of curiosity in that those who sell these products seem to consume them as much as their customers. So who are the real addicts? You decide.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether watching this show makes you feel better or worse about your own body image? What types of messages does it send about beauty?
Does the show take a position when it comes to the plastic surgery industry and those who flock to its products and procedures? Does it criticize it or celebrate it?
What's your opinion of using surgery, injections, or lotions to alter your outward appearance? Do you think there's a fine line between putting on a little bit of blush to make your cheeks look rosy and having make-up tatooed onto your skin? At what point do beauty regimens become "extreme"?
TV Details
- Premiere date: August 4, 2009
- Network: Oxygen
- Genre: Reality TV
- TV rating: TV-14
- Last updated: February 24, 2022
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