Dale Saint Cullen, 28, has flown to various countries and spent thousands of pounds on plastic surgery trying to achieve the ‘perfect’ look he saw on social media
Image: chroniclelive)
A man who spent over £25,000 on plastic surgery has warned others about social media’s influence on being “perfect”.
Dale Saint Cullen, 28, has spent the last five years chase a certain look, and says social media “brainwashed him” into chasing this “false reality”.
He is now telling his story to raise awareness of the impact of social media has on people’s self-esteem.
He said: “On social media, I never noticed at the time, but I was looking at these people who looked perfect and I fell into this vicious cycle of chasing what was not the reality, it was completely false.
“I was flying out to Poland and Turkey and showing surgeons filtered pictures on Instagram of how I wanted to look.
“It took me a while to realise that’s not what they actually look like in real life.”
Dale said he has realised that he will “never” achieve the look that he wanted, and he now advocates for people to love themselves inside and out.
He is hoping to warn others to not fall into the same trap.
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Image:
chroniclelive)
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Image:
chroniclelive)
He said: “I’m 28-years-old now and it seems like people on social media are getting younger and younger and I worry about the affect it has on them.
“When you see all these reality TV stars ad influencers and they look perfect it can be really damaging to young people.”
Dale said that when celebrities encourage surgery or tell people “to buy these products to get the perfect Hollywood smile”, it has a profound effect on their self-esteem.
He adds: “I think I was trying to fit in with society. I was fine during school.
“It wasn’t until social media came about, that’s when I first started thinking about getting work done.”
Dale initially only wanted to get a nose job, but has described surgery as a slippery slope.
Social media led him to want surgery on his chin, have better teeth, bigger lips, and a sharper jaw.
He said: “Its like there’s always a new trend and I just couldn’t keep up.
“I’m all for following the trend but not when it means you have to change your entire face.”
Dale doesn’t regret the work he’s had done, only the reasons behind it. He will also be doing another surgery in June.
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Image:
chroniclelive)
He is encouraging people to make sure they’re getting surgery for the right reasons – if that’s what they want to do.
He said: “I spent so much time, money, and energy on chasing that perfect look, it’s crazy.
“I would just say to people to make sure you do your research first and make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.
“I’m seeing a therapist to try and make sure I work on myself. The work I had done in the past, it wasn’t for me, I did it under the pressures of social media.
“I’m in a much better place now and I make sure everything I do is for me.”
Dale has also warned that getting cosmetic surgery can “make you feel worse” rather than helping with any issue you think you may have.
“I really want to show other young people that chasing a look like that isn’t possible and it can leave you feeling worse than you did beforehand,” he explained.
He adds that there are some days where he wakes up and feels “more self-conscious now” than he did before the surgery.
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