Beauty2_files/Pretty Pills

Daily Mail, Monday, May 14, 2007
Page 41
LIFE style
PRETTY
PILLS
J
UST imagine if you could
transform your looks by
popping a pill. No need to
spend hours in the gym in
pursuit of a perfect body; no
fake tans, sunbeds or hours
baking on the beach to get a tan;
and you could say goodbye to
facials and expensive anti-ageing
treatments. Just swallow a tablet
with breakfast and you’re done.
It sounds like the bizarre predictions Sixties futurologists made about the year
2000. But, astonishingly, ‘wonder tablets’
are the new underground beauty trend —
and they could have dire consequences.
Earlier this month, the Food & Drug
By Claire Coleman
Administration (FDA), the U.S. body that
approves and regulates medicines,
cosmetics and supplements, agreed to let
pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline
sell weight-loss drug Alli over the counter.
The drug is set to hit shelves next month.
But many people won’t have to wait until
June to get their hands on it,despite the
fact it is prescription only.
The boom in online pharmacies and webbased drug sales has meant that in a few
clicks of a mouse you can have access to a
number of pills that, if their claims are to
be believed, could do pretty much anything, from whittling your waist size to
ridding you of body hair. Some of these
drugs are prescription only, others may
not even be licensed in this country, but if
you’re willing to pay, there’s an unscrupulous dealer willing to sell.
Alli, in the form of Xenical or Orlistat, has
been readily available on the internet for
some time. It works by inhibiting the
absorption of fat so that about 30 per cent
of the fat you eat is passed through the
body undigested.
Prescribed by a doctor, who can explain
that it needs to be taken in conjunction
with a low-fat diet, it has the potential to
be a useful and effective drug.
When Alli arrives in chemists in June,
pharmacists will be able to give users the
correct information on how to take it. But
online buyers obviously won’t have access
to this advice and so may think it gives
them carte blanche to eat what they like
and still lose weight.
They run the risk of, at the very least,
suffering a number of unpleasant gastrointestinal side-effects.
But these risks don’t seem to deter a
growing number of people who think that
illicitly acquired drugs could offer a nopain, all-gain route to the body beautiful.
Xenical is only one of a number of drugs
being used and abused in this way.
Last week, the Mail revealed that a
number of ‘diet’ drugs were being bought
over the internet. From Ritalin — usually
prescribed for hyperactive children, which
has the side-effect of suppressing the
appetite, but has also been linked to cardio-
TURN TO PAGE 49
Picture: JAMES BECKER Stylist: ANNETTE MASTERMAN Hair & make-up: LOLA ROSE
They claim to offer a tan,
weight loss and eternal
youth.Lifestyle investigates
the dark side of the latest
underground beauty trend
Daily Mail, Monday, May 14, 2007
Page 49
LIFE style
BOOTS
EVERYONE’S favourite High Street
chemist has headed across the
pond. The quintessentially British
brand and the one-stop shop for
everything from plasters and pills to
perfume and powder has hit the U.S.
Paris Hilton popped into the launch
party, so expect to see the
heiress ditching Walmart any
day soon.
FROM PAGE 41
vascular damage – to clenbuterol, a drug
used to treat breathing problems in
horses, which has also been found to
increase metabolic rate and cause fat
loss and muscle gain. However, users can
experience dizziness, palpitations and
severe heart damage.
That there should be serious dangers
associated with taking these wonder
drugs should come as no surprise.
History shows that no quick fix comes
without a downside.
The ‘slimming pills’ popular in the
Sixties turned out to be amphetamines,
which carried the risk of heart damage
and blood pressure problems, while the
tanning pills of the Seventies relied on
beta carotene, which gave rise to orange
palms and discoloured eyes.
And the anabolic steroids taken by
body-builders to increase the size and
strength of their muscles have been
found to contribute to high blood
pressure, cholesterol and hormone levels.
But despite these cautionary tales, we
seem as devoted as ever to the prospect
of a one-stop beauty solution.
Women reluctant to go under the knife
but keen to increase their breast size
have been known to order contraceptive
pills, containing high levels of hormones,
in a bid to boost their cleavage.
The dangers of taking a contraceptive
without having your blood pressure
tested regularly means you could unwittingly be putting yourself at an increased
risk of strokes, heart attacks and deep
vein thrombosis. Quite a price to pay for
a larger cup size or two.
E
WHITE SHIRTS
IT’S no coincidence Gap has
launched a range of white
shirts. Whether crisp or
floaty, they are a summer
must have. If your budget
stretches beyond the High
Street, Roberto Cavalli has a
slinky silk number or head to
Louis Vuitton for crisp poplin.
GUERILLA
NIGHTSPOTS
‘If a drug isn’t available
over the counter or is
not licensed in this
country,there’s
probably a very good
reason for that’
ARLIER this month, health and
beauty pages were full of the
news of a new wonder drug that
would boost the female sex drive
and suppress appetite.
The
snappily
named
Type
2
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone has
thus far been tested only on animals, but
researchers behind it have no doubt it
could be readily available as a human
‘lifestyle’ drug within the next decade.
All very exciting, but as fans of the
underground vanity pill scene know only
too well, you don’t necessarily have to
wait ten years to get thin and sexy.
Perhaps the most exciting development
for pill-poppers in pursuit of the body
the University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
beautiful is the new and widespread
thinks that the original study into what
availability of a drug called Melanotan II.
the drug is capable of has some merit,
News of it first hit several years ago
but stresses that our knowledge of its
and it was the subject of much public
application and its side-effects is patchy.
interest after it was dubbed ‘The Barbie
‘Melanotan II hasn’t been around long
Pill’ by the media.
enough for us to be able to look at the
The drug, a synthetically produced
long-term effects this hormone could
hormone, was developed by researchers
have on the body,’ he says.
at the University of Arizona to combat
‘And taking any drug that hasn’t been
skin cancer — it worked by increasing
extensively trialled will always have its
the levels of melanin, which is the body’s
potential dangers.’
natural sun protection system.
He also cautions any redheads who
In the course of research, it was discovthink this could turn them into a bronzed
ered that side-effects included increased
beauty to think again.
libido and reduced appetite. For some, it
‘This works by stimulating the brown
really did sound like a miracle pill.
pigment in the skin. If you have very pale
However, Melanotan II was not a simple
skin, your body may not contain any of
pill. It’s a hormone, which means it can’t
this brown pigment at all, so it simply
be swallowed, as the chemicals in the gut
may not work,’ he says.
would destroy it.
Once you’ve bronzed, slimmed and
It can, however, be introduced into the
boosted your bust with pharmaceutical
body through an implant under the skin
help, you would have thought there was
or via an injection.
nothing left to do. You’d be wrong.
It has not yet been approved by the
Earlier this year, a new cream called
FDA in the U.S., nor is it a licensed drug
Vaniqa was launched as Britain’s first
in Britain. But this doesn’t mean it’s not
prescription drug for removing unwanted
easily available.
hair. While this, too, should be used only
Several websites around the world,
including one in the UK, sell Melanotan II
and give users detailed instructions on
how to dissolve the drug in water and
inject it.
Aside from all the dangers inherent in
untrained people stabbing needles into
themselves, there are other risks.
Fans say they are delighted with
WE WEREN’T fans of Miuccia
the results they have achieved, but
Prada’s attempt to bring back the
a closer inspection of internet
turban — she sent an army of models
forums where users discuss their
down her spring/summer catwalk
experiences with the drug reveal
wearing the Sixties-inspired headgear.
some worrying stories.
Her satin headbands are another
Alongside the potential sidematter entirely — we love them! In
effects of nausea and flushing,
jewel colours, the wide band is perfect
some users are reporting that
existing moles and freckles
for a bad hair day and adds a glamorous
become darker, and that new
touch for evenings, too. If your
moles and freckles also form.
budget doesn’t stretch to
Could it be that a product
Prada’s main collection, this is
developed to tackle skin canthe ideal way to get the
cer might actually cause it?
designer look without
The honest answer is that we
blowing a month’s salary.
just don’t know.
■ HEADBAND, £140,
Mark Birch-Machin, profesPrada, 020 7647 5000.
sor of molecular dermatology at
Must Have
after being prescribed by a doctor, it is
also available over the internet.
On the surface it sounds innocuous.
After all, you’ve been able to buy Veet in
Boots for years. But Vaniqa doesn’t just
simply dissolve hair; it actually works on
enzymes in the hair follicles to stop them
growing. This is why it is classified as
a drug, not a cosmetic, and should be
available only on prescription.
‘Vaniqa is meant for removing facial hair,
but there are all sorts of medical reasons
why a woman might have this problem in
the first place,’ says Dr Graham Archand,
vice-chairman of the Royal College of
General Practitioners and a GP.
‘It’s important to see a doctor to rule
out any potentially serious conditions,
rather than just tackling a symptom.
F
URTHERMORE, drugs can
interact with other medication
or cause problems with the liver
and kidneys that, if you are not
under medical supervision, you
may be unaware of.’
And that’s the bottom line. If a drug
isn’t available over the counter or is not
licensed in this country, there’s probably
a very good reason for that.
‘Prescription medicines aren’t available
over the counter because they are potentially dangerous. And if a drug is not
licensed, it’s because it’s been shown
to be dangerous or there’s inadequate trial data to show it works,’
says Dr Archand.
‘It’s possible that in the future
research will prove these drugs
should be licensed or available
without prescription.’
The reverse, of course, is
also true. Future research
may highlight serious and
dangerous problems that
mean these drugs will never
be licensed or freely available
over the counter.
Until we know the truth,
people seeking a beauty
drug could end up paying a
high price for vanity.
THE coolest clubs won’t
even be there next month. As the
cognoscenti hope for the
resurrection of London’s temporary
summer hangout, City Beach Club,
they’re heading to Hollywood’s
Stoli Hotel before it disappears into
style history.
CHAMELEON
CREAMS
IT’S much more than a
sun cream and less than
a tinted moisturiser —
and we’re not entirely sure
how it works. The new
Enhancing Sun Protection
SPF 30 cream from DDF
comes out of the tube
grey, but when you slap it
on your skin, it cleverly
mimics your skin tone and
protects you from the sun.
Absolute genius.
TRIBUTE
MUSICALS
AFTER Mamma Mia!,
featuring the music of
Abba, and Daddy Cool,
with all the Boney M
hits, prepare for
Never Forget,
featuring the music of
Take That. Another
shameless cash-in?
Can’t wait for Guns N’
Roses — The Musical
or Oasis — The Opera.
DESERT SCARVES
WE KNOW David Beckham, Nicole
Kidman and skinny minnie A-list
starlets have been spotted in these
accessories, but they make you look
like a Sloane Ranger on a gap year
who’s gone pretentiously ethnic.
CRIMPING
THE enthusiasm for returning to the
Eighties knows no bounds. It was with
a sense of horror that we learned this
week of the relaunch of the decade’s
quintessential hair accessory, the
crimping irons.
Unless you’re
going to a fancy
dress party
masquerading
as a poodle,
such a
‘style’ should
never cross
your mind.
QUEUING
WHETHER
it’s real
(Sainsbury’s, Primark, Kate Moss at
Topshop) or virtual (Glastonbury,
Banksy pictures, TopShop), the past
few weeks have felt like a long wait in
a doctor’s surgery. We know patience
is supposed to be a virtue and the best
things in life are meant to come to
those who wait, but we’re starting to
have our doubts.