Throughout history, beauty has been a valuable and much

sought after commodity, and never has a healthy, attractive

appearance been more important than it is today. The cosmet-

ics industry is now a multibillion-dollar business. And when

cosmetology, the science of creating or enhancing beauty,

seems to need a helping hand, plastic surgery stands ready to

supplement its efforts.

Plastic surgeons attempt to reshape the body by correcting

real and sometimes imagined defects in an individual s face,

nose, breasts, or buttocks. The function such operations ful-

fill is social and psychological, and the price is sometimes

exorbitant.

Usually plastic surgery is concerned with specific defects,

whereas cosmetology deals with the general look of a person,

from skin care to makeup. The efforts of cosmetologists-and

plastic surgeons or dermatologists do overlap somewhat in the

area of skin care, however, particularly in the use of facial

abrasion. Cosmetologists normally handle the minor prob-

lems, attempting to apply the principles of clinical medicine

on a small scale. Unfortunately, what is medically right and

wrong in Skin care has not been definitively proven, which