“I have also experienced a surge in [removals] for the past five years. This trend reflects a bigger movement towards organic and natural – organic foods, natural medicines, non-GMO everything. Unless it’s about synthetic fur, nobody wants ‘fake’ or ‘manufactured’ products.”

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An even bigger driving force, however, has been social media, which is now encouraging women to embrace a more natural look.

“I think this positive change is being driven a lot by social media, because we have so many forms of expression right at our fingertips,” says journalist and influencer Danae Mercer. “Social media has created an incredible space where women feel they can express themselves in a variety of ways, whether that is posed or relaxed, incredibly artistically made-up with make-up, or make-up-free and rocking grey hair. Whatever makes them feel strong and powerful, they’re able to find or share it.

“That’s one of the real wonderful benefits of online – and we see this echo into the offline.”

Mercer is one of a growing group of women who are lifting the veil on the airbrushed and filtered world of social media.

While celebrities such as Kim Kardashian are known for posting heavily Photoshopped images, Mercer is empowering women by exposing the tricks people use to create more flattering images of their bodies on Instagram.

Her own personal feed, which includes “real” photos of her body – belly fat, cellulite and stretch marks included – has amassed over 1.9 million followers.

“I’m not judging – I pose and love good sunrise shots,” she says. “But I think by seeing only a certain type of image – as in, one that very closely aligns to the current ideal – it’s easy for women to get warped ideas about their own body. Here’s where we as consumers need to be really active, and make sure we diversify our feeds so that we see stuff which inspires and uplifts us.

“With things like cellulite and stretch marks, by seeing these portrayed on social media, women are starting to realise that it’s perfectly normal and healthy to have these. And through this knowledge, they possibly feel more empowered to rock all their wiggles and jiggles out in the world as well.”

While more women may be embracing an increasingly natural look, it’s doesn’t necessarily spell the end of plastic surgery completely. According to Chiu, both can coexist in harmony.

“Requests for implant removal has coincided with the request of having [smaller] breast implants with a more natural look. There is a common perception resulting from increased interested in holistic living that a more ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ look is going without implants, but in the last few years, women have been so drawn to a natural result that many are opting to have fat transfer to the breasts as an alternative to implants, even though fat transfer is more expensive than implant breast augmentation,” he says.

“This gives them a ‘two for one’ – getting rid of excess fat from resistant areas and augmenting their breast – and your breasts are all natural, not only in composition but in the way they look and feel.”