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"My husband initially declared he was forbidding me from having a facelift.  I just laughed at him and said:  Get used to it because I'm doing it!'  He was actually quite worried, more than trying to impose his will on me.  He just expressed his feelings with the wrong choice of words" she says.

The day before the operation, Linda was a bit apprehensive, but any doubts dissipated the second she saw her reflection in the bathroom's huge mirror - the saggy skin had to go.  The next day. she still felt somewhat apprehensive, but figured that if the doctor could fill in the forms with such neat handwriting, then his stitches would also be tidy.

The operation was a success [even though she later learnt the same surgeon had botched up a number of operations], and once the bandages were off, her bruising healed and her stitches came out, the compliments started flowing in.

"I had inherited droopy eyelids from my father's side of the family, so after the facelift I suddenly discovered I had blue eyes "

Post-surgery, she returned to the solicitors office and the staff's reaction sickened her.  "Suddenly, they were showering me with compliments and saying how lovely I looked. The company's partner said: Right,  we're not going to put you in the office upstairs; well put you at the front of house and you can see all the new clients because all the men will love you.  I dropped my bag in shock.  I couldn't believe I was hearing this." she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"My reply was that if they couldn't treat me this way with my old face, they were not going to treat me like this with my new one. and I turned back and walked out. It's a shallow world, I know, but it really struck me that they were so blatant about it."

That was the Last time she ever worked for anybody again, and in 2000, she decided to set up her own information service to try and help those seeking surgery to be sure they were in the hands of the right surgeon.

In the meantime, she was also trying out the doctors herself and undergoing cosmetic interventions, including laser treatment around the eyes; dermabrasion to the top lip: widening of the eyes by two millimetres; eyesight correction; treatment for the backs of the hands; two lots of liposuction to the hips, thighs and abdomen; semi-permanent make-up; IPL facial rejuvenation; and buckets of Botox and derma fillers.  The next step is to have her breasts lifted "to where they belong."

However, despite the many procedures, Linda still looks at herself in the mirror with a critical eye: "Sometimes, I think one eye should be half a millimetre higher than the other,or that I need a tiny little bit of filler in my top lip"

Can it become addictive?

"I don't think so.  The problem with me is that the more I understand about the procedures and the more I knew what's available, the less