As we get older, wiser, more resilient, and better placed to back seat drive, the world does not reward us. Or our grey hair.

If the advances of human progress can make a potato chip taste like a beef rendang curry, why are women still, after all this time and progress, so judged by the way we look?

The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery estimates Australians spend around $1 billion a year on cosmetic procedures. We're talking facelifts, tummy tucks, brow lifts, neck lifts, rhinoplasties, breast implants. And the training bras of plastic surgery, Botox and fillers.

So if we're spending so much money on looking young, are we complicit in society's obsession with youth?

Women, young and old, tell us their stories of what drew them under the knife (or needle) while dermatologist Dr Ritu Gupta, marketing expert Karen Ferry, make-up artist Linda Jefferyes and beauty editor Cecily-Anna Bennett help to make sense of how we got here.

This episode is one of the best from the grand cathedrals of the Ladies, We Need to Talk archives.

Note: Karen Ferry is now an Advertising Executive Creative Director, no longer at Leo Burnett.