When I was about 20, my mum and my stepdad came into my room, sat me down and said

Bobbi Brown: 'supermodels are freaks of nature'

they had something serious to tell me. I was terrified. I thought they were about to say they were getting divorced. What could be so important that they both had to sit me down to talk? "We think you're really pretty," they said, "but you'd be beautiful if you had your nose fixed."

I was shocked. I certainly didn't have a button nose, but I never said I was unhappy with it. I wasn't angry with my parents - it just made me realise that my nose is part of my identity. It was the moment my views on cosmetic surgery were formed.

The cult of plastic surgery has created a weird tribe of women who, rather than looking better, just look "done". It's not about class or wealth - everyone is doing it and they don't look better, they just look changed.

It's become so common that considering surgery when you hit a certain age is expected. I wasn't immune to it myself. When I was in my late thirties - I'm 49 now - and things were starting to head south, I wondered whether I should do anything. My husband looked at me as though I were insane. It didn't take much to discourage me, but it was something I felt I had to think about - it's sad that it arose at all.

It disappoints me that something similar is happening in Britain. I always thought British women were much more comfortable with themselves and less neurotic about the quest for youth.

We're bombarded with images of women who have been airbrushed and face-lifted, but isn't it time for some kind of backlash? In centuries to come, anthropologists will look at pictures of Western women with spherical breasts, swollen lips and unnaturally taut skin and wonder: "What did they do to themselves?"

My opinions may seem hypocritical, since I'm in the beauty industry and promote the idea of looking wonderful. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look pretty, but this doesn't mean you have to change the shape of your face. Go for a run or a walk instead. Wear some concealer.

What's wrong with having lines around your eyes, anyway? I actually like them. I've had a freckle removed from my nose that bothered me for years, but I wouldn't want to do anything that would make me look like someone else.

Some women argue that surgery makes them feel better about themselves and therefore happier, but I think they've been conned. If you're not happy and comfortable with yourself, no amount of needles or scalpels will make a difference.

There's something scary about the current baby-doll aesthetic. I've been a make-up artist since the Eighties, when there seemed to be many ways to look beautiful. You could have big, bushy eyebrows and no make-up, you could look androgynous, or you could look ultra-feminine.

The top models then may have been young, but they didn't necessarily look young. It was often an advantage to look a little knowing.

Nowadays, models have child-like faces instead of strong features. I booked the British model Kirsty Hume for one of my campaigns recently and people thought I was making a bold statement - just because she is 30. I chose her because she looks amazing but, since everyone is now so fixated with youth, it seemed unusual.

Believe me, I know what it is to feel under pressure about your looks. Once, when I was working at a swimwear show, I remember looking up (I'm 5 ft tall) to see Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington - all in full make-up, all in swimsuits - standing in front of me. I was 30 and pregnant and just thought: "There's no point trying to look like these women: supermodels are freaks of nature."

Women are now aspiring not just to look beautiful, but to look super-young, too. America's current role models are Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. They look like kids wearing Mummy's clothes and jewellery. This is not what we should aspire to.

Everyone thinks they have to look camera-ready all the time. Every woman who has a baby feels she has to be in tight jeans within weeks. Your body changes when you have a baby. Why do we have to make it look as though nothing has happened? There's nothing more beautiful than a natural-looking woman - whatever her age. It doesn't mean that they've given up on their looks.

I did Susan Sarandon's make-up recently and I'm pretty certain she hasn't had surgery. I think most people would agree that she looks sexy and beautiful. She's almost 60 and she doesn't try to look younger. I have a picture of myself as I want to look at 80: I want to look as though I've enjoyed life, not obsessed about looking younger.

When I sold my company, I said to my dear mother: "OK, we're going to buy you a condo." Do you know what she replied? "Can't I have a face-lift instead?" I said "no", of course.

If you want to look better, get a new hairdo and learn to do your make-up properly - don't get someone to cut your face.