03 February 2024 , 10:30
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Forget high heels and bouffant hairstyles, fake belly button tattoos are now the way to add a few inches to your height - according to one influencer.
The trend is believed to have started in China - where the average woman is reportedly 5ft 2 tall, around two inches smaller than the UK average. It involves applying a temporary stick-on tattoo that transfers onto the skin when wet. Yes, just like the spiderman tattoos you used to get from the 20p machine in the pub.
The tattoos allow users to create a second bellybutton, giving the illusion they are taller (or at least, their torso is). Influencer Laura Mejiar went viral after trying the trend herself - attracting a whopping 4.8 million views.
The influencer described the sticker as the 'strangest thing' she's ever seen (Jam Press Vid/@lauramejiar)
Mejia wasn't happy with the results... (Jam Press Vid/@lauramejiar)"This is the strangest thing I have ever seen in my life," the social media star, from Colombia, said as she unboxed the product. "This works like the tattoos that was paid for with water, so let's stick it on... How scary, does it look like a navel?"
However, Mejia wasn't exactly thrilled with the results. "I feel like instead of looking taller, I'm wider, but it's because I'm crazy... I don't know!" she added.
Customer fumes as tattoo artist selfishly hid their initials in design
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Many viewers were equally unimpressed with the finished look, with one user commenting: "It is just me or does the fake navel look shorter instead of longer?" While another said: "I don't think it looks like a navel." A third added: "Is it just me or did it make her look smaller?"
The trend has also come under fire for promoting western beauty standards, which often equates height with attractiveness. In fact, a 2019 poll conducted by Ipsos found 63 per cent of Chinese participants considered a height range between 5'5 and 5'9 to be ideal amongst women. "Can't we like cute, short legs?" one person asked.
What do you think of the fake bellybutton trend? Let us know in the comments section below