The Camels Have Started Looksmaxxing

Welcome to the world of camel beauty pageantry, where it appears even camels can fall victim to aesthetic "enhancements" and looksmaxxing. With up to 30,000 contestants and a prize fund of up to $66 million, owners are going to extreme lengths for droopy lips, elongated noses and a plump hump in their four-legged friends.

Scandal has rocked recent beauty pageants, from the 2021 King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Saudi Arabia to the 2026 Camel Beauty Show in Oman. Camels have been disqualified due to the use of botox, growth hormones, hyaluronic acid, silicone wax and even facelifts, all in the chase for prestige and prize.

In an attempt to crack down on camel plastic surgery, pageants have introduced rigorous tests to rule out foul play. All camels must now undergo a veterinary examination, a full-body 3D ultrasound and X-rays.

But as the camel beauty industry booms throughout the Gulf, where a prestige camel is not only a cash prize but a marker of status and elite breeding rights, can we really clamp down enough to prevent these animal rights abuses? Or will the chase for unrealistic beauty standards simply become more covert? The beauty industry needs a U-Haul, and maybe this time we can leave the camels out of it too.

Words by @smizzowrites