THE Wonderbra. Kym Ng swears by it. She wears it every day, she admits.

'Never leave home without it,' she said.

The chatty actress-host doesn't have to. She has 20 pairs 'at least'.

Some people say beauty is only skin deep. But it doesn't even have to go so far.

Women have always resorted to tricks and techniques, some as old as civilisation itself, from ancient Egyptian eyeliner to Victorian corsets. Kym is far from being alone.

A recent survey, reported in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper, found that more than 90 per cent of women 'cheat to look more attractive'.

The poll of 1,300 women by Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex also said that half of them used push up bras to boost their cleavage.

Why does Kym need the Wonderbra anyway? She's hardly known for showing off her cleavage.

The reason: It helps give balance to her clothes. She has a relatively thick waist, she said, and so she uses the Wonderbra to fill out the top. This way, her clothes don't have to be altered so much and look better.

Her other tricks include mascara (putting on false lashes makes her look like a transvestite) and shading (a technique to make the face look thinner).

'It's okay, what. It's not like wearing daggers on the bra or anything that will hurt other people,' she said.

This is on top of a twice-a-day maintenance regime of masks, serums and creams that takes nearly an hour each time before she goes to work and before she sleeps.

Tricks, not cheats

Michelle Chia, 32, who will be hosting this year's President's Star Charity show on 12 Oct, says she doesn't really do any of the 'cheats' mentioned, though she does have a few tricks up her sleeve.

One of them is dabbing cream eye shadow on her eyelid and the edge of the eye near the nose to make her eyes look bigger.

She may also using shading if her face is a little 'puffy' from drinking too much the night before.

But her biggest 'cheat' may be her jeans. When she feels she has put on a bit of weight, noticeable only to herself, she may wear jeans that give her an 'extraordinarily perky butt' or elongate her legs.

She has one pair of G-Star jeans she swears by.

'My other tricks are quite basic make up routines,' she said.

Mathilda D'Silva, 25, the Singapore Idol 2 contestant, who will be singing and dancing at the President's Star Charity show, admits she's not the slimmest star.

She owns one pair of 'magic pants' or slimming underwear, which helps her squeeze her size 14 frame into size 12 clothes.

'Let me tell you this, every woman has magic pants,' she said.

Even singer Jennifer Lopez has been spotted wearing one at a concert.

And all performers will have a 'kit bag' brimming with fake lashes (with AND without glitter), fake hair, fake nails, fake everything, to help transform their 'afternoon look' into pure glam, Mathilda said.

You won't find Wonderbras in hers though.

'Look at this,' she said, pointing with her nose at her chest. 'Push up any more and I'll have a scandal.'

These 'tricks of the trade' are nothing new to celebrity make-up artist Andy Lee.

Hair looking a bit thin? Spray the scalp dark to make it look fuller.

Cream that makes skin look brighter without the unnaturalness of foundation.

False eyelashes, cut into pieces before being fixed on so they look real.

Shimmer oil to give skin an instant glow.

Eye tape to lift droopy eyelids.

Even Zoe Tay needs concealer for pimples and 'liquid silicon' to help cover her wrinkles on days she's tired from a tight filming schedule.

This is not cheating, but merely using enhancements, Mr Lee insisted.

Celebrity hair dresser Addy Lee said the number of artistes who use push-up bras and 'chicken fillets' to fill them out is 'scary'.

Stars also use tape to wrap around their breasts, pushing them up.

Fashion stylist and design lecturer Vik Lim said that while these tricks used to be taboo, they are now a lot more accepted.

And it's not just among women. He notes that padded underwear for men is also available nowadays.

Celebrities use these things because 'it's their job to look good'.

However he doubts the use of such tricks is as widespread among average Singaporean women as they are among the people questioned in the survey.

'I don't think Singaporean women are that bothered,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Oct 5, 2008.