Towards the end of my pregnancy my pout was distinctly enhanced. I have to admit I liked it. A lot. And my plumped up smackers must have been fairly impressive because many others commented on them too. I even made an extra effort with sheeny shiny lipgloss and everything.
Alas almost as soon as we welcomed Mabel into the world my lips returned to their average size. And I’d be fibbing if I didn’t tell you I miss them. Would I consider having fillers? I might. I’m in my 30’s and I’m experiencing the first real signs of ageing, I personally think it’s fine to endeavour to claw back a little youthful glow if it makes you feel more confident. I would carry out the relevant research required to find a recommended and talented practitioner and I would take my time weighing up the pros and cons. I would be seeking subtlety, not an entire transformation.
This post however isn’t about me, or aimed at ladies with enough life experience to decide if they require aesthetic enhancement from non-invasive treatments (Can we save actual plastic surgery for another feature? I feel there is simply too much to discuss) It’s about young girls. REALLY young girls who’s faces haven’t even developed into womanhood enough to know what they even look like themselves.
I’ve only ever watched bits of the Kardashians here and there so I’m definitely not an expert, but I would have been living under a rock if I wasn’t aware of the global phenomenon that was Kylie Jenner (70 million followers on instagram!). Her face is completely different to how it looked a couple of years ago, there has to be some serious Botox going on, not least due to her rather extensive lip growth. She was a very pretty girl before. She is a very pretty girl now. This isn’t a post about before/after either – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But it is a post about the fact she was seventeen…seventeen, when she embarked on her first dalliance with a needle.
And I’m seeing it more and more. And it makes me really really sad. There seems to be a general trend in makeupville for these very matt quite grey toned “nude” liquid lipsticks sitting on top of mouths so huge they are disproportionate to all other features. Or is that the point? I have a distinct feeling in a decade or perhaps even far less time, we’ll look back as we do now on Rimmel’s Heather Shimmer or applying concealer as lipstick and outlining in a deep shade of mauve (The Body Shop’s Beech lipliner was the bomb in the 90’s!) and cringe. The thing is, you could wash a poor choice of product away. I’m not entirely sure what the long-term effects of endless top ups of filler might be.
Apparently Kylie Jenner’s lip kits sell out in minutes, and the NYX lip lingerie range offers excellent dupes.
Every shade I tried looked bloody awful on me, like I needed a good nights sleep (I probably do to be fair) and just not in any way flattering. I actually look better without anything on that I do in those hues, un-enhanced pout and all.
Perhaps I’m simply too old to get it.
What I do know is, this desire for very young girls to completely alter their appearance is….really worrying. Whatever next?
P.S After yesterdays post about kissing on Rock My Family I feel as though I’ve been a) a bit obsessed with lips of late (!) and b) have a short term lease on a soap box…
I promise next week standard features will resume and I will entice you to buy LOTS of lovely things #dirtyenabling
Oh, where to begin.
I’m so judgey when it comes to this sort of thing. Admittedly, I can half understand why women my age fill their face with chemicals – were not getting any younger – but while I see lines and normal sized lips on my face, all I see is my face. I can say the last 18 months has aged me beyond anything I ever expected, but not once have I wanted to stick needles in it. My face tells my story and that’s just fine.
When it comes to young ladies doing it, I worry. Not just for the fact that they’re trying to live up to that hideously impossible media image, but SURELY there are health risks? Only time will tell.
Let’s hope it’s just a phase! (I’m such an old woman) x
I hope it’s just a phase too, I just wonder how reversible it is.
I’m judgey too when it comes to botox and fillers and I spot them a mile off on people. There is a girl who goes to my gym and is in her early twenties and she has the most amazing body but I find it so sad that the top half of her face barely moves and she ends up with that strained look around her nose when she smiles. I personally would not want anything injected in my face – there are some amazing facials and beauty treatments available and I prefer a pamper to the thought of needles. I wouldn’t ever rule out a nip or tuck at retirement age but I think you need to learn to know your body and become confident in your own skin in your twenties and thirties and not resort to drastic treatments.
I think there are a lot of untrained/unexperienced folk out there practicing non-invasive treatments that really shouldn’t. It’s awful how there seems to be so few restrictions on who can “train”. I think the point is you shouldn’t be able to tell what someone has had done if the practitioner is skilled, I’ve got a few friends who look great/well rested after subtle filler/botox. But like you Claire, there are more than a few ladies at my gym who just look very altered in terms of little expression. And why anyone would want anything like that in their 20’s I have no idea.
I just find the trend for all this so sad. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make the best of yourself, but part of growing up (a process which never really ends) is learning to accept yourself for who you are, (perceived) flaws and all. I worry that all these cosmetic procedures, whether non-invasive or surgical, are going to stop girls from getting to a point where they are actually happy with who they are and how they look. Stuff about my appearance that really used to bother me when I was younger now doesn’t cause me a second thought (this might be because new niggles have taken over, but still…) – how would I feel if I had taken steps to ‘fix’ myself back then? I really don’t know.
A girl I know who is nineteen(!) recently had lip fillers. She was beautiful before and after…I honestly wouldn’t even have noticed she’d done it if she hadn’t told me. Maybe it made her FEEL better about herself. Quite possibly there’s nothing at all wrong with that. But something about it makes me feel a bit…uncomfortable. I just hope that the next generation isn’t prevented from reaching a point where they realise that looking like an unenhanced version of yourself is okay. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and I feel we should be able to celebrate our physical differences instead of all trying to look similar. Not that I’ve given it much thought.. 😉
Hi Tracy, I’ve thought about it a lot more recently, I think because it’s all so prevalent on social media. I go back and forth between feeling like a hypocrite (for considering certain treatments myself) to feeling it’s all so sad/uncomfortable to feeling that everyone has the right to make their own decisions and it’s none of my business. I think maybe I need to concentrate on something else! x
I think being a mummy of a daughter draws your attention to this – it does for me, anyway. Everyone absolutely has a right to make their own choices without judgement, but I know when I was young I had many more insecurities than I do now, and I can’t see how social media wouldn’t enhance that for today’s teenagers. I just look at my beautiful girl and think how I would never want her to believe that she’s anything less than perfect! x
I want to get the sentiment of this post, but it does come across a little patronising when women beyond a certain age start commenting on the life choices of women below a certain age. I’m personally not bothered about what Kylie does or doesn’t do to her face, irrespective of her age. It’s her face, not mine. Actually what makes me uncomfortable, more than someone’s individual choice about what they do with/to their own body is a post that is all about judging them. I’ve read on here and other RM blogs that this is a judgement-free space. This post goes directly against that. Would it be fair to judge a 16 year old girl for getting pregnant and having a baby? That’s irreversible and has a direct impact on another life. But that would probably be considered unfair. So why isn’t this post? We (women) should be encouraging each other, not finding reasons to judge and bring each other down. Looking forward to more positive posts next week.
Hi Amma, I’m sorry you find this post patronising. That isn’t the point at all. I have a daughter (currently two and a half) and I wouldn’t want her to feel pressured into making decisions I feel as a teenager ( as per the mention of Kylie Jenner’s age) she isn’t experienced enough to make. You are quite right – anyone can do anything to their face/body that they please, I’m not “judging” her in respect of thinking any more/less of her for her personal decisions. But as a mother I worry. Continually. And although this isn’t a particularly positive subject, it is one that has been discussed amongst friends and family recently, I’m choosing to highlight it on RMS with the community as it resonates with me.
I know and I also appreciate that you don’t always talk about positive thing on here. That is not a problem at all (I like the meatier topics of discussion!) And I also appreciate that images perpetuated on social media can be damaging (the same goes for people who are at an unhealthy weight etc etc). Shouldn’t it be more about how we educate our children on personal image and such like rather than it just being about criticising young women for making a particular choice? Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to get into a discussion about how bad (subjectively speaking of course, as beauty really is in the eye of the beholder) someone looks for having had work done (as indeed some of these comments have done). It’s an opinion, yes, and we’re all entitled to one but it’s not helpful to either the young women we’re discussing or the children we’re trying to protect.
Hi Amma, yes education is key, I wonder if it might be worth interviewing a qualified/experienced practitioner to gain a better understanding of the procedures, after effects and long term effects/potential negative side effects so that readers can at least make a more informed decision/take a view once they have more knowledge on the subject? Even if we assist just one person, it’s a job worth doing.
Agreed. I think that’s a fab idea!
Super, I just spoke with Lauren and we’re both fascinated/really think it’s worthwhile so we’re already on it. Thanks Amma! x
Awesome. Thanks Charlotte 🙂
I think the trend for all these fillers etc has become a bit worrying because like you say it’s not just make up that can be washed off, if you over-do it you could permanently change your face! I can understand a little bit of subtle Botox over a certain age but I know someone in their early twenties with a face full of Botox and lip fillers that are getting bigger and bigger and it pains me because I just think ‘why??’ Maybe that is judgemental but I can’t help it, I think it looks ridiculous. I don’t get this desire to resemble a blow up doll to be honest… Each to their own I guess but I do think there are far too many unscrupulous cosmetic surgeons out there willing to carry out procedures that just aren’t necessary on women who are too young to need them. It’s also worrying from the point of view that young women are apparently so lacking in confidence that they don’t want to just enhance their natural looks with a bit of make up but completely change them with needles and fillers to try and look like a cookie cutter doll. I hope this odd trend is over by the time my daughter hits her teens… Then again it could be even worse!
I feel really strongly about this, with all the strong women in her (Kylie Jenner’s) family, I’m so cross that none of them seems to have spoken up and told a minor to at least wait until she was 18 to inject things in to her face. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to grow up in the public eye and with such glamorous older sisters but still, it saddens me that she felt the need to mess with her face so young