Lauren HuttonELLE.COM/UK September 2O19*NPD, August 2O18. **NPD, May 2O18. ***PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2O19 APA.
Photography: Beth Sternbaum/Art Partner Licensing, Gett y Images.238
ELLEBeauty
CHAMPIONING
the MOVEMENTas the new face of Saint Laurent, looking not unlike the Atlas Mountains:
rugged, but an undeniably beautiful sight. And actors such as Brooke
Shields and Nicole Kidman have turned their backs on the needle, too.
Fifteen years ago, things were very different. Beauty culture found
itself in the grip of an anti-ageing epidemic, with phrases such as ‘stop
the clock’ and ‘wrinkle-busting’ standard parlance for anyone over- Botox was rhapsodised about on the cover ofTIMEmagazine,
while filler sprinkled its magic upon the caverns and hollows of half of
Hollywood’s faces. One of the most popular programmes on British TV
was 1O Years Younger– a show that promised to scrub the last vestiges
of age from its contestants through a combination of style advice, non-
invasive beauty treatments and, in some cases, cosmetic surgery. While
culture has always genuflected at the altar of youth, the messaging back
then was clear: everyone can – and should – want to stay young forever.
So the advent of McSurgery was upon us. Clinics were inundated
with 22-year-olds who wanted ‘preventative
Botox’, while fortysomethings clamoured to
conceal any lines through cheek-inflating,
jowl-lifting plumpers. Lunchtime Botox, ’Baby’
Botox and lip fillers for less than the cost of a
train ticket meant that everyone aged 21 to 81
could stay wrinkle-free. It also meant something
else... An eerie new aesthetic spread across
our streets – a sea of faces that bore toddler-
round cheeks, tumescent pouts and immobile
foreheads. In our desire to run from the tides
of time, everybody ended up looking not
younger exactly, but... the same. As is often
the way with cultural trends, a kickback began brewing in 2O17, with
brands waging an anti-ageing campaign – one that hailed the best sort
of beauty as a face not curated by doctors, but by the life you had lived.
At the Medicetics clinic on London’s Harley Street, Dr Vicky Dondos
is one of those doctors. She has steadily made a name for herself as
one of the go-to ‘face whisperers’ for those wanting ‘zero-detection
work ’. For the past 1O years, Dr Dondas has offered everything from
light Botox to restructuring fillers, and her clientele has willingly taken it.
Until now. For Dr Dondos has not only seen a surge in the number of
women wanting their old faces back – she herself is a leading the charge.
In fact, it was Dr Dondos who worked with Jenny to claw back her
original face. But, she explains, it’s not a simple task. Years of fillers
can stretch the skin, meaning you’ll need an experienced doctor to
rebalance and soften without leaving things slack. Jenny embarked on
a ‘Botox diet’: nine months cold turkey to let the face return to a more
Tracee Ellis RossDiane KeatonMichelle PfeifferTilda Swinton“ IT’S ABOUT
LIKING your FAC E ,
not BEING
CONCERNED
T H AT you LO OK
‘TOO OLD’ ”
natural state, a focus on ‘skin health’ to improve texture and firmness
through non-invasive care, and a reintroduction of much-reduced
amounts of Botox to shift the deepest of lines. And Jenny is not the first.
‘More women are embracing technologies [such as facials and
lasers] that allow them to look their best at different ages,’ says Dr Dondos.
‘It’s no longer about escapism or vanity, but self-care, liking your face,
and not being held back by concerns that you look “too old”.’
Requests for trout pouts and taut foreheads have given way to
clients seeking to ‘reclaim’ their faces. ‘I regularly receive enquiries
about undoing fillers,’ says beauty editor favourite Dr Sophie Shotter
‘[These women] are proud of their age, but just want to look like the
best versions of themselves. Very few now ask me to take 1O years off.’
Dr Nima Mahmoodi, who works across a number of clinics in the UK,
agrees that the philosophy around ‘having work ’ is changing. While
the trend in Essex (where he has a clinic) ‘is still for that bigger-is-better
aesthetic... and [with] certain nationalities, their
approach is: the more work you have done, it
shows how much money you have’, in London,
his clients now prefer ‘the natural approach’.
This notion of relaxing your stance on
wrinkles doesn’t just end in clinics. In the world
of make-up, a new look has emerged that
goes further than ‘natural beauty’ to... barely
any at all. Last year, make-up sales only saw
3% growth, compared to that of skincare at
16% ,* while sales of contouring products are
in decline,** as consumers ditch the coverage.
There is also evidence to suggest
that allowing lines to reappear in their rightful place might change
the way other people view you. In a recent study that focused
on the ‘Duchenne smile’ (essentially, how genuine your smile is),
participants were shown photographs of people with more wrinkles
around the eyes and perceived them to not only be happier than those
without, but also more sincere.*** According to psychology professor
Daniel Messinger, who led the research, ‘It suggests facial actions have
simple meanings, and that the key to this language is constriction of
the eyes.’ ‘In other words, a given facial action could shape your
social interactions,’ says Nour Malek, another author on the paper.
With new technologies (plumping HydraFacials, tightening lasers,
glow-boosting microneedling) enabling you to sport beautiful skin
without making a mask of youth out of it, looking good while still looking
like you is easily achievable. As age-embracing Jenny so brilliantly puts
it, ‘Botox and fillers are just the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.’