September 8, 2011
Young Stars Getting Prematurely Plumped Up, Experts Say
Although they have youth on their side, it seems a slew of young Hollywood beauties are still opting for knives, needles and not-so-subtle plumping procedures, and as a result could be ruining their God-given good looks.
This week the blogosphere has been abuzz with 17-year-old Ali Lohan‘s “new face,” sparking speculation as to how her cheek bones suddenly became so high and her lips so inflated.
And according to surgeons cited by the New York Post, big sister Lindsay Lohan, 26, had massive lip and cheek injections just prior to Kim Kardashian’s big wedding a couple weeks ago.
But its not just the Lohans who are in premature-plumping news.
Last year, Megan Fox, 25, sparked rumors of plastic surgery after debuting a bizarre “mask-like” face at a movie premiere. (She immediately took to social media to deny it.) Heidi Montag, 24, totally transformed her face with 10 procedures in one day alone. And Ashlee Simpson, 26, is rumored to have had a nose job, chin implants, dermal fillers, lip plumping, Botox, and a brow lift.
And that’s just to name a few.
So has this whole plump/fill/derma trend gone too far? Could young Hollywood now be mistaken for the 40-something “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”?
“Hollywood is largely an appearance-based industry, which puts a lot of pressure on both men and women to look their best at all times. Quite often, actors and actresses resort to cosmetic procedures to enhance and/or maintain their look. Many times the procedures go unnoticed, which is exactly how it’s supposed to work,” Alec Shankman, former talent agent and founder of the online casting agency GotCast.com. “However, there are some young stars like Heidi Montag who push it to the limit. We see otherwise naturally beautiful girls who became borderline unrecognizable in an effort to permanently ‘photo-shop’ themselves. This makes them look non-human and sends a terrible message to young girls around the country.”
And according to Dr. Tahl N. Humes, Medical Director & Owner of Vitahl Medical Aesthetics, those twentysomething’s surrounded by the Hollywood Hills are more likely than those in other parts of America to have a warped perception about what is attractive.
“Younger women in L.A. happen grow up faster given their social surroundings and are exposed to more than the average person. Los Angeles is home to some of the most beautiful people in the world and the need to look more beautiful than the woman next to you is much greater,” she explained. “Los Angeles is the Mecca of plastic surgery so the young women there tend to be drawn to their perception of perfection.”
Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Aaron Rollins of SonoBello in Beverly Hills concurred that not only does body dysmorphia run particularly rampant in the entertainment industry capital of L.A, but it also floats from part to part like fashion trends – one season its super skinny, then its triple-D chests, perhaps followed next month by chiseled cheekbones and bee-stung lips.
“Looks are so important in the industry that many end up going overboard in the pursuit of perfection. I often see this dysmorphia with women’s arms. They want their arms to be skin and bone and at the same time want muscle definition,” he explained. “It is usually focused on a certain area such as the breasts, face, or general thinness, and do I think there is an LA microculture that is somewhat out of synch with many other cities? I think the idea of what beauty is gets morphed in a city where most people are attractive.”
But in a twist of irony, there’s a group of somewhat older actresses including Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz and Emma Thompson who have bonded over their anti-plastic surgery stance. These stars have even gone so far as to form “The British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League,” in which they’ve vowed to age gracefully and never to fall victim to a surgeon’s knife.
“(Plastic surgery) goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty. I will never give in,” Winslet told the Independent.
Winslet and Co. have been widely praised for their outspoken position on message boards and blogs across the web, but according to Michigan-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Anthony Youn, these ladies and their scoffs at surgery are the epitome of “arrogance.”
“It’s pretty easy for them to claim they won’t change their looks and be anti-plastic surgery. None of them are known primarily for their beauty anyway, but for their acting talent. For Rachel and Kate, let’s see what they do when they age and the roles potentially dry up,” he said. “Hollywood isn’t kind to most aging actresses without the last name Sarandon or Streep, so I sympathize with those aging actors and actresses who’ve had work done. There are so many stars in Hollywood who have had conservative, well-performed plastic surgery, so for these three actresses to present themselves as above plastic surgery reeks of arrogance. Easy to throw stones when you are on top of the mountain.”
