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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Why do older American women disfigure their faces?

165 replies

notsmelliesagain · 28/12/2016 18:35

I watched the first episode of Real Marigold Hotel on Tour - Florida today.
It was excellent.
But, wtaf have those American women done to their faces? and how can they possibly think they look good, or younger? Do they have different mirrors to the rest of us?
How can their surgeons possibly think they've done a good job?
Miriam and Clarissa actually looked younger and more attractive in comparison.

44.20 onwards.

OP posts:
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Rainbunny · 28/12/2016 19:44

To be honest seeing famous people looking weird from the work they've had done is enough to stop me from going down the botox route. I'm sure they all started off only having occasional botox done "subtly" but for one reason or another it's not where their faces have ended up. It might be that they didn't know when to stop or it might really be that interfering however "subtly" with your face in your 40's will have repercussions on your face in later decades. It makes me leary of botox/fillers, if something seems too good to be true etc...

Some women do look wonderful as they age though, I'm always curious if Jane Fonda has had work done on her face, if so then she is a success story as I think she looks phenomenal! Madonna, Courtney Cox, Nicole Kidman etc... not good. I swear RObert Redford had some serious work (facelift?) done several years ago as well - I saw him in person at the Sundance festival and he looked like wax! Shame.

Zaya00 · 28/12/2016 19:45

There's different kinds of fillers. Juvaderm and Restalyne break down and disappear within a year anyway. Those are just the two I know.
For something like nose to mouth lines the amount I had put in is about one eighth of a teaspoon (for both sides). Takes 5 mins. People do all sorts of things to their bodies that are more damaging.

MaccaPaccaismyNemesis · 28/12/2016 19:47

This whole obsession with fillers and fake lips is too much. People are looking just plain odd- Jessie Wallace was on the the other day and her face barely moves!

lljkk · 28/12/2016 19:50

Carrie Fisher spoke in a really weird way in recent interviews, something to do with botox around her mouth, I think. Put me off, anyway.

expatinscotland · 28/12/2016 19:51

It's not just Americans . . . Hmm

MrsJayy · 28/12/2016 19:51

There is extension salons in my village women setting up botox and fillers from their houses and our dentist does it. so it is widespread not that I fancy it the needle going in made me feel queasy

Lorelei76 · 28/12/2016 19:53

Squidge, what do you mean by "flat patches" please?

1horatio · 28/12/2016 19:55

Some Botox can look quite nice, tbh. But this?

In my family people do face yoga. They don't try to finance singlehandedly a plastic surgeon's retirement!

Anatidae · 28/12/2016 19:55

It doesn't happen instantly though - there's so much pressure on women to look young, especially in film and tv. They probably do start off with subtle stuff, look younger then decide to have more done - the problem is that you can't have too much done or it's noticeable. Humans are excellent at reading faces... even tiny alterations in muscle function look odd.
The key is probably knowing when to stop - one or two subtle procedures or slight tweaks. That has to be hard when time is constantly undoing the work. The temptation to do more must be great.

MaccaPaccaismyNemesis · 28/12/2016 20:04

It's not just American women but perhaps wealth is a driving factor. Too much time and money to look in the mirror and ponder perhaps

limitedperiodonly · 28/12/2016 20:06

I wouldn't be against having a little bit of work done, but I would know when to stop and would definitely keep some laughter lines at least.

Don't be so sure OP. If everyone in your social circle was having something done to their faces you would look around you and feel the pressure to should conform. You might not do that but you would feel the pressure. Meanwhile, within that social circle that would be an acceptable look.

With London eyes that are slightly younger I think Sharon Osbourne looks strange, but not as strange as other LA women of her age.

Fillers and Botox work magnificently if they are done well, but in London in your 50s you might be looking at a facelift. But only if that's what you want and can afford. It's not compulsory but it's naive to say that these things don't make you look good. Not a better person but then, it's not a personality transplant.

Miriam Margoyles is very amusing but can also be a right cunt.

FurryLittleTwerp · 28/12/2016 20:07

They do look hideous!

Miriam Margolyes, to my mind, is not a great beauty (sorry, Miriam), but she looks so much more attractive & normal, vibrant & expressive, compared to the others.

Just like she has always looked in fact, but older & with grey hair & a few wrinkles so what

Zaya00 · 28/12/2016 20:11

Anstide - yes it's true. Also, when you go, the doctor will often try to "up sell" by pointing out some other area of your face (that you had never thought twice about) that could benefit from some treatment other. It can be quite tempting when you're in there.
Anyway I just presume most of my friends have had something done. I told DH I was going to get Botox but he doesn't really seem to register these things.

lottieandmia · 28/12/2016 20:11

Who cares if they don't look younger? It's their face, their body. I never understand why so many people think this sort of thing is their business.

Rainbunny · 28/12/2016 20:12

Yep so it seems Jane Fonda has had work done, but she went the plastic surgery/facelift route not fillers/botox. I'd lean towards a facelift later on then rather than botox/fillers now which I believe can have unpredictable effects on facial muscles in the long run.

yumyumpoppycat · 28/12/2016 20:12

Jane fonda has had surgery www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/21/jane-fonda-youth-plastic-surgery-sex-cannes

SquidgeyMidgey · 28/12/2016 20:13

Lorelei I meant it as a catch-all for all the parts of the face that should move in the course of a normal conversation, let alone while laughing or crying. Also the lack of normal, natural contours in women of an age that are plumped with fillers.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 28/12/2016 20:14

Lotte - no one thinks it is "their business". We are just discussing it.

What is the point of invasive, painful and expensive procedures if not an attempt to look younger? Genuine question.

SavageBeauty73 · 28/12/2016 20:20

I work in Notting Hill and the faces are terrifying.

nichito · 28/12/2016 20:21

It's just awfully sad really, and a fool's errand if ever there was one.

I doubt a soul alive could honestly claim they did not at least UNDERSTAND the yearning to preserve the various physical qualities of youth, but it's just not really doable and as a very forthright male friend of mine put it, on a purely biological, "jerk of the knee" level a fairly scruffy/ordinary-looking 20-year-old is almost always going to be sexier to most men than a very facially beautiful and well turned out 50-year-old. It's unfair, but them's the brakes.

And surely - as trite a phrase as it is - there is more to life than just being eternally sexy anyway? I imagine that I will find it a difficult thing to grow away from as I age and in a human level can't fail to understand the efforts that some people go to - but surely they can see it doesn't work?!

perfumedlife · 28/12/2016 20:21

I agree OP, they all just looked old with odd faces. You can spend as much as you like on plastic surgery or fillers and botox, nothing in the world will give you younger eyeballs so it's all pointless Grin.

Lorelei76 · 28/12/2016 20:23

Squidge, thanks.

Perfumed, younger eyeballs?!

MrsDustyBusty · 28/12/2016 20:24

I am a bit shocked by the lack of imagination here. Of course these women don't think they look 25. But what they do look like is women of their social group. Most people want that. They're older and wealthy and there's a certain look that says wealth. They go for that look.

SquidgeyMidgey · 28/12/2016 20:34

So are women doing it so they don't look wrinklier than their friends rather than because they think they look younger? That's hardly intelligent feminism at work, not sure if it's even weaker than doing it to look good for your man.

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