What the hell happened to Jennifer Lawrence’s face?
Celebrity watchers took to Twitter last week to demand answers after J-Law was spotted wearing a stunning new look at Christian Dior’s latest women’s fashion show.
With seemingly newly filled lips, a fuller jawline, soft cheeks – and a forehead as smooth as a couture velvet dress – Lawrence’s fans struggled to figure out if she was even her in the pictures.
Now I’m all for women doing whatever they want. But I feel a certain sadness as I see yet another starlet being defaced – transformed from a beauty into a botched one.
Of course, surgery and Hollywood are not a new love match.
But it strikes me that the shamelessly plastic-fantastic look of our aging grande dames – the Chers, the Madonnas, the Donatella Versaces – is suddenly being adopted by younger and younger celebrities.
What the hell happened to Jennifer Lawrence’s face? Celebrity watchers took to Twitter last week to demand answers after J-Law was spotted wearing a stunning new look at Christian Dior’s latest women’s fashion show.
Now I’m all for women doing whatever they want. But I feel a certain sadness as I see yet another starlet being defaced – transformed from a beauty into a botched one. (Pictured: Lawrence last year).
As a woman in her mid-twenties, I understand this.
We have now been taught to fear the big 3-0 because it means final exclusion from the youth who do not have medical care. That our thirties will be a minefield of smile lines and sagging spots and that once 29 comes to an end, it’s time to head to the surgeon’s office.
A few weeks ago, a friend casually asked if I had considered giving myself “baby Botox” – where you inject yourself with relatively small amounts even though you don’t need it to prevent the aging process.
The honest answer is that I’ve thought about it a lot.
The fact that women routinely ask themselves such things these days – and at such a surprisingly young age (I’m 25) – says a lot.
Blame Instagram. Blame the Kardashians. But it’s actually no surprise if Lawrence, at 33, has actually succumbed to this pressure.
Celebrities – especially female celebrities – are in the public eye, constantly photographed and ruthlessly shamed when caught having a bad day.
Lawrence has never spoken about whether she has had any cosmetic enhancements – but she has spoken about her tough experiences as an actress, including the pressure to strip and lose weight.
In 2017, she told a publication, “A producer had me do a nude pose with about five women who were much, much thinner than me.” “We stood side by side with only our private parts covered with duct tape… The producer told me , I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.”
Could it be the pressures of the industry that led to her latest look? She wouldn’t be the only one.
Celebrities are in the public eye, constantly photographed and ruthlessly shamed when caught having a bad day. You have no chance. Lawrence has spoken about her tough experiences as an actress, including the pressure to strip and lose weight. Could it be the pressures of the industry that led to her latest look? She wouldn’t be the only one.
Ariana Grande, who turned 30 just a few months ago, recently admitted that she had “a lot” of work done in her mid-twenties.
Speaking to Vogue, the singer said: “I’ve used a lot of lip fillers and Botox over the years.” I stopped in 2018. I want to see my well-deserved tears… Aging can be such a beautiful thing.”
Entries like Grande’s are rare. Usually, all we can do is speculate whether famous faces have received a little help, even if it’s ridiculously obvious. (Looking at you, Kylie Jenner).
Most want us to believe that they fell asleep one day with flat chests and wrinkled skin, only to wake up the next day with double Ds and porcelain skin. (Don’t worry, Kim K, we all think a few squats made your ass double in size!)
Even Lady Gaga, now 38 and known for her alternative looks and general “IDGAF” attitude, appears to have walked the needle.
In recent years, the singer has literally acquired an immovable poker face.
In 2013, Gaga told Howard Stern, “I’ve never had much to do, but I went through a phase where I smoked weed and where I was really obsessed with getting facial injections.”
Maybe this phase never ended.
Selena Gomez was recently mocked on social media for her teeth.
The star appears to have opted for a new set of pearl white veneers that are slightly too big for her mouth. Even the liberal Washington Post published an article about her, commenting, “Now everyone has the same smile… and it’s kind of creepy.”
Ariana Grande, who turned 30 just a few months ago, recently admitted that she had “a lot” of work done in her mid-twenties. Speaking to Vogue, the singer said: “I’ve used a lot of lip fillers and Botox over the years.” I stopped in 2018. I want to see my well-deserved tears… Aging can be such a beautiful thing.”
Even Lady Gaga, now 38 and known for her alternative looks and general “IDGAF” attitude, appears to have walked the needle. In recent years, the singer has literally acquired an immovable poker face.
Selena Gomez was recently mocked on social media for her teeth. The star appears to have opted for a new set of pearl white veneers that are slightly too big for her mouth. Even the liberal Washington Post published an article about her, commenting, “Now everyone has the same smile… and it’s kind of creepy.”
Like Lawrence, the best thing Gomez could have done is do nothing. Tampering with this enviable, natural look is bound to lead to disaster.
But like I said, I completely understand.
As soon as I was eligible, I hopped on a bus to a local clinic on my eighteenth birthday to get my lips filled. What was wrong with my mouth? Absolutely nothing.
But where I grew up, in South Wales, gigantic lips hanging over your face had become the new trend, and teenagers like me were struggling to keep up.
At $200 per person, that was hardly affordable for a waitress’ wage.
Especially when – and no one seems to tell you this – I had to come back every six months to keep my pout in shape.
If you don’t, the filler may break down unevenly and migrate past your lips in unsightly clumps.
I became so obsessed with the effects wearing off that I often exceeded the recommended two visits per year. There was a time when I got the same amount of lip fillers every month as many other people do in a year.
But no practitioner warned me that this was dangerous or that it would change my face in ways that I could never undo. They just kept pocketing my money.
A few years later I decided things were getting ridiculous and stopped stuffing for good. My lips were full of lumps like a deformed Daffy Duck.
It’s been almost three years now and I still feel lumps spreading across my face. Even if I opt for a painful dissolution procedure, I doubt my lips will return to normal.
Last year I also had a “mini” rhinoplasty, which involved shaving off the cartilage instead of breaking bones.
My nose had plagued me my entire life and I couldn’t be happier with the procedure – not least because, unlike injections, rhinoplasty does not require repeated follow-up examinations.
As soon as I was allowed, I had my lips filled. At $200 per person, that was hardly affordable for a waitress’ wage. Especially when I had to come back every six months to pump up my pout. A few years later I decided things were getting ridiculous and stopped stuffing for good. My lips were all lumpy like a deformed Daffy Duck. (Pictured: Kara Kennedy).
That’s the thing with so-called “tweakments”, especially when you start so young. From the second you have that little bit of “baby Botox,” that tiny squirt of filler, you’re committing to potentially decades, almost a lifetime, of fillers.
The result: you end up looking like Joan Collins before you outgrew your bike training wheels.
We’re often told that these toxic chemicals will naturally leave your body after a few months, as simple as blow-drying on your lunch break.
That’s simply not true.
26-year-old Kylie Jenner’s marbled, moon-like face should be a warning to us all.
According to a recent survey, a whopping 27 percent of patients who received Botox were 34 years old or younger in 2022 – up 6 percent from 2015.
According to the same report, three-quarters of facial plastic surgeons reported an increase in the number of patients under 30 seeking treatment.
But where does it end?
We are in danger of becoming a cardboard cutout society of freak show wax figures. The bride of Wildenstein, our commander in chief.
I’ve been clean for three years now. My secret? Every time I think about getting fillers again, I pull up Madonna’s latest Instagram, where she’s no doubt showing off the results of her latest shocking procedure. That’s enough to put anyone off.