CosBeauty Magazine #89

AESTHETIC ADVISOR
A DISTORTED
REALITY?
Today’s celebrities can appear ageless – and
nobody emulates this more than Jennifer Lopez
aka J.Lo, the new ‘face’ and ‘body’ of a 50-yearold
with two children (and twins, no less). But
do highly edited images make them appear more
‘perfect’ than they really are?
‘Most people would know about the images
taken of J.Lo in the now-famous green Versace
dress at Milan Fashion Week last year, the same
dress she wore to the Grammy’s 20 years ago when
she was 30,’ says Dr Linsell. ‘She looks fantastic,
and arguably better at 50 years old than 30. But if
you look closely, the dress is similar but not exactly
the same. The dress she wore last year comes up
above her belly button. My suspicion is that the
dress is covering abdominoplasty scars.’
‘The media was abuzz with articles on how
inspiring JLo is to look as fantastic as she does at
50, however the perception is not reality. These
images aren’t real life and the pressure to look like
JLo is unrealistic. The norm is for women who
have had children to remain with a slight bulge
due to abdominal separation, some excess skin and
droopier breasts.’
The more open and honest celebrities are
about what it takes to look as good as they do, he
says, the more we can have realistic expectations
about how we can look – and the cosmetic surgery
it may require.
The celebrity effect – and constant
bombardment of highly edited photos – has
changed public perception of ‘ideal’ beauty
standards and ‘normalised’ a look that is
unachievable for many.
‘In general, I tell my patients not to trust any
photo or image they see in mainstream or social
media,’ says Dr Linsell. ‘Just because you see an
image, it doesn’t mean it’s real!’ CBM
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