Stylebite: Hang up your poker face on the door, please

ADPARA>Last week I went to a social event to catch up with a high-flying community that I had ignored for too long. It was the launch of the latest hi-tech fashion product. The event exuded "glamorama" and featured a number of A-list socialites, including actors, expats, entrepreneurs, rich kids and rich wives.

At first I did not recognize many of the faces, but then suddenly I realized that I already knew them.

What was up with all of those pretty ladies? Had the cosmetic scalpel severed their facial nerves? I noticed many similarities among their beautification techniques.

Their foreheads and eyebrows had received the most work - areas where skin had been pulled tight and wrinkles removed. The elevation of the areas around their eyes made them look unnatural, as if they were in a perpetual state of shock.

And then were the noses, which had once been flatter or tomato-shaped and were now like thin bridges extending from their foreheads, creating a deep-eye "supermodel" illusion. The nostrils had been corrected too, they were now smaller and tighter to match the pointy noses.

Their lips were more luscious, voluptuous and pouty. Surrounded by that combination of super-high cheekbones, enunciated by flawless fair skin and skyscraper hair, I felt like I had been transported into one of the Saw movies, and was being stalked by a talking puppet on a bicycle.

I'm sorry ladies, this just isn't working.

Plastic surgery is the latest addiction of the rich, adding to the an already long list that includes shopping, sex, drinking, smoking and tattoos. The problem with an addiction is that we don't know when to stop, and in the case of cosmetic surgery - we don't really know exactly what we want in the first place - and so have to rely on the vision of our surgeon.

How the hell can someone else determine what your face should look like so that it expresses your inner soul?

It is clear from the fact that so many of these women look the same that they had been following the latest trends, or had attempted to replicate the look of a certain celebrity. It is sad that so many budget collagen-injection and cosmetic surgery clinics are producing so many disasters. We may not see them these victims around much, but what about those trendy women wearing large sunglasses that we see passing us by in the malls. Perhaps they are terrified their faces are going to melt!

Okay, so you may not love the face you were born with, but defying mother nature by opting for cosmetic surgery is a fashion sin. You may know exactly what you want to change - but bear in mind that the stereotype "perfect feature" may simply not suit your face. Finding a surgeon who can "read" your face is more important than finding one who has operated on a long list of patients. That is the main issue - no one can represent your face better than yourself. Unfortunately - we can't reshape our own faces.

What you can do is steady your face and your proportions and try to understand what look might work for your character.

So, take this fashion psychology test first, making sure you answer quickly.

Okay, ready? List your top-three favorite animals and state your reasons. For example mine are: 1. Dog (smart, adorable, faithful, fierce), 2. Cat (vogue, snob, pretty, arrogant), 3. Iguana (unique, kind, divine, edgy).

The first animal represents the image that you think other people perceive you to have.

The second animal represents what other people really think of you, and the third is the real you. So, once you have cracked this "Da Vogue" code, you may be able to work toward deciding what style or image suits you. That includes makeup, fashion and hair-do.

Remember, collecting clothes that are "hot" or "in" will not help you to shine. Everyone is unique. No one should be the copy of someone else. We must cherish that diversity; if you have it go flaunt it, if you don't have it then manipulate it.

If you can't love your own look, how can you expect other people to - and how will you ever be able to love someone else?

Source : The Jakarta Post