If you follow my Instagram (HERE), you’ll know that I’ve just been on a flying visit to Monaco. The reason I was there was to see the unveiling of the ‘face’ for Restylane – Sharon Stone. Restylane is a facial filler – I’ve had fillers for several years now, so am always interested (and, let’s be honest, especially interested if it’s in Monaco!) in developments and new trends in non-surgical treatments.
Over the years, I’ve seen attitudes change to fillers and Botox – it’s gone from being something that only the rich and famous do to something a little more mainstream. I’ve watched with a certain degree of horror when they’re used to the extreme and also seen how women are judged for maintaining their beauty with anything other than creams and lotions. The non-surgical aesthetic industry has not helped itself, to be fair – the obsession with looking younger instead of simply looking great, regardless of age, is something that it still needs to do some work on. The beauty industry is now – finally – realising that beauty does not go hand in hand with youth alone and the obsession with looking young is shifting to an acceptance that beauty exists in every phase of a woman’s life. The aesthetic industry badly needs to catch up on this; just a random look over Facebook and the internet in general tells me that their ideals of beauty are still very youth obsessed. Interestingly, different countries have very differing versions of the acceptable face of non-surgical intervensions.
So, it’s rather significant that Galderma (owners of Restylane, one of the most popular facial fillers) has signed Sharon Stone (57) to show that dermal fillers can be used in a natural looking and dignified way to address ageing concerns that’s a million miles away from the extreme, pillow face versions that we’ve seen in the past. This is exactly how I use fillers (and a bit of the old ‘tox) – I don’t want a larger than life pout, inflated cheeks or eyebrows hovering somewhere in the middle of my forehead. I use them as a refresher, not a youth amplifier, and something that just perks up my appearance rather than alters it.
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But, I do remember the first time I had Botox and filler – it seemed at the time like a huge deal. I actually felt a bit guilty about it – as though I somehow shouldn’t be doing it. Now, my trips to Courthouse are as ‘normal’ as a trip to Boots to stock up on cleanser. More expensive, obviously, but both filler and Botox feel as much a part of my beauty routine as applying creams or plucking my eyebrows. The Restylane Proof In Real Life campaign is exacty this – to try and banish the extreme versions of aesthetic procedures and bring them into women’s lives as an optional, natural-looking way to manage beauty at any age, banishing for good any embarrassment or fear around using them. If you offered me a choice between a jar of Creme de la Mer or an injectable, I’d take the injectable every single time! I’m absolutely an advocate of every-age beauty, and also an advocate of choice. My choice is to use aesthetic procedures adventurously but realistically as part of my routine and I don’t judge either way (it’s also the journalistic curiosity in me that wants to see and try procedures). It’s really not for everyone. But, nor should it be a big deal if you decide to do it.
I’m always happy to answer questions on either filler or Botox, so do feel free to ask away in the comment section. My firm view is that if you look in the mirror and something – a crease or a fold – bothers you every single day and doesn’t allow you to see all the good things about your face, then that’s when you might want to consider sorting it out with an aesthetic treatment. And I know that’s exactly the point of consideration because that’s what happened to me. But, I’ll stress again, it’s an individual choice. Personally, I just didn’t want to be the woman staring in the mirror seeing all the negatives and none of the positives because my cheeks aren’t naturally as perky as they used to be.
So, back to Sharon Stone. In my opinion, she’s had a lot of re-shaping, especially around the jaw line which I don’t think is particularly mainstream, but, looking at the video that is being released, she’s not a taut-skinned, supernaturally youthful looking 57 year old either. She’s got natural creases that she’s chosen not to have ‘ironed’ away, so I can see why she’s been chosen as the face of Proof In Real Life (although they’ve got a little bit too airbrush handy in the actual photographs for my liking, so ignore the pics and look at her skin in the video HERE instead).
On the back of what I’ve learned in Monaco, I’m definitely going to give the Restylane Skinboosters a try (dermal hydrating boosters via a cannula), but I’ll report more on these when I’ve actually done it. For now, I’m just kind of pleased that treatments like this are being ‘downgraded’ from A list to no list at all and opening up more choices for you to take or not take.
PS: Definitely going back to Monaco for a weekend with Mr BBB!
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11 comments
How does putting Sharon Stone on a campaign make people think it’s a normal thing to do? She’s a celebrity with loads of money (although I suspect she didn’t spend much of her own on this campaign). And why air brush it if it’s supposed to be “proof”!
They’re using a celebrity face to catch people’s attention to the fact that using fillers doesn’t have to be an extreme look and I guess to open out the idea that fillers can be a ‘normal’ part of taking care of your ageing in the same way a moisturiser or facial might be. It’s right at the beginning of the campaign, so I’m interested to see how it’s going to roll out. And you’re right, it is budget dependent, but then, so is Creme de la Mer! About 2 jars of that = similar price to some Botox or filler. I agree re the photo air brush, but the film is not, which is why I say look at the film!
I watched the film and I have to say that her the skin around the cheekbones moves oddly – like two little cushions wriggling under the skin with a life of their own. Have watched it twice and since and there’s too much. It’s so disconcerting that I couldn’t look anywhere else and to my mind she looks just as badly overfilled and puffed up as Madonna. They’ve overdone the blusher and contouring as well.
I had the two lines between my eyebrows ‘filled’ about 4 years ago and the results were/are excellent – I think it must train the muscles not to move in a certain way – because the “train tracks” are no longer there and I haven’t felt the need for a refill.
I’m going to go and have another look.. because I really didn’t think that.. I thought it was good you can see creases round her eyes and mouth.. and just normal 57 year old skin ageing. I know what you mean about the cheeks, but when I look back at pictures of her as a younger woman she has always had good cheeks. The only place I really notice it is the jaw line…
I want to start by saying I do not judge people. But, I never understood how as you said a crease or fold bothers someone every single day and doesn’t allow you to see the good things about your face. We have more substance than our external appearance. I believe life becomes etched upon our faces, such as the laughter, grief, happiness, difficult times, and life experiences that make us wiser and whole. I would not trade my wrinkles to buy into what the youth obsessed cosmetic industry sells us as an ideal image. My ideal image is a woman who accepts herself as she is and still has confidence.
I agree with you Natalie, and if you could wave that magic confidence wand over all women I’d be overjoyed! Not everyone has it and I just know that feeling.. that niggle that won’t go away.. and eventually it can overshadow everything else. My point is that if it’s got to that, be rid of it. Enjoy your face – personally, I’ve stopped having the creases on the outer corners of my eyes treated – I’ve grown to like them for all the reasons you list above. But, it’s taken me a while to get to that and I think that’s maybe a similar journey for many women. You’re so lucky to have never experienced the above – I’m aware that there are highly unrealistic images thrown at us all the time and all phases of beauty are to be celebrated. However, like you, I don’t judge and I realise that every woman’s journey to their phases of beauty are different. I don’t have a problem with using fillers or botox to freshen my looks – I know I’m not trying to turn back the clock, I’m just trying to be the best version of the phase I’m in now that suits me. I can easily see a time where I won’t use anything at all other than moisturiser.
Hi Jane, thank you so much for this article. I’m debating getting filler for my tear troughs. I’m 33 and they are all I see when I look at my face, but the horror stories on the Internet are putting me off. People getting the filler injected into a blood vessel by accident and then going blind……
I hate my tear troughs a lot but I value my sight more. Any tips on who is best at this type of work or advice much appreciated xx
I can honestly only tell you that I always go to Courthouse – it’s where I’ve been for the last few years and don’t like to recommend any non surgicals unless I’ve experienced them myself. But, there are risks to everything.. I’ve had brow droop from Botox once, for example, which isn’t forseeable – you can become suddenly more sensitive. If you want to do the tear trough treatment, you need to ideally find someone who actually specialises in them. There will always be unpredictables, as with anything, so you’ll never get 100% guarantee. However, I would for that particular treatment, recommend that you ring a practitioner called Ravi Jain at Riverbanks clinic (he is in London once a week and used to be at Courthouse which is how I know him – and I’ve had his treatments) because I think he has plenty of experience in this particular treatment.
I haven’t gone the injectable and/or cosmetic surgery route simply because I can’t afford it. It is, what it is. Still, with 60 looming (I’m 57 this July), I wouldn’t mind some freshening up. Sharon is a fabulous looking woman at any age, but I agree with the comments that she’s had more than injectables done and if she hasn’t, well damn, she has an amazing practitioner. I was immediately hypnotised by those razor sharp cheek bones. I don’t suppose they are looking for Ordinary Woman volunteers? No? Ah well. I’m still looking forward to May and more on this.
I am also interested in non-invasive procedures. I’m currently having a 3D Lipomed on my bottom and thighs: literally working from the bottom up. Haven’t done anything to my face (as yet) but do vouch for great skincare and when I can afford it excellent facials (I find SkinCeuticals particularly good for their serums). So far I’ve staved off looking too knackered (I’m 43). I’m curious about the thread lift for example.
I’ve looked at the video and the stills here – my concern (and this is what I picked up at first look) is that fillers seem to change the proportions of faces. When overdone it looks puffy when done naturally (as is meant to be the case here) there is something just slightly ‘off’ about the face. Sharon Stone is a stunning woman so of course she looks good anyway – I would have liked to see her before treatment and afterward to make a better judgement of what looked better. On the more extreme scale … when I look at Kim Kardashian and her photos now to when she was a child I think she has made herself less attractive – she was a very good looking girl.
I’m very open to trying procedures but I’m not convinced on the injectables yet – I suspect that the ‘older’ approach of neat surgery might look more natural – although it’s more invasive of course. Looking forward to finding out what you think Jane of the injectable hydrators. In the meantime I shall hunt out that Bobby Brown serum foundation ….
Hi Jane, thank you so much for this post. I read it, and your other posts on Botox, several times before finally plucking up the courage to go for it, with your advice firmly in the front of my mind! I had Botox for the first time two weeks ago as I really hated a very deep frown line on my forehead, it was all I could see when I looked in the mirror. As a happy side effect, the Botox made my fairly faint number 11 lines disappear but still the frown line persisted. So the doctor recommended a little bit of filler which I had today. Finally happy! I said I didn’t want to look either 21 or like Madonna, just a little fresher. It stings a bit still but I think the results will be good. So thanks very much for your sensible advice, very refreshing to read such a non-partial and non-judgemental view.
Rose.