Famous Women on Beauty and Ageing: Quotations
In any culture, beauty has been about perfection but concepts of what constitutes “perfection” have changed over the centuries. As the population ages, it could well be that concepts of beauty will shift. We live at a time of great variety of age, gender, style, background, culture and attitude and contemplating beauty brings pleasure to each of us yet it comes in all shapes, colours and sizes.
Chic, Autentic and Natural
“Being an English person, and having lived in France for 40 years, I am not as nicely turned out as the French but I don’t care like the English.” Jane Birkin
“I never put my face in the sun. I am determined not to go the way of my contemporaries and get surgery. I have a lot of facials and take scrupulous care of my skin.” Joane Collins OBE
“Self image is a complicated thing. I campaign against cosmetic surgery because it a grave act in which you don’t necessarily foresee all the consequences. The people who have it are lacking in confidence.” Emmanuelle Beart, French acress by Matthew Campbell for Sunday times.
“The more healthily you live, the better you look. We still want to look like ourselves when we grow older. We lose our sensuality when we have surgery, it takes away a part of who you are. If you look after yourself and use good products, you won’t need surgery or any other intervention.” Sharon Stone for YOU, January 2012.
The Botox Lovers
“Botox, lasers and fillers have given us new control over ageing. Not by making us look younger but by slowing down how we age. Now, if you choose to, from your early to mid thirties you can enter a twilight zone of ageing in which you are in a reverse version of dog years – for every seven years you will only age one.” Newby Hands for Harpers Bazaar
“The psychological effects of Botox and fillers have been as profound as the physical – the elongation of the life span in which we can feel good about ourselves. Psychologically, women feel empowered by the knowledge that they have this as backup. This may have contributed to a more relaxed approach to ageing, women beginning to feel more comfortable in their own skin. We want to take care of ourselves but we do not mind a few wrinkles or few signs of ageing to show we have lived.” Betty Catroux for Harpers Bazaar
“You can get an instant snapshot of a woman’s character by looking at from whether she says yes or no to Botox… Just from that one apparently superficial decision…Botox lover likes to keep up appearances, is insecure to some extent in either in her relationship, social circle or work. She is competitive, keeps secrets from her partner, is a natural townie, on a diet of some sort, permanently, and not actively involved in the community. She does not have men friends, only admirers. She has women friends but the sort you meet for a glass of bubbly before shopping at the sales, not the sort you watch TV in bed with. She dresses for bed, exfoliates regularly. The un-Botoxed are brave. They will not be coerced – even by the threat of looking uglier than everyone around them – and that suggests a degree of courage as well as confidence.” Shane Watson for Sunday Times
And Going for Surgery
“Another facelift? I’ll do whatever’s required.” Anne Robinson for Sunday Times
