Who Am I Without My Wrinkles?

Wow, when you remove all my wrinkles and expression lines I look scary. Sort of like a plastic version of who I mightĀ have looked like 40 years ago! But still not really me because I never had waxy looking skin.

I had some new headshots taken a couple of weeks ago. It was past time for new ones. Every photo I use now is a selfie or a group shot I’ve cut the rest of the group out of. I’ve been told that isĀ fatal in the world of head-shots.

My last professional headshots are so old and scary, I don’t even recognize myself. Right before I had them taken, I’d gone in for a light body wave and come out with a perm!

Jennifer Connolly
vintage head-shot from years ago

 

And YES, that’s the last time I will ever have a body waveĀ put in my hair.

Visions of me suffering through Mom’s kindly inflicted home perms still dance in my head. Do you remember those Toni perms? I would sit at the kitchen table, clamping a towel over my face, in a futile attempt to avoid the noxious fumes. The results were never flattering :)Why…I wonder, was baby fine, poker-straight hair unacceptable in the ’60s?

But I digress.

I’d asked the photographer to leave my wrinkles alone but if I had a big red spot somewhere obvious…go ahead and blur it out.

She tried some new software on a picture she sent for approval and it freaked me out! I need my expression lines! I can tolerate my chipped front tooth…although I’m getting that puppy fixed soon. I look weird with no crows feet, no smile lines, and no rings around my neck. It was bizarre.

Perhaps it was the sudden loss of character vs the gentle improvements I’m getting from drinking more water, wearing sunscreen, using Retin-A, and great skin products. There are a few more things I use on my skin…but that’s for another post!

It reminds me of the time I cared for my Mom after she had her facelift. Ā She loved how she lookedĀ when the bandages came off and the staples came out. I thought she looked like a strange version of Linda Evans.

I remember she looked unusual for about a year. Then I don’t know if her face “settled” or I got used to seeing her look the new way. She looked terrific… but different.

Upshot…I’m not thrilled and joyous about my wrinkles but I am also not comfortable seeing them totally wiped off my face. I haven’t decided if I’ll ever have a nip or tuck done on my wrinkles, but to obliterate all expression is scary

Have you ever had a photo of yourself photoshopped? How’d you like it?

 

 

60 Comments

  1. Hi Jennifer, The “aging” face is an interesting thing. There are TWO kinds of wrinkles – dynamic wrinkles (caused over the years by movement of muscles) and fine wrinkles that make your skin look like crepe paper (caused by loss of collagen and elastin). Botox only treats one kind of wrinkle. You need to treat the collagen and elastin loss as well.

    The reason people look strange with wrinkles photo shopped out is that they still have another major problem – drooping fat pads. Fillers can help by adding volume to the area where the fat pad used to be but the fat pad has still dropped. Only surgery can relocate fat pads back to a youthful location.

    I have known several women who have had plastic surgery that, unless you had known them before the surgery, you would NOT know. The work was done by very skilled and very expensive surgeons. The people you notice are the people who have used less skilled surgeons.

    If your turkey neck is bothering you, I would have that done in a heartbeat. That is one surgery that is almost impossible to mess up.

    Smiles from Carol

    1. Thanks, Carol! I also notice my wrinkles look worse the thinner I get. My skin is looking crepey too. I certainly don’t have the budget for a very expensive surgeon, but if I did I think I may have some things tightened up.Like my neck. But I worry it would look out of cinque with my face!

  2. Oh, Jennifer – I’m SO happy to hear you have stick-straight, baby-fine hair, as do I. I, too, endured Tonette home perms when I was a kid – dreadful!! As an adult, I also permed and colored my hair until one day my stylist said it was time to pick one – curls or color. I ditched the curls and now have highlights and I’ve never been happier with my SHORT hair (loved it when it was long, in my teens and twenties, but then it just no longer looked good long….). I get my highlights about every 4 months, and then maintain them with L’Oreal EverPure Cleansing Balm, for color treated hair. Great stuff!

    I am SO sorry to hear you’re enduring hair loss; thankfully, I’m not dealing with that….yet. I hope the Nioxin helps!

    Now, with regard to wrinkles….I’m just a few years older than you are (I’ll be 64 in January), but fortunately, I don’t yet have a lot of wrinkles or crow’s feet (I think it may be my Slavic heritage that helps). But I’ve been proactive with my skin, too – I gently exfoliate morning and night, then mornings I apply serum, sunblock (at least SPF 35) and then whatever foundation I’m wearing that day. For work, this summer, I’ve kept it to a L’Oreal product whose name escapes me at the moment, but it’s an instant bronzer with SPF 20 in it. Love it! At night, I gently exfoliate again, followed by serum and retinol (I like the Neutrogena product).

    Other than the exfoliation, my “secret” would be that I’ve never smoked, I drink alcohol only occasionally, and I drink a LOT of water. Exercise and diet apparently help, too; I’ve done both diligently since the start of the year (joined a gym and Weight Watchers), and the results have been pretty great, both in my body and my face.

    I’ve never used Botox, although I’m intrigued by procedures to get rid of “chin fat.” Don’t know if I’ll ever go there, but I AM intrigued!

    Love your blog – I’m fairly new to it (as a Chico’s customer, I was introduced to you in their “Inside Chic” blog), and I look forward to each of your posts!

    1. Thank you for being here, Candy! It’s readers like you that make this such a great community. We share and learn from each other’s experiences. I’m not as careful about serums as I probably should be but have been on the subscreen bandwagon ever since my bout with melanoma! Water goes make such a huge difference, doesn’t it? I hope you’ll share with us often and thanks again for joining us.

  3. Can’t say I have ever been photo shopped, nipped tucked, or filled, ( Lie I tried botox at 40 ) we wont go there !

    think we learn to accept quite a lot as we get older and wrinkles are minor by comparison, I do remember the fumes and the rubber roller things and the papers lol, yours looked pretty good to me, I came out look like Micheal Jacksons ( the early years lol )

    Love your blogs, love your attitude, Love Lyn xxxxx

    http://www.thelavenderbarn.blogspot.co.uk

  4. Hi Jennifer, I cannot contemplate surgery on my face but don’t berate those who do, it’s so entirely personal. You can always tell who’s had work and imho that ages you more than anything else, so to me it’s self-defeating. My eye bags drive me crazy but I’ve had them forever so they are just part of “me”. Acceptance is the road I follow, plus Retin-A, lipstick, sunscreen and a sense of humour.

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