Angelina Jolie is the gold standard of beauty among women seeking
cosmetic surgery and that's not about to change, a leading Hollywood
surgeon has told Australian specialists.
The US movie star has the most requested look - exaggerated, almost
cartoonish lips, eyes and
cheek bones - desired by American women wanting a nip and tuck, Professor
Ava Shamban says.
The Los Angeles-based cosmetic dermatologist told a gathering of 400
fellow Australian specialists that demand for this brand of exotic look is
here to stay.
"Angelina Jolie, with her exquisite looks, is the current gold standard
of beauty in the states and in the West in general right now," said Prof
Shamban, who has appeared on the chat show Oprah and the reality TV series
Extreme Makeover.
"And that's not about to change. The exotic look, like (actresses)
Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz, is here to stay, and Angelina is the
ultimate embodiment of that."
The UCLA academic and practising specialist made the claim during a
presentation on the benefits of beauty at a national cosmetic medicine
conference in Melbourne.
Good-looking people marry more, marry better, earn more and are
assisted more readily by strangers, and studies have shown that even
babies prefer to look at attractive faces, she said.
Thanks to cosmetic surgery, "we can now hold onto our beauty for
longer", Professor Shamban said, but she warned that as the artists of
this generation, surgeons must take their role seriously.
"Features like Angelina's won't fit every face and we must take care
with that," she said.
Australian College of Cosmetic Surgery president Michael Zacharia said
requests for Jolie's looks were becoming increasingly frequent.
"It's common to hear people say 'I want lips or cheekbones like
Angelina Jolie's', and her association with Brad Pitt has just accentuated
this," Dr Zacharia said.
He said the trend was probably helped by a growth in non-surgical
treatments, predominantly Botox, to flatten creases, and dermal fillers to
plump up sagging skin - both of which aid in "enhancing" features.
Sydney-based sexual health psychologist Professor Jane Ussher said the
trend was concerning because Jolie's looks were statistically abnormal.
"She is arguably a human representation of a cartoon character, similar
to those Bratz dolls, and virtually no-one looks like that," Prof Ussher
said.
"If you buy into the idea that that (look) is perfect then you'll never
feel good about yourself because you'll never attain it."
