Experts speak
Become older. Can that be done naturally or should we try to keep looking young for as long as possible with plastic surgery or wrinkle fillers? What is inner beauty and are you beautiful both inside and out if you just feel comfortable in your own skin and accept yourself? dr. Liesbeth Woertman, professor of Psychology, doctor Erik Laban, plastic surgeon and Monica van Ee, director of a skin institute, talk about ‘makeable’ beauty.
dr. Liesbeth Woertman is professor of Psychology at Utrecht University. “Beauty has nothing to do with facts, but is a feeling.”
“During the entire life course, our self-image about looking beautiful plays a major role. Especially during puberty, young women appear to be most dissatisfied with their body image, while we are more satisfied as we get older. But what is beautiful? The statement ‘I am beautiful or I am ugly’ is not based on facts, but is always compared to another.”
“Women’s self-image is strongly determined by the image that women have of their own appearance. The media play a major role in this. Just look at the many glossies, beauty magazines and television programs that show the perfect ideal of beauty. An image that is artificial and therefore cannot match reality. In addition, beauty is culturally determined: the greater the importance of beauty, the more negatively women judge themselves and want to do everything they can to meet the ideal image.”
“For men, the importance of beauty plays a much smaller role. Masculinity in 2010 is still measured along the lines of status and power. Despite everything, that is still beauty for women. But who determines that? They are not annoying men or stupid women who make the importance of beauty so great. I think we develop it together because it is in our genes. In addition, ideas and psychological constructions determine reality, our so-called “memes”. These are persistent and false ideas, such as the The idea that we only use 10 percent of our brains. That gets a level of truth, while there is no reason for that from neurobiology.”
“The very first plastic surgery originated in the First World War and was born out of compassion. They wanted to help wounded soldiers. Now it is applied to healthy people to remove their insecurity. Because the more wealthy we are, the more insecure we become. Because you do not When you have to fight for your daily existence, you can focus on things like beauty, and because of that attention from outside you start to see yourself differently.”
“I saw a beauty program in which the problem of drooping eyelids was discussed. Only then did I think: I have that too. You become aware of something that you then have a problem with, because something can be done about it. And all the arguments you put forward for this are seen as legitimate. Fortunately, we are gradually realizing that beauty is more than ‘makeable.’ think we can only tackle the image of ideal beauty if we don’t focus on appearances and learn to value ourselves for qualities other than appearances.”
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Erik Laban, plastic surgeon at the Bergman Clinic: “Plastic surgery is not about changing people at all costs.”
“Most people are perfectly satisfied, but think, for example, that they have an old head, because their eyelids droop. It is easy to do something about it and that the threshold for this is lower and lower, partly because the techniques have become so much better. Did you ever run the risk of facial paralysis during a facelift, nowadays that is almost impossible, although every intervention is of course still an operation.”
“More and more men are also having their drooping eyelids removed, and why not. Your face will not change as a result, but you will get a fresher look. Some things are part of aging. For example, the fat in your eye sockets disappears, which makes your eyes come deeper. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about that. But we can about that ‘turkey neck’. The image that suddenly much more radical operations are taking place is greatly exaggerated in the media. Just like the image we have of a 45 -year-old can make a 23-year-old again. You can’t.”
“But outside of the improved technology, it is because of the same media that more people suddenly realize that something can be done about their appearance. Botox, for example, is almost the ‘aspirin’ for every fold these days. We all know the horror stories of expressionless faces, while we can fill that annoying frown with one prick and you still have all the facial expressions on your face. But botox is poison. So you have to know what you are doing. I don’t understand why people take risks so easily with it. They let themselves be treated by inexperts, because they think it is cheaper. When something goes wrong, they come to us in despair, and we can make it right again.”
“Whether there is a trend to age ‘naturally’? I don’t know, then there must also have been a trend in the other direction. I think it’s just a given in our Western society that especially women are beautiful and want to stay young. And the industry wants to keep that going. You can’t deny that, otherwise you’ll be out of the world. But plastic surgery isn’t there to change people at all costs. About 30 percent of the people leave here with the knowledge that I can’t do anything for them and that alone often creates acceptance.”
Monica van Ee, director of Hannah Skin Improvement: “Beauty comes from within, you can be beautiful.”
“Our philosophy is that beauty comes from within, but that you can do something about it yourself to make your skin look as beautiful and healthy as possible. That’s why we don’t have beauticians, but skin coaches. In addition to skin treatment, we also teach women to accept themselves, because especially women are guided by beauty ideals that are absolutely unrealistic, to which publications, articles and programs such as ‘Make me Over’ contribute greatly.”
“The word anti-aging is also actually weird: it means against aging. Who doesn’t want to grow old? Fortunately, we are increasingly realizing that we cannot prevent aging, but that we can age beautifully in a natural way. Over time, the ability to make good cells declines. Our largest organ is our skin and it needs to be stimulated and stimulated to continue to work properly. That starts with good skin care. And whether you’re 15 or 65, that depends on cleaning your skin. Wet a guest towel, heat it in the microwave and clean your face. After a few days you will notice that your skin looks fresher.”
“Young girls sometimes get pimples on their foreheads. These are often caused by shampoo and conditioner rinsing over the forehead when washing their hair and causing skin irritation. The solution: apply a little skin cream on your forehead before washing your hair. The secret of beautiful skin doesn’t come in a jar. If only it were that simple. Often someone has dry skin and will use a greasy cream. But usually dry skin just needs moisture and the greasy cream does not improve it.”
“The secret to beautiful, smooth and healthy skin is that it is in balance. I sometimes say: ‘You can wear an expensive suit, but your skin is the one you always wear.’ Take good care of your skin. We want women to go out radiant again, without needing a trace of make-up. To be beautiful outwardly and to bring inner beauty into balance again. That is what makes our profession so beautiful. “
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