Every year, it seems that there are new and different trends in the world of beauty and aesthetics; for instance, 2016 was certainly the year that Kylie Jenner held the most influence over aesthetic procedures, with clinics like my own reporting that lip fillers were the most-requested procedure of the year, increasing 13% on 2015.
However, in 2017, I’m certainly seeing the trend moving away from this look – the over-plump lips and cheeks and the frozen foreheads are, for me, on their way out, and a more realistic visage will be the choice du jour in the months to come. I am predicting that a more natural, prettier aesthetic will be the key trend of 2017, with the emphasis placed upon what looks believable, youthful and minimal – in fact, I am calling this style my ‘Minimalist Manifesto’.
Health and fitness is at the centre of our society and our looks will start to reflect this. We are, as a nation, obsessed with healthy eating, working out and clean living – making sure that our bodies look and feel their best for the ages that we are. I truly believe that the time has come for us to feel the same about our faces – we are best off looking like ourselves, but fantastically natural and healthy for our ages. The backlash against the over-treated face has begun!
Part of my reason for predicting this look’s popularity is the similar look of the actresses set to star on the big screens this year. Actresses such as Emma Watson, Brie Larson, Natalie Portman and Gal Gadot will all be starring in huge Hollywood blockbusters in 2017, and their low-maintenance kind of beauty is sure to be the look that every lady wants to recreate.
When I say ‘low-maintenance’, let me be clear: we’re not talking about ‘giving up’ on your beauty here. Instead, I think women will be leaning more towards choosing a healthy, fresh luminous look. Just taking one glance at the actresses I’ve mentioned above and you’ll understand what I mean. I feel that the trends will move towards a less ‘flashy’ aesthetic; we’re no longer chasing an unrealistic vision of youth, instead clients want to look like themselves, but as I always say, ‘themselves on their very best day.”
As part of this look, I’m predicting a rise in requests for fillers in various areas of the face (lips included) – but done in a much subtler style than before. One thing that all of these actresses have in common is an almost elfin kind of beauty, youthful but unusual and completely beguiling.
Emma Watson will certainly be the name on everyone’s lips in 2017, as she embodies Disney’s Belle in the new version of ‘Beauty and The Beast’. Emma has grown into a world-class beauty, as this casting would suggest, but in an entirely attainable way. I expect more clients to look to emulate Emma’s natural aesthetic this year – focusing on her eyebrows, cheeks, chin and lips in particular to recreate her classic beauty.
Botox can help lift a lazy eyebrow into an eye-widening arch, to emulate Emma’s sophisticated brows. Her brows are thick and full, which are of course a classic look in their own right, but her gentle arch ensures that her brows don’t look too harsh or heavy. Subtle placement to lift the arch of the brow can give a beautifully elegant look – no permanently surprised brows or frozen foreheads here, it’s all about crafting an understated effect.
A feature that both Emma and Natalie Portman share is their feminine but strong chin, which elongates their faces and creates the perfect pixie-esque point. If your own chin is lacking in definition or structure, subtle fillers in this area can restore or create a radiant jawline that invisibly lifts and defines your whole facial structure. Dermal fillers, properly used, can result in a refined look to the face a la the icons of the silver screen. Think about it; you never see an actress with a doughy chin, do you?
Now, I know that I’ve said that lip fillers were the big look of 2016, but I definitely feel that they’ve still got a very high demand for 2017 – just in a different way. Kylie Jenner-style, plump and pouting lips are overdone and a tired look now; this year I think we’ll be seeing many more sculpted, youthful pouts. For example, Gal Gadot has the most exquisite Cupid’s bow, which I believe practitioners should always respect when performing lip filler procedures. The Cupid’s bow cannot be created from nothing, and if the lip is over-filled, the shape will be lost, creating those sausage lips we see all too often. Advanced techniques in aesthetics now mean that cosmetic doctors can reinstate this beautiful feature in older lips, and accentuate it softly in mouths that have lacked.
With lips, ratio and proportion is always key too. Gal’s lips are naturally beautiful and full, but you can clearly see that her bottom lip is fuller than the top one – this is the way that lips are, and this is the way that they should remain even with filler. Once the top lip becomes bigger than the bottom, we end up with the dreaded ‘duckface’ pout, which looks neither subtle nor elegant.
With all of the ladies I’ve mentioned here, it’s of course relevant to remind ourselves that these women are all under 40 and of course, have access to the best skincare in the world to ensure that they all look wonderful for their ages. But that is what they look; each and every one of them looks fabulous for their ages, with a youthfulness and a radiance to their skin which may be incredible genetic luck – but that’s no reason to say that you can’t emulate their look to the same effect.
A soft sheet of a thin filler in the forehead would help to create a lovely, youthful convection in faces that are looking a little tired, where subtle fillers can also be used the cheeks to add height and a fresh plumpness. The key is to think about your own face and when you felt like it looked its best, or ways that you feel it could be improved. If your weak chin or thin lips have always been an issue for you, fillers can help to create the look you’ve been searching for – and if your eyes have always been the part of you that you wished were different, this can be amended too. It’s all about picking and choosing your procedures carefully, to minimally enhance the face you were given – the best result is one that ensures that you look just like you, only with that extra touch of sparkle.