Why We Wish Celebs Would Tell The Truth About Their Beauty Routines

We’re starting to think that a lot of celebrities are keeping something from us.

You’ve probably noticed it too. Famous actresses and pop stars often seem to credit their eternally youthful faces with olive oil, a drugstore retinol cream, or that old standby “drinking a lot of water.” When their features dramatically change, they say it’s just different makeup. 

And hey, those reasons might have convinced us a few years ago. But most of us are more knowledgeable now about treatments like Botox and filler. We know that keeping your skin that smooth, clear, and bouncy requires maintenance from trained professionals. If your face is defying gravity, or your jaw is suddenly a different shape, you’re getting some professional help. 

So we wonder: why don’t celebrity women admit that they get this help?

As long as there’s been a movie industry, female movie stars have faced intense pressure to look as young and as beautiful as possible. You’ve probably heard of Marilyn Monroe–but you may not know that as a young starlet, she had a small silicone implant put in her chin to correct the appearance of a slight overbite. The movie actress Rita Hayworth was forced to undergo painful electrolysis to raise her hairline. Both of these ladies were stunning before these treatments, but women in the entertainment industry are held to absurdly high beauty standards. In many cases, an actress’s ability to keep working depends on looking as young as she can, and female musicians have to keep “reinventing” themselves to stay relevant. 

We refuse to judge any woman for how she responds to this pressure–if we were getting pap’d on the street, and photographed on the red carpet with high-def lenses, we’d say pass the Botox, please. The issue is that when celebrities say that their ageless faces are the result of using an over-the-counter serum or jade rolling, they’re kind of gaslighting us. 

The reality is, they probably get Botox, advanced facials, filler, facelifts, or some combination of these in order to maintain their appearance. In addition to personal trainers and dietitians, they utilize treatments like Emsculpt NEO or CryoSlim to stay trim. Their perfectly round derrieres are the result of a Brazilian butt lift, not squats. And we’re getting more savvy as a populace; we understand that there’s more to their beauty routines than what they’re telling us. 

Maybe these women don’t want to reveal their secrets because they’re afraid to admit that looking so good takes a lot of time, money, and help. Or they could feel ashamed–there’s still a lot of stigma around advanced beauty treatments. We don’t really see why, because getting Botox isn’t all that different from covering gray roots, or applying highlighter to perk up skin that looks a little tired. You need a professional to get the Botox, but it’s just another temporary way to make yourself feel better and look better. Still, as long as celebs insist that they just “use olive oil,” it perpetuates a culture of silence and shame around these treatments. 

But the good news is that celebrities have the power to change the cultural conversation. How they talk about treatments influences how we talk about treatments. That’s why we hope more of them will be up-front about their real beauty routines. Recently, comedian Amy Schumer revealed in an instagram caption that she’d had liposuction. She wrote, “I feel good. Finally.” She had a complicated pregnancy and endometriosis, and in the caption, she thanks the doctors and professionals who helped her heal along the way: “It’s been a journey thanks for helping me get my strength back @seckinmd (endo) @jordanternermd (lipo) never thought i would do anything but talk to me after your uterus doesn’t contract for 2.5 years and you turn 40. @paulvincent22 vickie Lee (acupuncture) my girl Nicole from the tox my friends and fam. Let’s go!”

It’s unusual for a celebrity to admit to getting liposuction. But the comments underneath the picture say things like “thanks for being honest and real” and “can you write more about your lipo experience?” A lot of people are curious to learn more, and happy that she’s talking about it. We love that Amy is proud of her journey, and has done what feels best for her. Imagine if, instead of a culture of secrecy around beauty treatments, we had a culture of acceptance, affirmation, and curiosity. Imagine if we talked about Juvederm fillers and liposuction just as proudly as we did buying a new lipstick. 

At Upkeep, we’re building a community where self-care is celebrated and where we support each other’s choices. Does that sound like a community you want to be part of? Then come join us, Upkeep Babe!

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