what am i supposed to look my age?
Over the last year, we’ve seen this question come up time and time again online and in our own group chats—and we certainly hear it in our heads as we look in the mirror. It comes up amid increasingly frequent discussions about skin care products, Botox, fillers and other cosmetic treatments – all of which are intended to delay or reverse the visible signs of aging.
There are many reasons why this is on people’s minds right now. First, the devil works hard, but the beauty industry works harder — in 2022, it was valued at nearly $430 billion worldwide, with skin care worth about $45 billion. Aesthetic treatments are becoming more accessible and widespread. According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons“neuromodifying injections and dermal fillers emerged as favorites [in 2022], almost doubling from 2019.” Meanwhile, 20-somethings are getting “preventive botox,” and apparently the only thing standing between you and fake dimples is $1,500 of disposable income. The more people engage in these things – and therefore talk about them, the more others feel curious (at best) or pressured to participate (at worst). It’s also impossible to overstate the huge role social media plays in all of this. TikTok and Instagram have made us captive consumers of other people’s faces (which can be altered by subtle and highly effective filters), as well as their occasional recaps to get, say, a botox lip lift or a massage.
So if every time you open your phone you meet people from 20 to 60 years old with the same person…and everyone from your hairdresser to your dentist suddenly gives you “adjustments”… and friends you’ve known for years literally change their facial structure seemingly overnight… and you stare at yourself on Zoom all day and wonder If those smile lines have always been there or you’ve just been paying more attention lately…then yes, it’s only natural to ask what the hell you’re supposed to look like.
You probably know, on some level, that there is no “right” answer to this question. Everyone’s skin and hair will look different at a given age based on a number of factors: genes, lifestyle, stress and illness play a role, as do the time, money and energy you’re willing and able to. set to ‘improvements’ and ‘prejudice’. And the idea of ”aging well” is a pretty slippery concept anyway, given that the term has long been code for “no obvious work done, but it still looks fuckable” — the kind of damned if you do, damned if you do I don’t expect women face most of their lives.
All this swirling in the ether eventually led us to creation group shot, which we are excited to present today. Below, you’ll find portraits of 14 makeup-free people, all of whom are 37 years old, along with relevant details (like whether they smoke or regularly wear SPF, what they do for work, and how much they spend on skincare routines). Each person was captured bare-faced and in the same lighting, and the photos are not retouched at all. (We decided to start at 37 because that’s the age, according to a dermatologist we spoke to, when people start to “freaking out” about how their face is changing.) We didn’t choose our subjects because they look “good” or “bad” because of their age or because they have or haven’t had a job, but because they just… are. It’s just a bunch of people showing their faces. that’s the whole point.
