Christina Aguilera and the ‘undetectable era’ of plastic surgery

Are we entering the “undetectable era” of plastic surgery?
If you’ve stopped and wondered if there seems to be more celebrities who don’t look like they’ve aged − but who also don’t bear any obvious signs of filler or other cosmetic procedures − you’re not alone. TikTokers have picked up on the phenomenon as well, with one user even declaring it the dawn of a new era, in a video with 6.2 million views.
“What people are doing to their face in the next year is going to blow you away, because we are entering the undetectable era,” Dr. Prem Tripathi, a facial plastic surgeon, says in the video. He goes on to define this era as “the time in aesthetics that we’ve all hoped for and waited for, where the procedures that people are having done to their face are not detectable.”
For a prime example, he says, look no further than Christina Aguilera. The 43-year-old pop star, who’s been open about cosmetic treatments in the past, “basically looks like she did in 2002” − and many commenters agree.
So are we really in a brave, new, “undetectable” world? Well, not exactly. Dermatologists say we’ve actually been here for quite a while already – the only difference is now normal people, who otherwise aren’t privy to the world of celebrity plastic surgery, are starting to catch on to it.
“It’s not just undetectable; it’s understated,” says Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist and surgeon who hosts the podcast “Give Good Face: Clean Clinical Science.” “It’s very minimalistic, but with improvements, and so it’s not this over-the-top, in-your-face, big cheeks, frozen face. It’s really more subtle. It’s really nice and refined. I love it. I think New York has been like that for a while and now other areas are catching up with it.”
Dermatologists hope the “undetectable era” brings a much-needed shift in how people view plastic surgery.
When it comes those seeking cosmetic treatments, dermatologists say people tend to fall into one of two camps: Those who want as natural a look as possible, as if they didn’t have any work done at all, and those who want drastic, noticeable changes.
Those in the latter category tend to pursue plastic surgery for the wrong reasons. Sometimes body dysmorphia or other mental health issues are at play. Sometimes it’s because they see plastic surgery as a status symbol. For those people, looking like they had pricey work done is often the point.
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Dermatologist Dr. Brooke Jeffy says she hopes the undetectable era inspires people to take a more natural, subtle approach, not just to treatments, but to their beauty regimens overall.
“There has been a time where people almost wanted a certain look,” she says. “It was kind of almost a symbol, like a status symbol, if you kind of looked a certain way that people knew that you could afford to have these things. But I do think that now people want a much more natural look.”
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She wants people to know, however, that undetectable beauty isn’t achieved just by going under the knife. It also involves living a healthy lifestyle.
“We’re also seeing more of a focus along with it in realizing that you can’t just do things to your face,” Jeffy says. “It is more about taking care of your whole body. It matters what sort of fuel you’re putting in. It matters if you’re drinking alcohol, if you’re smoking. So I think that it means a step more in the right direction for how we should be taking care of our bodies overall.”
One huge issue is transparency. Mental health experts agree celebrities do their fans a huge service when they’re honest about what work they’ve had done. Doing so, they say, helps fans maintain healthy, realistic beauty standards.
The undetectable era, however, may bring less transparency − which means it’s more crucial than ever people not compare themselves to celebrities.
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It’s also an important reminder that, when it comes to celebrities’ looks, there’s often more going on we don’t know about.
“It may establish an unattainable ideal, and I think that the more we get comfortable with who we are, the less that becomes an issue,” psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis says. “We tend to not compare ourselves with others when we are feeling OK about ourselves.”
Rossi says no plastic surgery − undetectable or not − can boost your self-worth. That comes from you.
“I really try to tell people, you need to love yourself,” he says. “Cosmetic work is amazing. It’s great. I love it. … I do it for patients, but it’s never going to fully satisfy your self-image issue. That comes from within.”