The New Aesthetic of the Heart-Shaped Face

Plastic surgery and all kinds of beautification methods no longer being available only to those "select few," it should probably come as no surprise that it's the world's most famous cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists those who are currently hailing the advent of a new era in terms of beauty. However, for once, this is not about the temporary tricks and tips that women can resort to in order to look better, but about a standard that A-listers have struggled to impose for the past year or so - an ideal that, naturally, women all over must also attempt to reach.

The current issue of the popular "New York" magazine introduces Madonna as the ultimate face of our times, given its preternatural youth (wrinkle and eye bag-free), the wide eyes, the plump lips, and that certain something - a freshness or vague sense of innocence - that clearly hints at long-gone teen to early-twenty years. Furthermore, this brand new and exquisite "ultimate beauty accessory" is not displayed (and consequently promoted) only by her Madgesty, the Queen of Pop, as there are countless other middle-aged starlets, all part of the "New New Face" generation, that seem to have embraced it.

Elizabeth Hurley, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer and Naomi Campbell are all in there with Madonna, meaning, right next to the women who basically get work done to their face - but do it in such a fine and discrete way that no one can really tell. "I don't presume to know exactly what any of these women have done to their faces, if anything at all. It's possible (though in some cases before-and-after pictures would seem to suggest otherwise) that this face is occurring entirely naturally - after all, these are women who are famous for being beautiful," says the author of the "New York" post, refraining from stating out one thing or another in too obvious a manner.

However, plastic surgery or not, one thing is for certain: 50-ish women can still look their best, and even better than younger ones. It's all in "the Mount Rushmore cheekbones, the angular jawline, the smoothed forehead, the plumped skin, the heartlike shape of the face, [and] the full but not overstuffed lips," which are all traits that, in all fairness, anyone can get with a little help from modern technology and a lot of greens. "The point is that there is a noticeable aesthetic shift happening in the face," the author concludes by saying. And who's to argue with him, especially when there are so many stunning female stars out there who, despite a bit too eerily resembling each other, are ushering in a new era in terms of what "natural" beauty is all about.