What am I supposed to appear like at my age?

Over the previous yr, we’ve seen this query seem repeatedly on-line and in our personal group chats—and we actually hear it in our heads as we glance within the mirror. It pops up through the more and more frequent conversations about skincare merchandise, Botox, fillers, and different aesthetic therapies—all of which are supposed to delay or undo seen indicators of growing older.

There are a variety of the reason why that is prime of thoughts for folks proper now. First, the satan works onerous however the magnificence trade works tougher—in 2022, it was valued at almost $430 billion globally, with skincare value an estimated $45 billion. Aesthetic therapies have gotten extra accessible and widespread. In line with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, “neuromodulator injections and dermal fillers emerged as favorites [in 2022], experiencing an almost twofold enhance since 2019.” In the meantime, 20-somethings are getting “preventative Botox,” and apparently the one factor that stands between you and pretend dimples is $1,500 of disposable earnings. The extra people who have interaction in—and, thus, speak about—this stuff, the extra others really feel curious (at greatest) or pressured to hitch in (at worst). It’s additionally inconceivable to overstate the huge function social media performs in all of this. TikTok and Instagram have made us captive shoppers of others’ faces (which can be altered by refined and extremely efficient filters), in addition to their informal recaps of getting, say, a lip carry or masseter Botox.

So if every time you open your telephone you encounter folks from ages 20 to 60 with the identical face…and everybody out of your hairstylist to your dentist is all of the sudden pushing “tweakments” on you…and mates you’ve identified for years are straight-up altering their facial construction seemingly in a single day…and also you’re looking at your self on Zoom all day and questioning if these smile strains have at all times been there otherwise you’re simply paying extra consideration recently…then, yeah, it’s pure to ask what the hell you’re “supposed” to appear like.

You most likely know, on some stage, that there is no such thing as a “appropriate” reply to that query. Everybody’s pores and skin and hair are going to look completely different at a given age based mostly on quite a lot of elements: Genes, life-style, stress, and sickness all play a job, as does the period of time, cash, and power you might be prepared and in a position to put into “enhancements” and “prejuvenation.” And the concept of “growing older nicely” is a fairly slippery idea anyway, provided that the time period has lengthy been code for “doesn’t have apparent work executed however nonetheless seems fuckable”—the kind of damned when you do, damned when you don’t expectation that ladies take care of for many of their lives.

All of this swirling within the ether finally led us to create Group Shot, which we’re excited to launch right now. Beneath, you’ll discover makeup-free portraits of 14 folks, all of whom are 37 years previous, together with related particulars (like whether or not they smoke or put on SPF often, what they do for work, and the way a lot cash they spend on their skincare routines). Every particular person was captured barefaced and in the identical lighting, and the pictures usually are not retouched in any respect. (We determined to start out with 37 as a result of that’s the age, in line with one dermatologist we spoke with, that individuals begin to “freak out” about how their face is altering.) We didn’t select our topics as a result of they give the impression of being “good” or “unhealthy” for his or her age or as a result of they’ve or haven’t had work executed, however as a result of they merely…are. It’s only a bunch of individuals displaying their faces; that’s the entire thing.