Today while visiting Gawker.com, I saw a piece called A Visual Timeline of Lindsay Lohan's Fall from Grace.
They showed a timeline of what Lindsay looked like in 2007 and how she looks now. I encourage you to visit Gawker and check out their entire gallery of Lohan photos.
I don't like to negatively comment on other people's looks and I actually think Lindsay is beautiful and has gorgeous features (and my goodness is she ever photogenic.) However, her bad habits (drugs, alcohol, partying, tanning, etc...) have had a very significant impact on her overall apperance and it's quite compelling just how obvious the damage is from photo to photo.
I haven't always been super-cautious about how my health habits affect my apperance. I worked at a tanning salon for over 4 years, I smoked on and off (socially) through late high school and college (gross, I know) and I used to eat whatever I wanted without stopping even for a second to think about it...not to mention late nights out partying with friends.
Thanks in part to the increased media attention surrounding aging, celebrity plastic surgery and so on, I became more aware of what kind of damage can be caused by bad health habits- from cancer to wrinkles, I didn't want any of it!
I've smartened up and I'm so glad I did. I haven't used a tanning bed in more than 4 years (I maintain color with airbrush self tanning formulas). I haven't touched a cigarette in more than 3 years, since I saw someone die from mouth cancer even though that person had quit smoking 10 years before the cancer appeared. I always use sunscreen. I drink wine or champagne...maybe once a month, maybe even less often than that (I'm just not a big fan of alcohol, it makes me feel really sick...I'm also SICK of people asking me why I don't drink and getting weird looks when I don't order a drink- Get Over It!) I now use anti-wrinkle creams and try my best to implement preventative measures to keep myself looking youthful now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now and beyond.
Now, I try not to be judgmental because everyone lives a different lifestyle, but it always surprises me when I see women over 25 getting wasted, doing drugs and partying all of the time. Not only is it horrible for their health, I also don't understand how people have that kind of energy!
So, let's see what Lindsay's looks have gone through, as a cautionary tale:
In the photos above, she is still looking glowing, young and fresh. Now let's see some photos that show the progress of her looks:
Note the significant amount of aging in her face. Her skin is puffy, her wrinkles quite deep for a woman of 24...her dark undereye circles are visible, even under makeup.
Lindsay Lohan might just be the perfect example of how even just a few years of hard-partying can tremendously impact how you look. Lindsay might have enough money to have it all "fixed" but at the young age of 24, those aren't even concerns she should have (if she had a healthy lifestyle.)
I'm not pretending I know everything she's gone through and all of that, I can only go by what they've said in court...but it's very sad to see her battle addiction over the last few years. I truly hope that prison and rehab will be the wake-up call she needs, because I enjoyed her as an actress, especially in "Mean Girls" (ok, maybe that's the only movie she's in that I like, but still.)
Just to offer a comparison, actress Amanda Seyfried is a year older than Lindsay, at 25 and yet appears much more youthful:
Model Brooklyn Decker, who is know for staying in shape for her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photo shoots is also very fresh-faced at 23:
Another fresh-faced 23 year old? Gossip Girl's Blake Lively:
Then, there's Carrie Underwood, who's my age (27) and looks gorgeous and has super-glow-y skin:
I think that's enough photos and age comparisons, but you get the idea.
I think the point of this post is that what you put IN your body, definitely affects how you look on the outside, especially when it comes to premature aging. When I used to see bad photos of Linsday I used to convince myself it was just an unflattering photos, taken at a bad angle, etc...but I think you can see from the gallery on Gawker that the transformation is very real, not just an "unflattering photo."
Did YOU used to have bad health and beauty habits? What were they and how did you stop them?
What do you think of the whole Linsday going to jail thing? Do you think there's hope for her (and I mean her as a person, not her looks)
Thanks for reading!
xoxo,
Veronika.