Blac Chyna’s ‘makeunder’ is proof that we’re moving away from filler and embracing facial freedom
The stiletto-fingered model is the latest in a string of celebrities and A-listers ditching their cosmetic ‘tweakments’ and OTT accessories, but she likely won’t be the last
You may recall Blac Chyna for her modelling work, or you may even be familiar with her as the mother of Rob Kardashian’s child, and for being a particularly dramatic footnote in the already colourful history of the Kardashian family.
You might also know her as a fierce proponent of her trademark stiletto nails, prompting her to post a video to demonstrate exactly how she changes her son’s nappies without taking anyone’s eye out.
And now, Blac Chyna is notable for being one of the first women to execute a rather intriguing makeover. Where the world and its barista are queuing up for Botox, fillers, bum lifts, implants and shellac nails, Chyna has decided on an about-turn. And, proving that she is going all in for a more natural way of doing things, she has even reverted back to her birth name, Angela White, on social media.
The socialite posted an Instagram story showing her natural nails last week. “I feel so free without the long stiletto nails,” she captioned the image. “Shoutout to all the women that wear them. They no longer serve my purpose.”
And when a fan commented on her most recent Instagram post suggesting she “please get some face filler dissolved too”, Chyna replied, it is “next on my list”.
The first thing that struck me is Chyna’s rather telling use of the word "free”. Wearing long nails is certainly any person’s prerogative and most fans of deathly impractical manicures seem to enjoy them, but being free from the tyranny of the stiletto nail (How do you send a text? Use a tampon? Make dinner?) is also, well, nice.
Stiletto nails have long been a trademark of the model. Photo: Paul Archuleta /Getty Contributor.
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Come to think of it, a growing number of celebs, previously advocates of the cartoonishly inflated facial features, are paring things back a bit. Reality stars Charlotte Crosby, Shaughna Phillips, Faye Winter and Molly-Mae Hague have all had lip fillers dissolved, with the latter sharing that she was “rewinding younger mistakes”. And at the risk of sounding like my dear nonagenarian grandmother, they all look a hell of a lot better for it.
If indeed the dawn of the surgical makeunder is upon us, and with it the death of the conspicuously “I’ve had work done” look, it’s a moment that frankly can’t come too soon. Not because I despair of the fact that young women from Borrisokane to Belfast are now a slave to these pricey appointments every three months (look, it’s people’s well-earned money. They can do what they like with it). Not even because the greatest fans of lip filler and cheek surgery are seemingly insecure about their own God-given looks (it’s a fashion thing. Not an anti-ageing thing. I get it).
It's because the whole look has become so laughably omnipresent and depressingly constant that it’s simply become naff now. Expensive and invasive, but ultimately naff.
Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney arrive at the courthouse for the trial dubbed 'Wagatha Christie'. (Photo by Neil Mockford/GC Images)
During the Wagatha Christie trial, I had to squint to see whether I was looking at Rebekah Vardy or Coleen Rooney walking into the courthouse (the surgical boot was often the only giveaway). Each woman’s predilection for a specific type of face and uniformly sculpted look left them looking… well, not dissimilar from the other.
Likewise, I’ve lost the run of the specific women in the various Love Island, Married At First Sight and TOWIE casts, who have by now blended into one composite being: very beautiful, polished and symmetrical, albeit with a look lacking any personality, originality or deviation.
It’s often the trajectory of style trends that they are initially given a boost by the A-listers who have the money to pull it off well, before they trickle downmarket and become ever-more cartoonish and weirdly overblown.
By the time the Wags, the wannabes and the reality stars get their hands on a trend, it is pretty much ready to be put out to pasture. It happened to the Burberry raincoat, and it’s happened to the trout pout.