Shaping the Perfect Profile

Was Marilyn Monroe onto something? In the cosmetic world there has been a big focus on the lower face and jawline, emphasizing the importance of the chin for balance and symmetry. In this age of selfies, there has even been a term coined: “profiloplasty,” which refers to aesthetic treatments used to improve a patient’s profile.

At a recent meeting we discussed that injectors shouldn’t just be giving our patients mirrors, but showing them photographs, so they can see their face in 3 dimensions rather than just the frontal view.  It impresses me how many millennial patients seem to know their proportions; they often ask about the chin and jawline and want to improve the profile of their nose. How do people know what their nose looks like in side profile or that their chin is slightly retruded? They know because they take selfies from all angles!  As cosmetic physicians it’s important that we think of the face from all angles. Yes we can fill a cheek or soften a fold, but we need balance, symmetry, and harmony between the different facial features. A full cheek may look imbalanced if present with a weak chin and lower face. 

This brings me back to Marilyn Monroe. In the US, a person’s right to medical privacy ends 50 years after their death and in 2013 Marilyn Monroe’s medical records were auctioned off.  These records seemed to indicate that Marilyn Monroe had chin augmentation in the 1950s. Could this have contributed to her iconic beauty? Most would agree that she is one of the timeless beauties. So perhaps Marilyn was indeed onto something with the focus on her chin and in photographs she really worked those angles to emphasize her stunning chin and jawline!