I was told that I may need to start using Botox. My eye bags had started making their existence known, most especially when I didn’t have enough shut-eye, and it was suggested that Botox could maybe improve their appearance.

I grew up in the supermodel era. Linda Evangelista wouldn’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day, Naomi Campbell was magnificently a difficult diva, and Cindy Crawford was all sunshiny wholesome with her wide smile and long legs. They graced magazine upon magazine in their airbrushed perfection, setting beauty standards which launched a thousand brands as well as, sad to say, countless body disorders and self-esteem issues. 

Once upon a time, I was part of that very same machinery. I was editor in chief of a glossy magazine. Attending brand launches and trying out products were part and parcel of my job. I would have facials and whatever treatment was de rigueur at the moment. The girly girl in me enjoyed all these, of course, but I was too scared to try anything involving needles or going under the knife. I remained a low maintenance girl, preferring the basics. 

When Pamela Anderson debuted her makeup-free face at the 2023 Paris Fashion Week, I was blown away. I never expected it of her. She was a Baywatch babe, and was always dolled up, even at the beach. Frankly, I would have loved to be in the room where they decided on her makeup-free look. 

Public reaction was immediate. We were so used to women’s faces prettified with blush and powder that we gasped at Pamela’s nakedness. Fine lines, freckles, wrinkles—Pamela had all those. They did not look pretty at all, but they did look real. And the reality is that more and more women are happily embracing their age. 

I don’t want to look ten or twenty years younger, I want to look my age. I want to feel my age. I don’t want to be a teenager or a twenty-something again. No, thank you. I want to be 57, and enjoying each and every line on my face because I earned it! 

Those lines across my forehead? Those teeny, tiny thingies like strings running down the corners of my mouth? Probably got those while I was making a presentation or chanting at a rally.

The frown lines between my eyebrows? Got those while worrying over a sick child or a sick parent.

I have a lot of what they call expression lines because, hey, I love telling a good story and I could get quite animated in the telling.

My crow’s feet I got from all those times I was at the beach, looking towards the sea, squinting at the sun.

The wrinkles? Well, I’ve blown too many candles and to be honest, I’ve missed putting on moisturizer too many times because I had such a happy day or such a lousy day to be bothered with moisturizer.

As for my eye bags, well, what can I say? Too many late nights breastfeeding, watching a movie, drinking with friends, reading a book, caring for a sick child, making love, working on a deadline, singing karaoke, cooking up a storm, crying over a broken heart, disco dancing, too many, many nights doing life, growing older, getting wiser. It’s all good!