Some days, I'm cruising on autopilot. While sipping my venti iced coffee at Starbucks, standing on the subway platform, or tapping away on a keyboard at work, I'm totally unaware that my default face is a frown and, apparently, bitchy-looking, even though I'm perfectly content. How do I know this? Because random strangers, grocery cashier flirts, and coworkers are always asking, "Hey, what's wrong?" (Don't even get me started on the most grating comment of all: "Turn that frown upside down!") I can grin and bear it (har har), but really, I'm thinking 'why do I have to be a ray of sunshine? I'm just keeping to myself.'
Apparently, it's a real issue for some women. Once merely a joke, plastic surgeons are actually profiting from diagnosing "bitchy resting face" (let's call it BRF). When the topic came up in the office, more than half the staff "admitted" they had it. Even Anna Paquin joked on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" that her resting face makes her look like she "wants to kill people," no matter how happy and satisfied she actually feels.
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In an interview with CNBC.com, Michigan-based plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn said BRF is "a definite phenomenon that plastic surgeons like myself have described, just never with that term. Basically, many of us have features that we inherit and/or develop with age that can make us look unpleasant, grumpy, or even, yes, bitchy."
Of course, profiting plastic surgeons don't call it BRF (to your face, at least), but they have developed a pricey solution to the problem -- a series of "expression surgeries" that address frown lines and those ravines near your eyebrows.
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Youn says he performs "the grin lift, used to turn a permanent frown upside down." (I wish I was joking, but he actually said it.) He adds that the deep vertical lines between eyebrows also contribute to an unhappy-looking face. To reduce these eyebrow lines, Youn delivers Botox injections and inserts fillers to turn up the corners of the mouth.
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Whatever happened to consciously smiling when you really want to? Or even better, people just dealing with your natural face? I predict BRF surgeries may create an even more unpleasant side effect: a frozen or fake perma-happy facial expression. And I'll bet they'll come up with an expensive procedure to fix
that, too.