How Not to F*ck Up Your Face

How Not to F*ck Up Your Face

R BBLs 4 U?

and other impossible questions

Valerie Monroe's avatar
Valerie Monroe
Dec 16, 2025
∙ Paid

Welcome readers, old and new!

Please tap that ❤️ above for a reminder that though relaxing is generally great, there’s one kind we might want to avoid.

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Thanks to all who wished me a safe trip back to the U.S. It always astonishes me that I can step into a metal tube in Japan and after three weepy movies, a nap, and two quarts of water arrive on the other side of the world. If it were up to me, we’d all still drag our belongings around on palm fronds, that’s how well I understand the dynamics of air travel (and all other kinds of motion involving machines). How grateful I am to the Wright brothers!

☹️ ☹️ ☹️

Now for a surprising detour on my aesthetic journey: I recently wrote a story for Allure about reconsidering my position on plastic surgery for myself, because of a development on my face that I am, at 75, very uncomfortable with. My point is it’s acceptable to change our minds about our aesthetic decisions, and that judging ourselves (or others) is limiting and unkind. Although when I mentioned to a dear friend exactly what’s bothering me, she said with conviction, “I’ll be the judge of that!” which made me feel, at least momentarily, better about it. Read the story here.

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Not unrelatedly, a photo taken of me while I was in Japan revealed that my bosom now appears to be three inches from my waist. (Maybe a consequence of my new predilection for high-waisted pants?) I don’t mind it, but I’m curious how the situation developed. A physician friend suggests it’s the result of overall shrinking (not overalls shrinking) as we age—as well as the diminishment of the elastic tissues that help a bosom retain its bounce. It seems to have happened all at once, which reminds me that time is an illusion, a comforting notion as the runway shortens…

After the paywall, a reader wonders if BBL (I’m talking about broadband light, not the other kind of BBL you could be imagining) treatment is effective and cost worthy; a physician’s response might surprise you.

HNTFUYF is a payola-free, reader-supported zone. I get no cut from sales when I mention any kind of product. My recommendations are offered without obligation, making HNTFUYF one of the very few places where you can get unadulterated advice, beauty and otherwise.

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