Before there was K-Pop, there was J-Pop. If you, like me, was hit by the J-Pop bug in the late 90s, you will remember the Queen of J-Pop, Namie Amuro. Namie was so popular that her style was copied by teenage girls all over Asia. Both Men and Women went gaga over her. I was one of them – I bought every CD she churned out, and watched every one of her recorded concerts on VCD.

There is no doubt that Namie Amuro is beautiful. But what made her stand out amongst the sea of beautiful J-Pop idols in the 1990s? What struck me most when I first saw Namie, 15 years ago, was not her sense of style, or her catchy tunes, but her amazingly full and rounded forehead. It gave her an edge which made her feminine, mysterious, and confident all at the same time.

The Round Forehead – A Mark of Femininity 

The forehead plays a very important role in the shaping of the upper face. It covers a large area, and, although overlooked by many, can determine how masculine, or feminine a person looks.

A full, round, smooth forehead, free of lines, makes a woman look more feminine. There should be no breaks in the contour, allowing the whole convex surface of the forehead to cast a uniform reflection of light. This roundness, ideally, should extend to the sides – the temples (look around you, and notice a woman with sunken temples- notice how tired she looks).

On the other hand, a man’s forehead is flatter, almost straight. As men have larger supraorbital ridges (the bony protrusion on or above the brow), there is often a slight depression or concavity above the eyebrow. A slight depression between the brows, due to the bony structure, is also a masculine feature (For this reason, I discourage too much BOTOX for men for the glabellar region as this can smooth out the contours too much and feminise the male face). Some horizontal lines on the male forehead are acceptable, and often regarded as an attractive feature.

Hence, even though we may not realise it, a flat forehead with concavities in a woman, is associated with a masculine appearance. This can occur due to bony structure, and often gets worse with age.

Feminizing a Flat Forehead – With Fillers 

For years, there was very little one could do about the unattractive, masculine forehead. Surgical implants were difficult to place, and the older permanent fillers like Silicon were too viscous, producing unsightly lumps on the forehead.

Hyaluronic acid fillers changed all that. With advanced filler products, which are soft, natural and long lasting, it is now very easy to correct a flat forehead, plumbing up the depressions subtly to smoothen the lines, make the bony protrusions less prominent, and make a woman’s upper face more lady like.

Evidently, more and more women are hearing of the procedure as well. Previously, I had to suggest the procedure to my patients, mostly drawing stares of skepticism from them, but recently, I have more women consulting me, asking for forehead fillers specifically. Most of them begin with the line “I want my forehead to look more like the Korean stars!”

The procedure takes barely a few minutes and involves just a few injections. The forehead, however, is an area which you should only get an experienced doctor to treat, as the area has many blood vessels- with increased risk of side effects, and can result in lumpiness if not treated correctly.

It will take a sizable amount of fillers to transform our foreheads to looks like Ms Amuro’s – but my patients are usually very happy with just a subtle, but noticeable improvement. All of them walk out of my office, able to return to their work and daily activities immediately, and everyone of them with a smile on their face.

 

Regrettably, Namie Amuro has cancelled the Singapore leg of her upcoming Asia Tour. I thought I was going to have a chance to meet my childhood pop idol (and see her amazing forehead up-close and personal), but I probably have to wait a little while more.