When Gwen Stefani came out last night at the Billboard Music Awards to perform her duet with Blake Shelton, “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” I was struck by how completely different she looked. She had on nude lipstick, very light eyeshadow with no eyeliner on top, very heavy brows and a lot of highlighting and sparkles. The result was that she looked more like Ellie Goulding than herself, although that’s probably due to the homogenous “LA Face” (credit: Lainey) that both of those women have.
As Corey has reported, Gwake is the real deal. During their performance they stared at each other like no one else was in the room. I mean they’re both seasoned performers but you can’t fake that. (I’m having a hard time finding the full performance video, but Hollyscoop has a segment with their commentary here.) Gwen was in a custom Falguni and Shane Peacock nude gown adorned with Swarovski crystals. I guess we should be grateful she didn’t add camo underwear and high heeled hiking boots. It was a decent dress for the occasion but I couldn’t get over her makeup. She could have done a nude lip with actual eyeliner and lashes. It was too much in the opposite extreme for me.
Here’s some more fashion from last night. Presenter Rebecca Romijn was in a short Davidson Zanine silver sequin dress paired with silver and black gladiator heels. The dress is somewhat forgettable but her hair and makeup are lovely. During her red carpet interview with Jason Kennedy, she explained that she had a bruise she had to cover up which she got while filming The Librarians. Kennedy said “I thought there was something more to it. Nothing sexual.” He got embarrassed and apologized so much after that, but Romijn handled it like a pro.
He’s Romijn’s co-presenter, Lindsey Vonn, in a short black Luciana Balderrama dress with zipper detail along the waist and little baubles and beads stuck all over the arms. This is an unfortunate dress made worse with poor styling. She has one so much eye makeup she looks squinty and she’s got a too-long cascade of flat ironed hair extensions.
Serayah McNeill of Empire was very cute in two stomach-baring Baja East outfits with one shoulder halter tops. When she was presenting I swear that her already super fit abs were spray tanned for definition in that area, which seemed like overkill. She’s only 20 years old, which was surprising to me. She looks older, but in a good way.
Rachel Platten (“Fight Song“) also showed her stomach in an Alice and Olivia pinstripe suit with a tube top. I like this trend of suits over crop tops and bra tops, it’s fun and youthful.
photos credit: WENN.com, FameFlynet and Getty
Gwen looks puffy and washed out in those photos. Though it’s obvious from those pix that she injects her upper lip.
I think it’s obvious from these pics she’s injected more than just her lip.
I agree, but Kesha lips is worse. OMG
Well I was cheering on the team “scratch those million layers of paint off of your face, Gwen” so I will give her props for that. However this look shows all the extent of the work she has done and it ain’t pretty. My God, she looks like a chipmunk in that header photo
The lack of makeup just makes all the work she’s done super obvious. It’s why I don’t let myself feel bad when I see celebrities in their 40s and 50s looking super young, I know that for many of them, without the spackle the work becomes clear.
I use to do make up.It look’s like when a make up artist’s starts with the basics.Shading,countering,eyebrow’s.etc. and it look’s like make up artist just stopped and didn’t finish it.No eye liner and it didn’t even look like she had mascara on.The dress was nude and sparkly so I guess this was how they wanted her face to look .Unfourtantly it didn’t work.
this is exactly the reaction I had. without all the paint, her plastic surgery is way obvious. and not good.
+1:
She looks like Gaga…how sad.
Yeah, like Petee said, it looks as if she didn’t have time to finish her make up. She rushed to the stage and probably grabbed someone else’s dress too. It’s Celine Dion’s dress!
What doofus said.
Imma going to stop complaining about her usual painted face colours because they go some way in disguising the proceddures on her face. THIS is just plastic fantastic. It’s all i see.
That was a really good assessment. With less makeup on, it does make whatever enhancements she has made to her face, much more obvious.
Pretty weird.
Gwen looks Weird. She has too many fillers in her face. She looks like Pete Burns.
OMG I Googled Pete Burns. Thanks for the laugh.
On a different note. Serayeh is rocking that Orange Beja East outfit. That’s how you do midriff. If you’re going to show off your stomach, cover your breast and legs. She looks sexy casual without revealing too much. The Black is not bad either. But she looks good in bright colors.
I think they are starting to look like those creepy marionette dolls from the horror movies.
OMG Pete Burns came to mind with me, too! This is a very bad look for Gwen.
I do not get the gladiator sandal trend. All those straps around your ankles and calves can make your legs look shorter or wider than they actually are.
I wouldn’t care about the aesthetics if they were actually comfortable/practical, but they’re not.
You have to be tall, slender and young to carry them off (like a lot of things!)–like my 17 year old daughter.
I think that article has aomething to do with this. It was about how Blake was getting tired of her makeup mask, she changed it up for their duet. How sweet. Rolls eyes.
My eyes………..wtf did she do to her lips?
Well I’ll say this for her, she’s finally done something age appropriate. She could have done toned down a little better. She looks washed out and tired. But it’s something she should continue to experiment with.
Yeah, I thought her makeup was too much, but this look is not flattering. There must be a middle ground.
The brows are too much, for sure. and a little liner wouldn’t hurt. I’ve always wondered what she looked like without “Gwen Stefani face” though.
How did she tone down her make – up? She just used different colors, she still has pounds and pounds of make up on her face.
These two are like cartoons at this point.
That’s what I thought. She has a ton of make up on, just in more muted nude colors. She looks awful, way too much tweaking of the face. Why do women (and a few men) mutilate themselves like that?
I was just coming to say this. Homegirl isn’t wearing any less makeup…I actually think she has more on than usual.
Yikes…put the makeup back on! All that styling did was highlight the work she’s had done.
She and Gaga are morphing into the same person. Though I will give her credit for stepping out of her comfort zone and getting styled like that. She has been fairly open about her body image struggles and this had to be intimidating.
I really thought that was Gaga in the picture. Whoa.
I LOVE GWAKE! They seem happy. Happy makes me happy. 🙂
Totally Agree. They are sweet.
She has morphed into a completely different person.
That makeup is awful. especially the bronzer/glitter. She could tone it down a notch or two and she would look fantastic.
Omg, she looks like she’s had a ton of work done. All kinds of fillers. With all that work, you would think she could go with less makeup.
I know! What’s the point of paying all that money to change your face if you’re just going to cover it up with a gallon of makeup. She looks awful.
Yes she does!
That fake relationship lol
Anybody buying are silly
Gwen used to have the most adorable face, but now she looks like Madonna, Courtney Cox, Demi Moore. And it isn’t just weird plastic surgery that has changed their faces so much. It is also the terrible dentures, veneers, overtly white chiclet teeth (horse teeth, whatever you want to call them) that they have hard wire into their mouths. Their smiles are completely different from how they once were. So sad. So bad.
i remember when Gwen had braces during the No Doubt days. shame she morphed into another Filler face.
it’s like they replaced the actual Gwen Stefani with a Real Housewife.
Tough crowd. I thought she looked really pretty. Celebitchy, you can find the full performance on Just Jared.
I think its the overly thick overly emphasized painted brown brows that throws her face off balance that constrasts too much with the blonde hair and makeup made to look au naturel .
Agree just me. Gwen did tone down her makeup but it is out of balance. The brows needed to be lighter and not so bold. It makes her look harder. Please, please lose the highlighter. Speaking as a woman about Gwen’s age, we cannot do highlighter. Otherwise a little liner would have done wonders. I love Gwen from back in the day and I think Blake is slowly helping her change her style a little. Be patient. It is getting better. Baby steps!
Lindsey Vonn is so damn thirsty. She can’t make it down a hill without injuring herself but she can squeeze herself into a dress and sky high heels on her bad legs/knees/ankles to hit every d-list red carpet event in LA.
I confess, I did zoom in on her legs, knees to see if she had noticeable scars.
I think Vonn looks amazing. Love seeing athletic girls in formal wear – it’s a different aesthetic I really appreciate.
To each her own, but I think she looks really cheap, like she is employed by a casino to sit at the tables and flirt with rich old men.
I don’t think I would have recognized Lindsey Vonn without the caption, has she had some work done or is it just the makeup?
Gwen looks awful.
My 13 year old self is screaming “I told you she was fake!” I didn’t buy Gwen’s act then and still am not buying it.
I love you for this comment!!! LOLZ.
Gwen can mess with her face all she wants, but the neck and hands tell the real age. She looks horrible here.
Love Gwen but agree that the makeup didn’t work. She could have gone somewhere in between what she normally does and completely beige. Still love her though.
Romijn looks great! And she’s in her mid 40’s??? Well done!
Yes she does. And sure, she’s probably had stuff done, but she looks very natural. I would say Botox, that’s about it. She is so pretty.
she at least still looks like herself!
The worst was when Gwen was on carpool karaoke – it actually hurt to look at her and listen to her try and speak through those lips and teeth.
Ugh, no. She really should have toned down those eyebrows instead of just leaving out her mascara, while still wearing full eye shadow. Very unflattering. Better luck next time. I’d love to see her with well executed natural, nude make up though. That would be refreshing.
Another issue is the profusion of shimmer, which emphasizes lines and enlarged pores. A more subtle, dewey finish would work wonders here.
I thought Gwen looked amazing. After having to wear full decades old style makeup all the time for Gavin, I bet she’s enjoying mixing it up.
She’s been looking terrible even with the heavy, distracting make-up, but this really shows how much she’s destroyed her face. She looks freakish. Whoever did her fillers and ‘tox is terrible at their job, there were times while she was singing she looked like she’d had a severe stroke. Her face doesn’t move like a face anymore, it’s just frozen areas and lumps of gunk refusing to co-exist nicely. Her bottom lip was flapping around like an 90yr olds under the weight of the fillers, exposing the inner lip. She’s a mess. It’s such a shame too, she would have aged nicely.
Too much make up is too much make up no matter what colors you put on. And those brows are too dark and thick. The whole look is distracting and not “fresh faced” at all.
So wears so much MU, really didn’t recognize her at first. Thought it was Courtney Stodden at first.
Gwen has posted a few pics on instagram recently with this “no makeup” look. I’m not sure if it’s the eyebrows or what, but something is definitely off. It almost looks like she put fillers in her upper eyelids, under her brows. Is that a thing? She is so pretty, she doesn’t need to do this to herself.
She had her eyelids done, which is why she looks so different. I saw her on Chelsea Handler’s new Netflix show, and all the up-close shots, you can see how different her eyelids look. She Renee Zellwegered herself. Oftentimes with those eyelid surgeries, you can see this weird pucker where the artificially-created crease is. She went light on the eye makeup on Chelsea Handler’s show too, and I think she is doing the lighter liner/super-highlighted look to emphasize the psuedo-wide-eyed/”refreshed” look. She was also Botoxed to the HILT that night as well. Her face didn’t move.
Personally, I also think she’s looking like Gaga, and not in a good way. I mean, she’s had 2-3 rhinoplasties at this point, brow lift, eyelids, cheek fillers, sausage lips, teeth, boobs: when is it ever enough? She was so pretty before.
The brows are too much and MY GOD the fillers. I wish she learned to love herself not someone else.
She looks like Kesha in the header pic.
Rebecca is so gorgeous.
I would love to see Gwen w/out any makeup or just a lip and mascara. I want to see Gwen styled by JCrew, naturally pretty. This look is too bronze w/ overly darkened and sharp edged eyebrows. That woman is beautiful, she detracts from her beauty with the makeup. She’s one of those stars that has never been caught w/out makeup in a tabloid lol.
I just love the Fight Song gal Rachel and her cute outfit.
She was so beautiful two weeks ago when she and Blake did the same duet. I loved her makeup and hair, and her “work” seemed to be settled not overdone and lips not overdone.
I didn’t see the show, but everyone I know who has seen the show having been talking about 2 things: 1) Britney’s bad performance and 2) Gwen’s horrible makeup.
The surgery is done and water under the bridge – can’t be undone. I’d rather see her with more natural makeup than the painted face looks she’s done up until recently.
If you watch The Voice, you’d see she stopped the heavy makeup her last season on the show and it was obvious Blake didn’t like the heavy make-up – he’s country. She’s been toning it down ever since. I like it better. Yes, it shows the plastic surgery but so did all the tropical fish make-up.
I also think she appears to have put on a few pounds, which is a good thing in my book. She was incredibly thin for a while.
Ugh… She was so naturally pretty, she has destroyed her face with all the tweaking.
She looked beautiful two weeks ago on stage with Blake. The injectibles had settled down, looked softer again, and I liked her makeup, fuscia lip, instead of red, and her lips weren’t as big as they had been lately..
http://www.self.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gwen-blake.jpg
I checked out the link – and she does look great there. Gwen needs more pronounced makeup to cover up the tweakage – or should I say the full-on heavy duty construction site that is her new face. Still trying to scrub that close-up off my brain screen.
I agree that she needs to find a happy medium- but that’s not the point. Why does she feel constantly compelled to change who she is for who she’s with?
I love gwen, but this is just sad
I think Gavin used to style her. She’s just looked worse and worse since they split
I think all the neutral makeup shows her true age. I personally hate the dress. The whole look is too much “nude”. She needed a pop of color.
she looks like Miley Cyrus here tho
Miley 25 years from now.
Oh no it’s still caked on but it’s all in shades of nude. Not a good nude for her skin tone.
Is gwen going to be like one of those girls at college that became into whatever their current boyfriend was into? One week goth next week preppy etc?
Probably. But sadly, he doesn’t look that into it.
Gwen Gwen Gwen…..used to be so hot and pretty. Agreed she has massively messed with her face. The amount of fillers and silicone in her checks is very obvious. These people – like Victoria b, Courtney cox, Madonna don’t even resemble their former selves. Reserve surgeons apparently think that a madam puppet and looking like that is netter than aging gracefully. There are some good surgeons out there – Christie Brinkley or Raquel Welch or Sophia laurens or even Susan sarandon’s who do beautiful work. I wish I knew who those docs were! However there is clearly an obsession with messing and destroying their faces in pursuit of a warped perfection….so they do start to all look the same- and look way way older- and look like the tragic Pete Burns. Too much money, narcissism, time and ego or insecurity. Sad indeed!
Ol’ Lindsey’s had some SERIOUS “touching up” done, hasn’t she? She doesn’t look like the same he-she as when she was dating pervy Tiger.