115 replies to this topic

[WeLuvUBoA-kiddo]

Mods if this is unacceptable feel free to close it or modify if needed.
--
Please do not give me that TL:DR stuff. If you aren't going to take the time to read the discussion, then don't even bother to post.  It takes time to explain things clearly and somtimes short post are enought to cover it all.

Info about thread and it's making (rules and what not): ADVISED THAT YOU READ IT

Spoiler

I decided to make this after going through multiple threads about how BoA looks young, cute, old, 30, you name it. It's a little tiring to see a repition of "girl looks old" or what not.  And as a fan, trying to stay unbiased, I agree that there has a been a significant change withing her looks this past year.

First let it be noted that looks do not determine what makes BoA or why you should love her, however, with a clear change in looks, it is inevitable that someone will make mention of it.  What better to put it in an actual organized area instead of seeing the same remarks littered in every other thread.

This is not a bashing thread, it is simply a place to get your thoughts about her looks.  You can say something about her latest shoot, like "I really liked how the dress enriched her complexion" or "I don't think that look was all too appealing". Please have tact.

Definition of Tact: sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending -- In other words, you can have a disagreeing opinion without being j*rk to your fellow members.

I will start first.  Yes, BoA looks different and more mature but it's nothing we haven't seen before.  Going through old photos and ads that I saw even before I was a fan, BoA has always had a more mature look than her actual age. So it's not a shocker that she would look a few years older than what she seems.This year, most visibly after her return to Japan around August is when her she rapidly became different.  (In HV it was a subtle change, compared to this recent time frame)

The main points I seem to feel contribute to her change:
- I don't know if it's her diet or stress, but her face has become much more sharper, from the jawline to cheeks and chin.
- Noticeably, her skin color started to become much more pale ever since Hurricane Venus promotions, it's more neutral toned and has less warmth (white pale vs a nice tanned or glowing skin)
- The hair some what makes a significant change, but does not explain her overall appearance in comparison to during her days of Identity (she looked a little skinny then but she still had color and a much more fuller face)
- With lighter eyebrows, it takes away from emphasizing her eyes properly :/  i don't mind light, but the thicker eyebrows are much more complimentary and pretty.

-- She looks kind of . . . dare I say it, ill.  She's still beautiful and gorgeous, but her complexion is not looking so healthy. I hope she's okay.
I might get daggers my way, but go forth and conversate fellow people --- i didn't plan to make this thread till tomorrow, but I pressed the enter button by accident *smacks head*

Edited by WeLuvUBoA-kiddo, 08 January 2012 - 11:15 AM.

[Kudaranai]

I honestly don't view her as "old looking" normally. The only time I thought her makeup was hurting her was her first Milestone performance on Music Station (?). I think she's at the point in her life where she is trying to appear more mature but somehow her Mature Dial got cranked up all the way to 10. I mean, if you look at it, she's been in the spot light before, during, and after puberty. Since she's been at this for so long, people kinda have this image of her in their head. But once they see her and however she happens to look doesn't match that image in their head, their mind goes straight to "She looks old." In reality it's very simple, she has aged. She isn't 15 anymore. Nobody looks 15 at 25, especially someone who works as hard as she does.

Either this or her stylist hates her guts.

[2boamystar]

When someone grows older, he or she also wants to look more mature. There is no exception for BoA. However, sometimes, the make-up spoils it all. To me, she is a beautiful lady. She is not stunningly beautiful but she is naturally beautiful. I believe if I meet her in real life without make up, she will look pretty

[Mashimaro-san]

Kudaranai, on 08 January 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

Either this or her stylist hates her guts.

Her stylist hates her guts for being so underpaid with the low Milestone sales. /sarcasm

Honestly BoA should look like her age, a young adolescent that has every right to have fun and go clubbing and take chances, etc. However so far the Milestone era gave me " I'm sad, I feel dead inside, I cut my wrists at night and I am actually 50 years old" feelings (although she might feel that way because of her Grandma's passing, R.I.P)

[fararibmw]

I'm not really sure why but no matter what the stylist does nowadays, I think it just look bad on BoA.

[MOTOWAYohsixfive]

WeLuvUBoA-kiddo, on 08 January 2012 - 12:52 AM, said:

The main points I seem to feel contribute to her change:
- I don't know if it's her diet or stress, but her face has become much more sharper, from the jawline to cheeks and chin.
- Noticeably, her skin color started to become much more pale ever since Hurricane Venus promotions, it's more neutral toned and has less warmth (white pale vs a nice tanned or glowing skin)
- The hair some what makes a significant change, but does not explain her overall appearance in comparison to during her days of Identity (she looked a little skinny then but she still had color and a much more fuller face)

This thread is a good idea.

I agree with all of your points. Since when did her cheekbones appear soooo big? In the 2011 Audio Technica ad, she looks... so much older than she did in the 2009 and 2010 ones; one thing I noticed in that ad was that her cheekbones were SO BIG, making her look a lot older.
I don't think it's just the makeup anymore... she does look old even without the makeup (go through her Twitter pics.. there are plenty without makeup, and she's looking 30+ish).
She looks best with a little tan, not this pale white that a lot of Korean stars like.

I also don't think it has to do with the fact that people saw her when she was 13. Remember when she returned to K-pop? A LOT of those youngsters didn't know who she was; they couldn't compare her to when she was 13 because they had no idea she even existed. When they saw her, they were like, "Is she 40???" lolllll haha

Okay, even in the Milestone MV, when everyone was calling her gorgeous, you can still see a HUGE difference from the "gorgeous" she used to have back in 2007 ("LOSE YOUR MIND") or 2008 ("LOVE LETTER"). She looks way better in those two than she does in Milestone. And at age 25, she's still young, and she should still be able to look her best.

I hope she doesn't look like this in the COBU movie. If she does, I can totally see critics/people who don't know BoA saying, "Why did they get a 35-year-old woman to play the lead role?" D:
There are 30-year-old Korean stars (Park Kahi, for example) who look way younger than BoA! Even Hyori looks younger than her, too.

Edited by MOTOWAYohsixfive, 08 January 2012 - 07:07 AM.

[trelag]

BoA's look on her first live of Milestone was indeed horrible, like someone punched her and she got black eyes. But at least she looked more decent for the next Milestone lives. I'd like to think that the stylist / make-up artist for that one failure got some scolding, haha. She has definitely made a huge leap from her Made in Twenty image though, which I think should happen only by the time she's in her late 20's. Asians, after all, have these "forever young" features even at their old age. They should take the opportunity to make BoA young while they still can, especially since it suits her personality.

BoA's got a sharper jawline either due to stress or due to the nature of the human face to change every now and then. I recently got a sharper jawline too, and my face structure has changed quite a number of times throughout my life. But I'm quite scared of those veins that appear on the left side of her neck when she exerts effort in singing though. I guess it's also a good sign of her effort too?

I agree that she has become paler. But maybe that's because of the stylist as well? Or her makeup brand? She consistently has the look she had when she was shooting her latest L'Occitane ads now.

I guess we can only hope that her image will change again by the time she releases a new single or album? I sure miss her Identity image, haha.

[MOTOWAYohsixfive]

LOL I used to argue with my friend about her age when she made her Korean comeback because I really didn't think she looked that old in Hurricane Venus/Copy & Paste (she looks way older now though D:). But anyway, we always argued, and to prove my wrong, he put a picture of her on an American age-guessing website that would NOT be influenced by K-pop/J-pop fans who already know her. The average age guessed was 28.5, but some people wrote down that she was 42! WTF...

[Zanarkand]

Honestly...when it comes to her looks, I see nothing wrong with her appearance. Sometimes, the make-up is really heavy (like in HV/first Milestone perf.), but the second it's gone; I see the BoA I've always known and loved. She's shed the baby fat (and dropped quite a bit of weight since her "childish" eras), and that's probably the main reason her jawline and face seems much more defined. It's not as if she has rampant wrinkles or anything (which she could have due to make-up/lack of sleep/etc.)

Skin tone? Well, isn't it a pretty known fact that skin brightening and such is preferred to typical tanned skin in Asia? Yeah, in her No.1/My Name/MOTO eras she had a tan working; but, she also showed her abdomen during those eras as well. I feel that her style has matured incredibly fast, she's only 25, and I'm sure her stomach still looks spectacular but I haven't seen it since about '05/'06 and well...maybe the tiniest glimpse in GAME. So I think, it's a matter of preference. Maybe it's a personal choice she decided to "outgrow" (I know, my pun is relevant, right? )

She's always experimented with her hair color and her fashion sense has naturally changed. And like someone above said, she's 25 -- not 15. To me, she does look her age. People just don't realize that she is in fact really young because they've seen/known about her forever. "Wow, BoA's still around? She was popular when I was a kid!" And, it's true. I was introduced to her in about 3rd grade, I'm now a sophomore in college; the years have really passed us by.

This is my honest opinion, I'm not being biased, I'm looking at it as I normally would look at any celebrity. Compared to some artists her age (i.e. GaGa), her skin is healthy (regardless of how pale), and she has been around much longer too.

Like Kudaranai said, yeah she wants to be more "mature" at this point. That and, yes, people have an image of BoA formed in their heads at this point. Her signature long hair. Her face shape (some still think of her chubby face). Even her voice. Things change over time, be it taste in fashion, make-up, hairstyles/colors, and weight too.

As long as she is healthy and happy, I'm happy as a fan.

edit; I thought she looked much more aged with the blonde hair than with this black hairstyle....lol, I feel like I'm the only one who sees this.

Edited by Zanarkand, 08 January 2012 - 07:21 AM.

[happy!]

actually,ithink she looks her age in her pic with crystal kay in twitter..
BUT  i seriously*100 think that we should find someway to convince her/her company/stylist or sth to change her style and try to make her look healthier(eat more or having  a darker skin colour, hv her bangs back, i don't know..)
a lot of people consider looks first before liking a singer, maybe it's kind of superficial but it's a fact. i mean if she doesn't do sth to hv some new fans and still dressing in a way that doen't match her age, her sales gonna decline, then most probably she won't hv good songs or do things she want...
she's still pretty and i think with the syitable hairstyle and makeup and dressing, she'll look her age...I'm quite worried(actually super worried) about her ....can we just find some ways to ask her change her makeup,hairstyle, clothes back to what she had in 2007-2009 for 2-3 months and see if there are any good comments?maybe that'll help her/her stylist change her style...

Edited by happy!, 08 January 2012 - 07:29 AM.

[bokachu]

I do think she looks her age too, except for some perf with ridiculous make up.

It's just that those Korean Stars always want to look young in front of camera, even when they are over 30. So we will see them as the standard of beauty in Korea.
Take Hyori for example, she looks young with make up, but when without make up she looks "horrible" old with all the wrinkles.
Or like 2NE1, I don't see people complain about Minzy or CL looks. Seriously, they don't look like in their teens either.

[2boamystar]

She did mention in some interviews before that she cannot go against the rule of nature which is growing old. Be it the structure of the bone on her face, her skin, or even her voice. Everything will change. I never blame BoA on the imperfections that she may have, and I only blame the make-up when it is clear that it is due to the make-up that makes her look bad.
You guys should not forget that she is a workaholic too. She may look tired here and there. Do you guys still remember her image for the Korean cosmetic advertisement recently? I can't remember the name. L'occitane something. She looks healthy, fresh and beautiful there. Her beauty is still there, and she definitely looks her age.
I agree that her image affect the new fans who come to listen to her music. I also want her to change to something livelier, leaving this path that she has been going for the past years, since she got her hair cut short. She wants to look mature, I understand, but it is time for her to revive her image

[happy!]

i do agree she still lokks her age sometimes with good makeup or no makeup, but i remember going through Japan yahoo and looking at BoA's news and i saw some comments..i check them up in a translater and it says auntie or sth...i hope the person is an anti or someone that is trying to go against hallyu wave, cause if the person isn't , i can't imagine how do Japanese think of BoA now...:-((( want to help her:-((

[saoji]

25 is a curse TT
I feel young and old at the same time, cause I know I'm young, but also not as young as I used to be xDD

BoA fits her age, plus she has the asian effect = they look younger ><
It really depends on clothes and make up because sometimes I think she looks like a kid >< LOL

[Mashimaro-san]

BoA is only 25 years old, holy crap, I wish she would be more youthful and stop this "I'm a matured and classy lady lawl I'm eating caviar and I need to take my fiber drinks, ohh and I have Alzheimer ~~ " image, she can do that when she's 50.

I mean look at Namie Amuro, Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, etc. they are all in their 30's and STILL look and dress younger than BoA. Madonna? That lady is in her 60's and still doing flips in leotards and rocking it out on-stage, BoA has no excuse for looking and acting way older than she should be. BoA, you haven't been there and done that, nuh-uh honey.

Even Hyori Lee looks and dresses younger than BoA, and she's way older...

BoA needs a reality check, you're 25 years old, don't act like a mature wise-lady, you haven't seen the world babes. Has she even been to a developing country and spoon fed starving children? Uh yeah no. I know Hyori Lee, Namie, Ayumi and Koda have all done something similar to that, so they can check that off their list and be all "Oh yeah I've seen the world and poverty~~"

Edited by Mashimaro-san, 08 January 2012 - 08:41 AM.