Is 36 the perfect age for a woman's face?

When my friend Jessica told me she was getting Botox, I thought she was joking. At 27, what did she need that for? Jess defended herself with phrases like "preventative" and "self-confidence" and "everyone's doing it," but I wasn't convinced.

Then I found this article by Eva Wiseman for the Guardian that made an excellent observation.

More from The Stir: Botox: my friends are getting it. Would you?

Wiseman claims that a 36-year-old face is becoming year-zero for women. While in the past women over 40 have gotten Botox or fillers to look younger, plastic surgeons are now noticing a trend for women under 30 who get Botox to look ..."done." So 50-year-olds are looking 36, and 20-year-olds are looking 36.

Are we going to be an expressionless, plastic mass of former women, wandering the streets with lips thicker than footballs and foreheads tighter than a new pair of Spanx?

More from The Stir: Stars who need to lay off the Botox

If the trend continues, then yes, yes we are.

Hollywood youngsters like Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Montag aren't the only ones looking "done." Twenty percent of Botox patients in the U.S. are under 34, which means there are a lot of 25-year-olds out there who look like 45-year-old cougars. Including, I hate to say, my friend Jessica.

I have to wonder, though, are we really fooling anyone? The face-filled look isn't "ageless" to me ... it's scary. I can understand it for the plus-40 set who wants to look a little less tired, but I cannot grasp why the under-30 set wants to intentionally look like they've had work done. Whatever happened to subtly? It used to be that if you had something done, you wouldn't want it to be obvious.

More from The Stir: Why I'd let my daughter get a nose job

At the rate this trend is catching on, plastic surgeons will be handing out "I Plumped!" stickers that patients can wear as proudly as they'd announce, "I Voted!"

What do you think of the trend to look "done"?

Written by Lindsay Mannering for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

More from The Stir:

Kendra Wilkinson plans for plastic surgery after baby #2

6 worst male plastic surgery nightmares

Did Gwyneth Paltrow get Botox?

Has "the perfect mom body" changed over time?

Photo via congaman (Dave)/Flickr