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Looking back at pictures and memories, I would have a few years of where I felt or looked like the ugly duckling. It really had nothing to do with makeup, hair or clothes either. My facial features just seem to change due to either age, circumstances such as pregnancy and other unknown factors. For example, I'll list the periods where I felt like I blossomed or not. This would be based on pictures as well as reactions from people throughout the years:
Newborn to 3rd grade - ugly duckling
3rd grade - swan
4th grade - ugly duckling
5th grade - swan
6th to late 10th grade - ugly duckling
late 10th grade to freshman year in college - swan
the rest of the college years to mid 30's - ugly duckling
Mid 30's after having a baby - swan
I've always been the one in my family with darker skin tone and having darker skin when you're from an Asian descent is not considered as attractive. Once I got pregnant and had my baby, my body changed (for worse), but my face changed as well in a good way. My skin got lighter, my face has more fat, even my lips aren't as crooked anymore. When I take pictures with my beautiful sisters and cousins now, I look more like them now or I blend in easier. Before, I would always stand out as the one who should've gotten out of the picture. Elders who haven't seen me in a while would say that I got "prettier" after I had my baby. They would also mention how much lighter my skin tone is now. I used to be made fun of all the time due to my darker skin from the rest of my family.
Not sure what this year will be, but hopefully I stay in the swan stage for a while. Just wondering if others go through ugly duckling stages, especially with their face. I feel like my face changes all the time and I have no explanation for the changes since I tend to bounce back and forth. I would post some pictures of myself to show you what I mean as I feel like my ugly duckling vs. swan stages look quite different from each other, but this is the internet after all, and I like to remain anonymous.
Sure, I think many people go through these stages. I've been through them in high school. For me, it's when I gain even the tiniest amount of weight because most of it goes to my face. Not a good look.
I've been through those stages as well. Sad to say after a certain age, one can look forward to more of those "ugly duckling" periods. The height of my "swandom" was literally my late 30s and early 40s believe or not. I looked better at that age than any other time in my life. I was literally stopped on the street more than once by agencies wanting me to model. But it's been downhill from there. After menopause I gained a lot of weight and my features changed. I have since lost the weight but at 65 there is only so much one can do, you know?
Sure, I think many people go through these stages. I've been through them in high school. For me, it's when I gain even the tiniest amount of weight because most of it goes to my face. Not a good look.
Me too! I looked horrible all through my teens until about 22-23, which is when I lost about 10-15 lbs even though I was a healthy weight before - I went from 120-123 lbs at 5'4 to 110, and it's like all that weight was sitting in my cheeks, lol! It made an amazing difference, really I don't even look like the same person looking back on those photos. I've been managing to stay under 115 since then, and I think it's also helped that with age I've lost some of that baby face chubbiness that was making me look like a chipmunk, and you can actually see my cheekbones a bit now. It makes a dramatic difference to how my face looks.
Kids go through phases as they're growing up, where for a few years their features mimic those of one parent, then as they grow, they'll start to look like the other parent. Then in their teens, hormonal changes can play a role, for better or for worse, and in the 20's, when the hormones (hopefully) settle down and balance out, some semblance of normalcy can be had. Pregnancy brings more hormonal changes, which can be to the better or to the worse.
OP, you were lucky with pregnancy. Some women thrive on it, others struggle. The whole life journey can be a crap shoot for women in terms of how their looks change in different phases.
I think many may go through those. It's good you feel like a swan now. Things may settle down your you now, and changes won't be so bad. Once the 3-s hit, hormones have probably settled down, and one has grown into their womanly, or manly looks.
I went through the ugly duckling phase as well. Started when I was a baby, and I am still in it, far as I am concerned. Rarely have I ever felt like a swan, and I have the social life that seems to back it up. Then there was having to be carded for alcohol, which didn't help the confidence, and many who assume I am younger than I am....Oh well.
My entire childhood/teen years were awful...I was SOOOOO skinny, all legs and bones...and awkward....yikes! I would love to be younger, but not THAT young again!
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Just wondering if others go through ugly duckling stages, especially with their face. I feel like my face changes all the time and I have no explanation for the changes since I tend to bounce back and forth. I would post some pictures of myself to show you what I mean as I feel like my ugly duckling vs. swan stages look quite different from each other, but this is the internet after all, and I like to remain anonymous.
