Indeed, being compared to someone famous, especially one who is renowned for being good-looking, provides quite the ego boost. And if you already see some traits of that person in you, you might even go to great lengths to enhance them.
According to Aalaa Ahmad, a board-certified nurse practitioner at Loveland Medical Spa, people tend to chase that “elevated look” because it feels like unlocking a version of themselves they already recognize.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jessica Yu, founder and medical director of SkinLUX MD, says our minds are often misled by the matching-patterns principle. As she explains to Bored Panda, people think they see a resemblance to someone famous just because they notice similar features.
“People are thrilled with this knowledge because it gives them a shortcut to feel unique and interesting for a brief moment. There is an added social benefit because friends act excited when they hear about it. The comparison is thus constantly reinforced,” Dr. Yu said.
According to Dr. Yu, seeing the supposed resemblance does more than boost the ego. For some people, it may even subconsciously change how they see their own attractiveness.
“The change happens the moment someone starts modifying their real face in the quest to become like someone instead of enjoying the comparison as a compliment,” she said.
Dr. Yu’s expertise in aesthetic treatments has exposed her to clients who want an uncanny resemblance to someone else. That is where she says she sets limits, because she focuses on enhancing a person’s natural beauty.
“When a patient comes to me with a photo and says, ‘make me look more like her,' that is where I draw the line. My solution is easy; I ask my patients to tell me what they like about their own face first and who they want to look like second.”
