Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Before and After

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 29, has been a regular in this website's celebrity red carpet reports for many years. But if we're being honest, her features have always puzzled me a little bit. 

Of course, she's gorgeous—that goes without saying. However, I've often wondered about her bee-stung lips and chiseled cheeks. Is it possible to be born with those? Or am I just suspicious because injections have become so ubiquitous now? Either way, you might remember me describing her general vibe as “wooden,” for lack of a better word. Just not quite authentic. 

Even so, you can imagine my surprise when I started today's Before & After research, and found that she used to look QUITE different. 

Let's take a closer look, and I'll let you be the judge…

Rosie in 2002

Actually, I couldn't find a date for this photo. But if I had to guess, I'd say Rosie was around 15 here. As you can see, her natural hair colour is brunette, and she did have her signature full lips even back then. Notice the wider nose. 

Rosie in 2004

This shot is from one of Rosie's first modelling jobs, when she was only 17 years old. Don't you just love the pouty mouth and plump skin? (This is why runway models are always teenagers.) However, I wouldn't have recognized her, based on the fuller face, wider nose, light brown hair and soft makeup. The other thing I want to point out is her lips. If this were a new photo, I'd totally think they were injected, based on the size and the bumpy edge of the upper lip. But I can't believe she'd get lip injections all the way back in 2004, as an unknown model, and long before they became trendy. That would be extreme…. wouldn't it?

Rosie in 2005

Here's another runway shot. She was so breathtaking back then! I love the darker hair colour on her—it makes her look much younger than the blonde. Again we have the bee-stung lips, which, along with her original nose, fit her face very well. She still had her baby fat at this time.

Rosie in 2006

At age 19, Rosie became a Victoria's Secret model. I was so surprised to see this auburn hair colour, which is lovely on her (despite the tacky curly extensions… well, it was 2006). Speaking of tacky, I spy white eyeliner in her lower waterlines. Still, she looks so beautiful. Her upper lip looks much thinner here, but remember, she is stretching it by smiling.

Rosie in 2007

The following year, Rosie lightened up the auburn hair a bit, and adopted a beachy texture that she still wears a lot to this day. (If only she could get back to this natural-looking makeup instead of the heavy lashes and contouring!) Once again, her upper lip seems thinner, but she is pursing her lips.

Rosie in 2008

Now we're in 2008, and Rosie is 21. Look what a smooth blowout can do for that amazing brown hair colour! I would 100 percent support her returning to this glossy shade. Take note of how she's starting to lose her baby fat, and those cheeks are beginning to pop. Or maybe she was an early adopter of Restylane?

Rosie in 2009

This photo is helpful because we get to see her original nose front-on. I think we can probably all agree that it looks wider than the nose she has today. This also marks the start of her transition into a blonde. I'm not crazy about these highlights, nor do I love the dark sculpting under her cheeks. (Like I always say: “What's wrong with a fat face, anyway?”) Her lips suddenly look plump again. Hmmm…

Rosie in 2010

This 2010 shot is probably my favourite photo of the entire bunch. She looks like the epitome of a Victoria's Secret model, what with the blonde (but not too blonde) hair, natural brows, flirty lashes and full stained lips. I believe this was her original nose, but I'm still stumped regarding the ever-changing lip volume. If you look closely, you'll see that she had some minor acne issues back then. Models are human, after all!

Rosie in 2011

This 2011 event was one last hurrah for Rosie as a brunette. I remember loving this photo back then, and I still do now—she looks fantastic with the half-back hair, hoop earrings and darkened waterlines. There's an effortlessness to her look that she seems to have lost somewhere along the way. 

Rosie in 2012

It rarely happens, but I love it when Rosie wears her hair up—perhaps because darker roots look more natural than seeing her blonde lengths. This 2012 photo is a great example of that. Her skin looks so fresh with a light touch on the makeup.

Rosie in 2013

In 2013, Rosie was 26, and this was when she started on a regular red carpet rotation. I do like that she experimented with a high-fashion look (red lipstick and an off-the-face hairstyle), to break out of the “sexy” Victoria's Secret mould. She started getting into false lashes at this point, although I'm not sure why her brows suddenly got skinny. I suspect she had a little work done on her nose sometime between 2010 and here.

Rosie in 2014

And just like that, Rosie morphed into a Hollywood blonde. I've been vocal about not liking this styling—I find her faux tan too dark, her hair too blonde, and her smoky eyes too heavy. Also, I find it hard to believe her face could become so sculpted overnight (she is only 27 here). It could be that she lost weight, living the LA lifestyle. It could be her newfound love for contouring. Or it could be Restylane in her cheeks.

Rosie in 2015

Then Rosie chopped her hair into a lob, which was a big improvement. It helps the blonde not to look so generic. Now, at age 28, she looks all grown-up. Again, I do think a big part of that is the heavier makeup—particularly the muddy cheeks. Her lips look smaller again here.

Rosie in 2016

Now we've arrived at 2016. Although Rosie shows no sign of giving up the spray-tanning, her hair colour is a little more natural than what she had the year before (which makes her look softer/younger). I definitely think the tip of her nose has been refined, and her lips are still giving me pause, although they're a more normal size here—maybe the Restylane is just starting to deflate. 

Update: Rosie in 2023

Here's Rosie in 2023, when she was pregnant—which explains her SKIN! It's utterly flawless. Yes, her features still look a little plumped, but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt, as everything swells when you're expecting.

Update: Rosie in 2023

Well, well, well. Now we're in 2023, and it looks like Rosie got a top-up—a very generous top-up—of her lip fillers! She probably wasn't able to have them while she was pregnant (she gave birth in June 2023), but this looks really overdone. Maybe it's the lighting, but her skin appears to have more visible pores.

Conclusion

Rosie is a tricky one, isn't she? It's impossible to say for sure whether she has or hasn't tinkered with her features. Styling counts for so much, and as a model, she's already a chameleon. Maybe if she ditched the fake tan, contouring, false lashes and blonde hair dye, she'd still resemble her fresh-faced mid-2000s self! The other thing that shouldn't be discounted is weight loss and exercise—both can make a face seem more angular.

That said, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that someone earning a living from her appearance would seek out cosmetic procedures such as lip injections. Yes, even as a teenager, more than a decade ago. I'm suspicious because of how much they've inflated and deflated over the years, and also because of the bumpiness.

After that, it can be a slippery slope into other injectables, so I would not be surprised if Rosie was also dabbling with Restylane in her cheeks. In Hollywood circles, 29 is probably late for such “maintenance.” Of course, the one thing I'm almost certain she did do is refine the tip of her nose—just like almost every other celebrity. Tell me what you think…

How do you feel about Rosie's beauty evolution?
Which of these looks is your favourite?
What “beauty work” do you think she's had done?