Ariel Winter, Before and After

Our first pic is of a 10-year-old Ariel on the red carpet. Did you know that she’s been acting since the age of four? This was pre-braces, so her teeth have a few gaps, and her hair was a natural sun-kissed brown instead of the black shade that she later became known for. Also notice her nose and lips, and how her brows were already tweezed into a skinny shape. 

By age 11, she was sporting a deeper, cool-toned shade of brown hair, but I don’t think this was a natural progression. Since Modern Family premiered later that year, I’m guessing the producers wanted it this way for her role as Alex Dunphy. That’s not unusual in Hollywood—Ariel revealed to People that she started dyeing her hair starting at age seven to have a better chance at winning parts!¹

She kept up with the dark brown hair throughout the following year, worn here in piecey ringlets that haven’t been brushed out. Not the best hairstyle, but I think we’ve all been there (or at least I have!).

Then, Ariel got braces... and even she wasn’t able to escape the typical awkward phase that most 13-year-olds go through. (The crimped waves and over-accessorizing probably don’t help!) It looks like her hair colour had faded a bit, with the sun bringing out its underlying reddish tones, and her tweezed brows were starting to grow. Remember, 2011 is when bold brows began trending!

By 2012, the braces were off, and she started experimenting with slightly more grown-up hairstyles and makeup. (She always did love a false lash, even here at 14!) Obviously, we’re looking at her original nose, as well as the original colour of her teeth. I believe she probably had some subtle brightening the following year.

On the cusp of 15, Ariel hadn’t lost her baby-faced look, although that’s partly because of her red carpet style at the time. I can’t picture her wearing this cutesy headband, ballerina bun and pastel dress today! Now, take a good look at her nose, because I suspect it may have been tweaked shortly after this photo was taken.

What a difference a year makes! Her nasal tip has retained the same overall shape, but now it appears smaller and not as prominent in relation to her other features. This was also the year that Ariel adopted her signature black hair colour. I have to say, she wears it so well that it didn’t even occur to me that wasn’t her own. (Brows are so important in that respect, and she always kept hers a close match.) 

During a break from filming, Ariel had a stint with red hair (one that she would later repeat after Modern Family wrapped!). Even though it’s far from a natural colour, it looks amazing with her skin tone. On that note, I’ve always thought she had the most beautiful complexion.

Okay, this shot of Ariel at age 17 is obviously a little different from her previous red carpet appearances. Like I said, she has attributed her facial changes to “weight loss,” and seeing this, I’ll buy that—partially. It does seem like she was heavier here, which gives her already round face an even fuller look. 

A year later, Ariel looked radically different, and I’m not just talking about the jet-black wavy hairstyle and dramatic eye makeup. I’m guessing she lost the weight that she gained in 2015, and having her hair covering the sides of her face makes it look even slimmer. But is there something else going on here, maybe in the lip area? I think we can settle the debate with the next pic....

Well, well, well! Ariel (who was 19 at this point) showed off a new lip look and what appears to be a slightly more oval face shape to go with her button nose. Notice the obliteration of the Cupid’s bow, which I find is always such a “tell” with respect to lip fillers. She looks like the brunette replica of Dove Cameron!

Twelve months later, Ariel was a little heavier again, and she explained why in a Q&A on her Instagram. “For years I had been on antidepressants that caused me to gain weight that I couldn’t lose no matter what I did. It was always frustrating for me because I wanted to get fit and feel like the work I was doing was paying off, but it never felt that way.”

Throughout 2018, she maintained her plumper lips—notice the “keyhole pout”—along with some very Instagram-inspired makeup techniques. If you told me this was Kylie Jenner, I wouldn’t blink an eye. Are you even surprised that her fans were speaking out? I guess we’re not supposed to notice these things!

But what a turnaround, right?! I have to say, I love Ariel’s fresher look here. Although the keyhole lips are still evident, her brows are natural, and her skin, hair and makeup are clean and pretty. The question is... how did her face shape change so much? Well, that could be from a “change in medication” that “instantly made me drop all of the weight I couldn’t lose before just giving me back a metabolism,” as she explained on Instagram.

Then, Ariel made her last red carpet appearance as a brunette before closing the chapter on Modern Family for good. Just like in 2019, she’s rocking a lighter touch on the makeup, and her lips aren’t so conspicuously plump. But while her hair was still black for this red carpet, it’s not anymore....

After posting “bye bye dark hair... I don’t think I’ll miss you,” she revealed a new red shade on Instagram in 2020, and showed it off on the red carpet the following year. (She also had a brief stint as a blonde on Instagram in 2021, but otherwise has kept up the red hair to this day.) It’s safe to say that a decade as a brunette was cramping her style!

“I didn’t get plastic surgery,” Ariel has declared in response to speculation over her changing looks. Do you believe her? 

I’m not so sure. On the one hand, it’s possible that she simply grew into her face, and her nose no longer appears as prominent in relation to her other features—especially with makeup. But it’s also possible that she underwent a rhinoplasty, like practically every other person on American TV. If she did, she wouldn’t be the first celeb to lie about it. 

Technically, lip fillers are not surgery, so we can’t fault her there, even though it does appear that she’s been experimenting with them for quite a while. 

Then there’s the matter of her changing face shape. I have to agree that the accusation of her shaving down her chin and cheekbones is pretty far-fetched. If there’s more going on there than just weight loss, it could be Botox. When it’s injected into the masseter muscles, it can have a dramatically slimming effect. Another possibility is submental liposuction, which contours the jawline by removing excess fat. Again, technically not surgery.

Whatever’s behind Ariel’s new look, she definitely doesn’t want us to talk about it. To do so is “not supportive of women," as she wrote in another deleted Instagram comment.

Of course, it’s her choice to have whatever procedures she wants, and she doesn’t have to tell us anything. But if we really want to support women, we need to start recognizing how celebrities help to perpetuate unrealistic standards of perfection, which have been shown to have a negative psychological effect.² (That’s what this column is all about!)

There’s something disingenuous to brush off all these changes as just “weight loss,” don’t you think?