Mariah Carey hairstyleThe buzz this year was all about the looks -or lack of- of Mariah Carey.

Apparently in the critically acclaimed movie, Precious, Mariah’s looks take on such a transformation that most of the people that saw the movie didn’t even realize it was her. So was she playing a character that had been horrifically scarred in any way? Or wearing prosthetics to change her features ala’ Nicole Kidman in The Hours? No. She was playing a run-of-the-mill, everyday social worker.

That’s right. An average looking person.

Mariah’s hardly the first celebrity to sacrifice her looks for a movie role- after all the same sort of gamble delivered Charlize Theron an Oscar in 2003. But the transformation of one of the music world’s biggest divas into an average looking person, complete with bags under her eyes, no makeup and a tired looking hairdo was enough to get everyone talking.

And it’s not just the big screen either that is “averaging-up” its leading ladies. Eva Longoria Parker spends every week on Desperate Housewives looking like she’s in desperate need of a trip to the salon because, apparently, the only way to demonstrate how “real” her character has become since having two kids is to give up the makeup and replace her long, luscious locks with a faded mid-length that doesn’t look like its seen a hair treatment in years.

So does this mean that we’ll suddenly be seeing celebrities embrace their human side and start looking how the rest of us look every day?

Sadly the answer is no. Not unless there’s a career boost or an award to win as compensation for giving up the glam. And I don’t think us average people would have it any other way. After all, we’re the ones who prefer the airbrushed appeal of Britney Spears as opposed to the real cheeto-snacking-unwashed-locks-in-a-messy-bun-on-the-way-to-Starbucks version. So I think we’ll all be quite happy to let this celebrity trend pass.