Old Furniture is Better Than an Onion

To borrow an analogy from a cartoon donkey, an onion is the most obvious thing that has layers. But when thinking about how to describe a person, a piece of furniture that has been re-finished or re-painted multiple times is more apt. Each of the layers have been deliberated added to cover up what was visible before. And it is an arduous process to remove the layers and get to what lies underneath.