All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors.
However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through links in this article.
Molly Ringwald and John Cusack.
The stars of90210and the trailblazers ofThe Real World.
Many say that were aging well or at least differently than those who came beforeand afterus.
Our unfussy style choices (weve all seen thoseGolden Girlsmemes) have gotten credit, too.
But cosmetic procedures also play a rolethough perhaps not in the way you might think.
Theyre open to getting a facelift, but also feel theres no reason to rush it.
Most adopt an approach thats conservative, pragmatic, and strategicand seemingly shaped by their collective upbringing.
Gen X came of age before plastic surgery was widely normalized, remember.
Before injectables were mainstream.
Before prejuvenation and tweakments became the trendiest of portmanteaus.
Now, as curious plastic surgery consumers, they arent looking for anything extreme, Dr. Williams says.
On the whole, Gen X is less image-focused than those who took to screens in toddlerhood.
Even now, her Gen X patients are largely motivated by their low-maintenance desires.
But not before they do their research.
This generation is educated, not influenced.
But thats not all Gen X is getting right….
I call Gen X the oil-and-foil generation, says Dr. Sunder, a Florida native.
We were tanning like crazy and we did not do skin care growing up.
Lasers are to Gen X what facials were to Boomers, she tells me.
After resurfacing the full face, Dr. Anolik frequently targets discrete sunspots and broken capillaries withQ-switchedand vascular lasers.
If your social feeds arent replete withmenopause content, are you even a Gen Xer?
Youve likely read that women lose up to 30% of theircollagenwithin the first five years of menopause.
As estrogen wanes, skin also gets dry and lackluster.
At least 50% of his female facelift patients are exactly 54-years-old.
(Funny, I usually start this sentence with a different four-letter word.)
Its so common, its almost eerie.
If your social feeds arent replete with menopause content, are you even a Gen Xer?
While HRT doesnt freeze facial aging, I believe itslows it down, says Dr. Somestudiessuggest that HRT can actually reverse certain menopause-induced skin changes, but more research is needed.
Women in their early-to mid-50s are Dr. InJason Bloom, MDs Philadelphia practice, women are having facelifts five years sooner than previous generations.
But by the mid-50s, theyre seeing the laxity and wanting to get ahead of it.
Researchers have sincewalked backthe findings, acknowledging that the data wasmisinterpretedand the risks overestimated.
Lasers are to Gen X what facials were to Boomers.
One should also avoid estrogen if theyre pregnant or have unexplained bleeding.
They feel that facelifting will give a more natural appearance, he explains.
In his practice, a lot of patients are skittish about filler because theyve seen so many overinflated faces.
Gen X is typically striving to restore and refresh, not augment or transform.
Its unbelievable how much brighter it can make someone look.
This specific demographic is where I see the highest percentage of patients on theGLP-1 agonists, says Dr. Sunder.
Other physicians say the same (andsurveysshow that about one-fifth of GLP-1 agonist users are Gen Xers).
The consequences of this trend?
Gen X is typically striving to restore and refresh, not augment or transform.
We are seeing a lot offaceliftingon the heels of GLP-1 use in menopausal patients, says Dr.
I operated on a lady yesterday who had lost about 40 pounds.
When the face is left stretched and hollow from weight loss, surgery is simply the most logical solution.
People hate the extra skin, she says, even more than they dread surgical scars.
In her experience, Gen X is remarkably accepting of the scars that can accompany body-contouring procedures.
Who doesn’t, right?
Boomers, on the other hand, are more purely focused on anti-aging to the max.
This comes up over and over again, says Dr. Byrne.
Theyre scared that theyre going to look like a freak or that people will know they had something done.
Dr. Bloom concurs: Theres a definite fear therethey dont want to look like a different person.
Hes even had patients ask for less of a result so you can look more natural.
His response: Youre going to look naturalandget a kickass outcome.
Surgically speaking, some are pursuing eyelid lifts, liposuction, and evenfacelifts, albeit later than the women.
Probably the upper end of the 50s is when men start coming in for facelifts, Dr. Byrne notes.
Others are bothered primarily by their necks, as the platysma muscle gradually falls, creating a heavy look.
But the biggest home run for many Gen X men, says Dr. Bloom, is hair restoration surgery.
(If yourenota Gen Xer, you probably don’t get this reference; google it.)
Its crazy how well it works and how good and natural it looks.
