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Facelifts were up (pun very much intended) 18% in 2022.
Photographed by Hannah Khymych
There are pictures taken of you that make you think, Do I really look like that?
You scroll past, hit delete, accept or decline the tag, move on with your life.
Then there arethe ones you take at a plastic surgeons office.
Getty Images
These are pictures you wont easily forget.
That was my experience at least.
She could have just said, Nice try.
Im a journalist and Im here for work.
Do they know something that we dont?
Can you wait too long?
She wants answers and Im not opposed to getting a few plastic-surgery consultations so that get them.
I still feel like a teenager, just trying to navigate life.
Its a reminder that the world sees me differently than how I feel.
This is a common concern for the patients who undergofacelifts, according to plastic surgeons.
And good for your age isnt always good enough in work like mine that is often done on camera.
In theentertainment world, women can play the mother to someone 10 years their junior.
Not that gendered ageism is exclusive to my professional worlds, of course.
Many women report being stereotyped anddiscriminated against based on their age.
Im curious to hear if I could actually be a candidate for a facelift… or if Im delusional.
and that anything short of appreciating senescence is giving into the patriarchy.
Because aging is conflicting.
Also, can we ban aging gracefully?
What the hell does that actually mean?
Which leads us back to facelifts.
You absolutely do not need to be thinking about a facelift or when to get one.
But if you are, you arent alone.
Okay, lets go!
Yes, facelift patients really are getting younger.
We have a new, more youthful baseline that we are working from.
This lengthens careers, especially for women in Hollywood.
This is anecdotal, however.
(The ASPS doesnt have 2023 data yet.)
There was an 8% jump in facelift procedures altogether from pre-pandemic to 2022."
Among his patients, the Diamond Mini Lift has become popular for 40th birthdays.
Doing aretinolregimen every night, that’s going to change the way the face ages.
We’re more aware of what we look like.
Twenty years ago, you saw yourself in the mirror when youbrushed your teethin the morning and at night.
Now you’re constantly on Zoom calls and youre getting photos posted of yourself.
It has affected the age of facelifting.
But no, there is no perfect age for a facelift.
Maybe you saw this coming.
But apologies to my editor theres no magic number here.
At 37, I can say check and check.
But we all age differently.
All of these things change the texture and quality of the skin, says Dr. Doft.
For somebody who was significantly overweight that canlead to a lot of laxity, says Dr. Doft.
[Thats a group of] people who tend to be much younger.
There are definite advantages to getting a facelift younger.
Before anyone comes at us with pitchforks, by younger we mean under 50, not under 30.
And rarely even under 40.
But the point is that not waiting too long can mean your surgery results will be longer lasting.
Sarmela Sunder, MD, a double-board certified facial plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, agrees.
For most people, the goal of surgery is to look refreshed.
Before anyone comes at us with pitchforks, by younger we mean under 50, not 30.
Get out of here!
Come back in 20 years!
Menopause is a factor.
And kind of a big one.
It actually correlates, almost precisely, with perimenopause and menopause.
(On average,menopause which begins 12 months after a womans last period starts at 51.)
To that we do have a clear answer: No.
5. it’s possible for you to be too young.
If youre under 35, why are you still reading this?
And if youre under 40 like me, well, before you do anything be very careful.
The younger you are, the more crucial it is tofind a highly skilled surgeon.
(And, no, having a million followers or a strong social followingdoesnt mean jack.)
Its actually easier to perform a facelift on an older patient due to the give of their skin.
If you’re not well-versed in facelift surgery, theseyounger patientsare tricky.
Dr. Few doesnt recommend a facelift for anyone in their 30s because scarring is a concern.
If you’re not well-versed in facelift surgery, these younger patients are tricky.
We talked about whetherweight gainwas also a contributing factor to what I had considered fat under my chin.
Dr. Sunder said that it was not subcutaneous fat and not something she could remove withliposuction.
Plus, weight loss could neither help eliminate my concern altogether nor the skin laxity in the area.
Ultimately, the only remedy would be a neck lift.
(Im not a doctor, just a writer!)
But on the topic of deciding whether or not youre ready for a facelift…
6.
Whatever age you are, you have to reallywanta facelift.
Okay, so you feel younger than you look.
Welcome to being over 30.
And sometimes you pull your jawline up and backwards when you look in the mirror.
Welcome to being over 40.
Those risks are very small in well-trained and experienced hands, but they’re not zero.
As does Dr. Sunder, especially to the growing number of 30-somethings setting up facelift consultations.
I think people are seeing things that aren’t really there sometimes, she says.
Or theyre feeling pressured to do something when they could wait.
At 37, I am a candidate for a facelift… but then again, maybe Im not.
Theres what Dr. Sunder told me about my submandibular glands and pre-jowl sulcus.
MyZoomconsultation with Dr. Karam went a little differently.
Ultimately, he said to revisit the conversation with him in a few years.
And Im considering it.
Im not about to book an OR, but I am weighing the costs versus the risks of surgery.
Bodily risk isnt the only thing holding me back, though.
Theres also this: I live in Los Angeles where people are desperate to turn back time.
Theres a skewed idea of what is appropriate and when a tendency to overindulge, if you will.
Ive seen, up close and personal, insane cosmetic work as well asinsanely goodcosmetic work.
Did they let the idea marinate a bit, sit with it for a while?
Or did they make a hasty decision to do something just because its trending?
I often wish I never gotCoolsculpting.)
The best aspect of plastic surgery is restoringconfidence, says Dr. Doft.
When people ask, Should I do this operation?
Am I the right candidate?
I say, How often do you think about this?
Are you thinking about it when you look in the mirror?
Are you thinking about it once a month?
Most people will say, I think about it every single day.
If this is occupying that much of your time, youre ready.
Think how freeing it is to just take it off the table.
Or onto the table, in this case.
To read more about plastic surgery:
Now watch a video on one hundred years of plastic surgery:
