We are bombarded by salacious headlines daily. Did George Clooney have his eyes done? Has Sandra Bullock done anything? Are Jessica Simpson’s breasts hers or not? And what about Angelina Jolie and those lips?
There are celebrities we know have done things. The extremes: Dolly Parton, Pam Anderson. Those with (I think) unnatural looks after: Burt Reynolds, Marie Osmond. Those who admit it in public, and publish their stories in magazines: Heidi Montag, Lisa Rinna. Those who admit to some things, like “I had my nose done for a deviated septum so I can breathe,” but then their nose is thinner and smaller, and hmmm… do their eyes look refreshed?
I get why it is so juicy. Celebrities are in our magazines and on the internet. We see their faces magnified on movie screens. When you are a 40 something woman watching Desperate Housewives, you can’t help but compare yourself to those women. Am I as thin? wrinkle free? Am I a hot mommy or a washed up one?
So I decided to surf the net, and I found hordes of sites dedicated to exposing celebrity plastic surgery. In some ways I think it is good- people should know that a woman who looks like she is 40 when she is really 60 doesn’t just have “good genes and avoided the sun.”
I am a surgeon, but I don’t always recommend surgery. For younger women (read 35-50), many things can be improved without surgery. With nonsurgical means, I can remove wrinkles with botox, improve skin health and tone with products and chemical peels (helps get rid of age spots and fine wrinkles, reduce pore size, etc), and essentially give a liquid facelift with fillers. No surgery. No scars. No downtime. It is like magic. Some of the techniques like Sculptra come on gradually, so even someone seeing you everyday wouldn’t know.
So, getting to the celeb stuff since I know that is why you are reading this blog, when I went onto sites, they were all very vague. “We suspect that…” “Here are photos, you judge for yourself…”
Hmmmm. Not very enlightening. And those who I would really want to know about are the ones who will never tell. Why? Because they don’t need to. They did fillers and surgery well- elegantly, subtly, naturally. They look like themselves, perhaps just a younger fresher version.
So no juicy stories here. I suspect almost all women who are in Hollywood have done work. Given how prevalent it is where I am in Palo Alto, I can’t imagine it is less popular in Hollywood. So as proud as I am of those who admit their cosmetic procedures in public, and as glad as I am that there are sites which seek to make the discussion about beauty and its treatments more open so we have realistic understanding of what is real, I think we are never going to really know who has done what.
My patient population, who are not starlets in Hollywood, hold their treatments private. Very private. And because the results are natural and subtle, they are not outed.
I do think most women do cosmetic procedures. I do think acceptance and honesty is gaining. Ten years ago no one would talk about Botox in public or admit they had done it. Now it seems to be more common and accepted. But admitting to fillers and surgeries is still more hush hush.
So celebrity plastic surgery. I think anyone over the age of 40 has done some kind of cosmetic procedure or surgery: botox, fillers, peels, lasers, eyelifts, browlifts, facelifts, breast lifts, breast implants, liposuction. Their looks are their livelihood. But when done well, it won’t be obvious. And I doubt they will ever admit it.