Why does it suddenly feel like everyone's getting a facelift?
You're not completely imagining it, but there's also more to this than meets the eye...
I have said from the start of NBWI that I have no plans to turn this into a space to idly speculate on who’s had what done, so I’ll keep that to an absolute minimum here1. But barely a day goes by without some newly refreshed face hitting the newstands2, and I also get asked about this all the time IRL. Far be it from me to ignore the zeitgeist.
So, here’s why:
Everything is terrible right now
And speculating about famous faces is preferable to spending time thinking/talking about the certain doom of late-stage capitalism, the outrageous shrinkflation of crisp packets3 or who in your kid’s year is probably an emergent sociopath.
Gossip can be cathartic, and idle jibber jabber about someone you’ve never met is a low-stakes dopamine hit in desperate times.
Quite a lot of people are getting one thing or another done
It’s not just celebs. At this point, more or less everyone knows someone who’s had something done. There have never been more ways to enhance/change your appearance.
Social media, duh
And there have never been more ways to share the results with billions of people.
And whenever anyone’s face looks different, there’s a tendency to assume it’s a facelift
Some people are not getting facelifts.
I said last year that I was pretty sure Lindsey Lohan didn’t have one.
There are other women4 who’ve had very public, non-facelift-related, glow-ups, and idle speculators are chomping at the bit to attribute that newfound radiance to a facelift.
Some people have definitely had a facelift, even if they’re not talking about it
Brad Pitt has had a facelift. Emily Blunt has had a facelift. Demi Moore has had a facelift5. Madonna has had a facelift6. So have many other people.
Aaaand some people are just openly talking about the fact that they’ve had a facelift
Sharon Osbourne, Kris Jenner and Katie Price are all tireless facelift stalwarts. All have kept us abreast of their multiple procedures, and these take up quite a lot of column inches.
This can make it seem as though a lot of people are getting facelifts, when quite a lot of the noise is made up of a handful of very vocal faceliftees, another handful being speculated about, and a lot of dead air to fill in between.
A note on Kris Jenner: Yes, her work is very good. But she pays for her own lighting people to light her for photos (even at events), and painstakingly curates the images of herself and of the rest of her family.
There are vanishingly few photos of her ‘in the wild’, and it’s long been known that the Kardashians have relationships with the paparazzi that enable them to choose - and alter - the photos that are published of them7. The recent8 photos of her at the Bezos wedding were out of her control and present a very different face.
Influencer culture is real
There are a lot of people getting work done for free, which makes them highly motivated to talk/share content about it.
If I see one more ex-reality TV contestant tagging a hair transplant clinic in Turkiye, I will not be held responsible for my actions.
All of this, though, leads to a lot of exposure from this subset of users. This contributes to the impression that there’s a new face lurking around every corner of the internet.
It’s also worth noting
Facelifts have come a long way, baby. One of the reasons that more people are getting them - and that the have-they-or-haven’t-they’s have intensified - is that the potential results are getting better and better. A great facelift now looks like a refresh, not a flat, squinty-eyed mask.
If a person is facelift-inclined and they have the time and the money required, there’s never been a better time to get one.
And finally… Ozempic
A lot of people are losing a lot of weight right now. And fast weight loss often leads to loose skin. So a facelift can suddenly become a priority. Also, if you’re out on the town showing off your new bod, you kinda want a face to match. That’s why there have been some total transformations of people who no longer look anything like themselves9.
What does all of this mean for you?
It needn’t mean anything at all.
If you’re spending a lot of time:
Worrying about other people’s faces
Worrying about your face
Neither of these are the best use of your time. Put the internet down. Go for a walk. Make something with your hands. See how you feel after you’ve spent some time in nature.
Should YOU get a facelift?
If you’re really, really spending a lot of time worrying about your face and you think a facelift is the answer, then read The Rules, thoroughly.
If your proposed facelift is Rules-compliant, then - as far as I’m concerned - your face is your business and no one else’s. But please, be really, really honest with yourself, and others, that it is Rules-compliant.
You’ll probably need this if you choose to proceed:
Until the next time! x
Feel free to keep me honest
Possibly unnecessarily violent imagery
I am legitimately furious about this on a near-daily basis
And a few chaps
At least one.
At least one a decade. (I fucking love Madonna and support her right to do whatever the fuck she wants for all eternity.)
There are a million articles on this and photographers have confirmed it.
i.e. post her latest facelift
Full disclosure: I’d had the idea for this post a while ago, but it was the recent photos of Karen Brady that finally spurred me to put fingertips to keyboard. For the record, she denies having used Ozempic or having had a facelift.