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Why Do Celebrity Facelifts Look So Bad?

asked 2 years ago by anon
Latest answer by Robert L. Kraft, MD
Question viewed 5,527 times
Tags: celebrity

bruce jenner is just 1 of the celebs who seem to have really bad facelifts. windswept looking. is this because they went to a bad doctor, or just were bad candidates for a facelift? i'm just wondering cuz it seems they can afford the absolute best plastic surgeon in the world!

21 answers to Why Do Celebrity Facelifts Look So Bad?

+3

Bad celebrity plastic surgery

You only see bad bad plastic surgery. There are plenty of celebrities who have had plastic surgery and you will never hear about who their doctor is, because they quietly get their work done and don't publicize it. They just look great for their age. Many well publicized cases of plastic surgery gone wrong are the result of silicone face and lip injections performed by dermatologists or unscrupulous practitioners. Celebrities in the limelight live under tremendous pressure to be... more
Brent Moelleken, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

www.drbrent.com

+1

Celebrity face lifts look great if you can't tell--you only notice the bad ones.

Having practiced plastic surgery in Beverly Hills for more than 30 years, I am asked this question almost daily. Whether it's Bruce Jenner, Joan Rivers or Kenny Rogers, etc. the answer is that the surgery was not done well. Over the years we have performed surgery on many celebrities who wanted to look natural--rested, not pulled. Others that we have seen chose not to believe what I told them and went to someone who told them what they wanted to hear! I disagree with one of the opinions that... more
Toby Mayer, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

+3

A good facelift is not immediately appreciated

Don't you feel sorry for Kenny Rogers or Melanie Griffith? I do, and while I used to be confused as to why they were unable to get excellent plastic surgery, I have come to realize that being a star doesn't imply common sense and resourcefulness. The reality is- it is in fact possible to get a natural appearing facelift. Now some of the final result is dependent on some inherent facial characteristics: skin thickness; bone structure; elasticity of the skin are the three big ones, as well... more
Jeffrey Epstein MD, FACS

Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon
+3

Good Plastic Surgery is rarely noticed; Bad Plastic Surgery Screams at you

The answer to your question is threefold. Many of the results you may be referring to come from a different era in Hollywood and Plastic Surgery. Facelifts were performed in a way that did not respect the limitations or boundaries of the procedure (Ethel Merman's mouth for example). This may be related to poor judgment on the part of the surgeon, unrealistic expectations on the part of the celebrity, or both. My second point relates to Dr. Aldea's: socially popular Plastic Surgeons are... more
Stephen Prendiville, MD

Fort Myers Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.drprendiville.com

+2

In Plastic Surgery you don't always get what you pay for

What you are seeing are the worst of the worst results. These results are a combination of what the surgeon sees as an acceptable outcome to a facelift and what the client/patient has asked that surgeon to produce. Both parties should probably take a step back and have a good look at the outcomes. Although there are many talented surgeons performing facelift surgery with beautiful results, there are many who have marketed themselves to such a degree that they have created a perception and... more
Philip S. Schoenfeld, MD

Chevy Chase Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

It's the emperor's new facelift

I assure you, the fact that celebrities get horrible work does not bode well for regular folks getting great work. Remember that most general plastic surgeons get very little training in comsetic surgeon while in their residencies. A number of forward thinking individuals go on to do aesthetic fellowship. However, many general plastic surgeon simply hang out their shingle and try to figure out cosmetic surgery on their own or by taking weekend courses. This is a tough way to learn. Some... more
Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon
+2

Celebrity plastic surgery

Celeb facelifts or any celeb plastic surgery for that matter is not the gold standard. They've chosen someone who they can relate to, someone who they heard is the best or the most popular but this is not necessarily someone who performs the best technique in plastic surgery. They look bad because they've had operations that don't make anatomical sense. A facelift must actually lift up and not sideways, it must be done from the deeper tissues and not just the skin. If the skin is pulled,... more
Ricardo A. Meade, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon
+2

Celebrity facelifts

It is amazing that a star who has endless disposable income (and even deducts their cosmetic surgery on their taxes as a business expense!) would fall into the hands of any but the best plastic surgeons. But the results are there to see on TV specials and in the magazines. I think many young "real" plastic surgeons as well as "pretend" plastic surgeons set up shop in Beverly Hills and promote themselves heavily and some even seem to believe in their press releases and... more
Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS

Seattle Plastic Surgeon
+2

Celebrity plastic surgery gone wrong: Actors/Actresses/Stars may make bad cosmetic choices

I p[onder the same question myself. Drs. Prendiville and Aldea bring up great points to which I would like to add. As stated, you probably don't notice the good ones and that is part of the problem because the few bad ones you see can be terrifying. In an industry that is based predominantly on appearance, it is no doubt that plastic surgery is prevalent in Hollywood. The pressure is on to look good forever and surgery begins early. Clearly, actresses are having surgery at younger and... more
Otto Joseph Placik, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon
+1

Bad celebrity facelifts

Those studio lights are unforgiving. Secondly, celebrities, regardless of what they pay for plastic surgery, are human beings and are just as likely to have less than outstanding results than the rest of the population. In an industry where youth is paramount, some people also don't know when to stop and, particularly with a celebrity clientele, their doctors may be loathe to tell them to the contrary.
Robert L. Kraft, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity Facelifts Gone Awry

It is a very interesting phenomenon that some of the world’s most famous celebrities have the worst facelift results. It is indeed tragic and does not bode well for plastic surgery. Good plastic surgery is one of subtle finesse and will help refine someone’s youth as well as to maintain their own unique facial beauty and not create “distortion”. I see this in secondary facelift patients in which they have lost their identity which is tragic. In good plastic surgery,... more
Rod J. Rohrich, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity Facelifts

All celebrity facelifts don't look bad; you only notice the bad results. Having been in this town for so many years I've seen a lot of excellent work on entertainers who consider cosmetic surgery an investment in their future. Whether celebrity or not, natural results are barely perceptible.
Richard W. Fleming, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity facelifts and poor results

The pulled and stretched, tightened wind-tunneled look from a facelift is due to the skin being stretched too tight. This is not the muscles being stretched too tight; it is only the skin being stretched. It gives a very false wind-tunneled look.  Good plastic surgery results are not obvious.  
William Portuese, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattlefacial.com

+1

Good facelift results are noticed much less than the bad results

There are great results in celebrities and also few bad ones. Most of the celebrities seek specific plastic surgeons and also demand special treatment. Jackson rhinoplasty was a good example of the celebrity power demanding and getting too much plastic surgery.
Kamran Khoobehi, MD

New Orleans Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity Facelifts

Just because the celebrities have a lot of money does not mean that they are going to get the best plastic surgery out there. You need to do research and look at before and after photos to find a plastic surgeon that can deliver natural results. Quite often celebrities fall into the trap of going to the plastic surgeon that they have heard of in the community which means nothing but good public relations, not necessarily good plastic surgery.
Farbod Esmailian, MD

Orange County Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity plastic surgery looks not that great

Hi, Celebrity plastic surgeons and good plastic surgery are not synonymous. To gain notoriety in the celebrity arena as a plastic surgeon one only has to have a good public relations person and lots of money and not necessarily good hands. Just look at Michal Jackson. Celebrities are rarely educated consumers they get their information from unreliable sources and then fall into the "PR" trap. The celebrities that don't look they had plastic surgery, probably did their research... more
Oleh Slupchynskyj, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.facechange.org

+1

Bad face lifts in celebs

Great question. I would bet that they do pay top dollar to top docs. It is typically more difficult to get a good, natural appearing, long lasting result in men vs. women, but they don't need to look wind swept. So who knows? sek
Scott E. Kasden, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity facelifts often look fake

The reason why so many celebrity facelifts look less than natural maybe two fold. The first is that they wanted a created look and despite what others might say or think they internally wanted a look that would create talk or buzz in the community. The second reason is that the surgeon who was performing the surgery wanted to pull as tight as possible since they were paying a lot of money and felt that the results would last longer if they were over pulled. Of course this creates the fake... more
Scott Trimas, MD

Jacksonville Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

Bad celebrity facelifts

What a great question! I think part of the answer is that being a celebrity doesn't automatically make one an expert on anything, including how to choose a plastic surgeon and accept advice. But more likely is that it is simply a matter of noticing the bad work and overlooking the natural-appearing work, just as we slow down to look at a traffic accident but don't appreciate all of the good drivers around us. That is true for famous faces as much as for everyone else. I am glad to be... more
Richard Baxter, MD

Seattle Plastic Surgeon

baxterplasticsurgery.com

+1

Celebrity surgery

Living and working in Beverly Hills, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. The unfortunate thing is that celebrities get noticed by non-celebrities who may take their clues from these celebrities. Many celebrities do not go to the most reputable doctors as some of the failures in the public news testify to. The difference between a "good" facelift and a "bad" is a combination of the patient's anatomy, the patient's involvement or uninvolvement in the planning... more
Robin T.W. Yuan, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
+1

Celebrity Facelifts

Human nature being what it is, we seem to thrive on seeing celebrities appear more human, ordinary and vulnerable just like the rest of us. Like the rest of us they too make mistakes in choosing spouses, business advisers, investment opportunities and - yes - Plastic surgeons. Although LA has great Plastic surgery talent and the competition among Plastic surgeons and others in that part of the country is fierce, NOT all the surgeons there are as good as their PR agents and websites would... more
Peter A. Aldea, MD

Memphis Plastic Surgeon

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