“I’ve been suppressing myself, and things I want for myself, because of my children,” Wendy Osefo tells her castmates on the season six premiere of The Real Housewives of Potomac. “I said to myself, ‘What am I gonna do for me?’”
If the “titty cupcakes” her sons were eating before the guests arrived didn’t give it away, we soon find out the reason for the night’s celebration, when Wendy pulls open her satin robe to reveal the results of her recent breast augmentation. “I want to introduce you to my new friends, Happy andNess,” she says proudly, as the women cheer.
Almost immediately though, there’s speculation as to whether she also got a Brazilian butt lift (the editing makes it seem as though she’s playing coy; Wendy says she was always up front about getting the procedure). And so kicks off another dramatic season, filled with the kind of body shaming and stereotyping around plastic surgery we had hoped was a thing of the past—at least in a franchise known for its transparency around cosmetic procedures.
We caught up with the Real Housewife and John Hopkins University professor (you can be both), to discuss her new look, the surprising reactions to it, and her best beauty advice.
RealSelf: So you kicked off the season premiere by throwing a reveal party for your new breasts… tell us about that decision.
Wendy Osefo: You know, when we have the first event of the season, it usually goes to the person who’s on good terms with everyone, because you want everyone to be there. I was in a good place with everyone, and I’d had plastic surgery not even a month prior to the start of filming. I had just done something really life-changing, and I wanted to share it with the ladies, not hide it.
RS: How long had you thought about getting plastic surgery?
WO: You don’t realize what motherhood does to your body, both emotionally and physically, so after I had my first child, I thought, Once I’m done having children, I definitely want to get back to myself.
I nursed all my children for 15 months, and it really took a toll on my body. I was a shell of myself, and I just wanted to take ownership of my body again. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw the breasts for Karter, Kruz, and Kamrynn. My body was no longer a sexual vessel, if that makes sense. I just wanted to get back to my normal self.
RS: Did any of the reactions to your new look surprise you?
WO: Yes, the reaction of my castmates surprised me. I got some pushback this season because people felt as though having plastic surgery is not something a woman—quote unquote—of my caliber does, or that having plastic surgery means you lack substance.
I was really taken aback by that because every woman in my cast, for the most part, is a mom, and we all know how hard it is to be a mom. So for them not to applaud me and be happy that I did something for myself finally was really shocking. And every one of my castmates has had some sort of cosmetic procedure, so what’s the big deal if I do it?
RS: What would you say to other women who are feeling judged over their plastic surgery or their desire to get plastic surgery?
WO: You have to understand that oftentimes, society tries to put us in a box. Society tries to give us labels, and women are told we can’t be both sexy and smart, we can’t be both confident and articulate—and that’s not true. A woman can be sexy and she can define her sexiness however she wants and still be the smartest woman in the room.
Plastic surgery doesn’t define you, your aesthetics do not define you. That’s the biggest takeaway for me—just making sure I say to myself and to the world that what I look like doesn’t define or have any impact on my intellectual capacity.
RS: How did you choose your doctor and do your research?
WO: I actually went by word of mouth. I wanted to stay in the country, and I wanted to go to the best person close to me. One of my castmates on a different franchise had recently undergone surgery and I loved her work, so I called her to talk and get her doctor’s name.
After that, I subscribed to RealSelf. I looked up my doctor, and I read pages and pages and pages of comments about his work and his aesthetic. I tell you, Dr. Joseph Michaels does not have one negative comment, and that stuck out to me. People weren’t just raving about his work; they were also raving about his bedside manner and how nice he was.
RS: Was there anything about the recovery process that surprised you or that you wish you knew beforehand?
WO: I don’t want to say this, because I don’t want people to think it will be the same for them—but I thought it was going to be really bad, and it surprised me that it wasn’t. I think I was probably out for a week, but other than that, I felt really good. Maybe that’s a testament to the surgeries I got [BBL and breast augmentation], because I had considered doing a tummy tuck, which I hear has a really hard recovery, but I didn’t do that.
RS: I’ve heard that getting a BBL and a breast augmentation at the same time is hard because you’re supposed to sleep on your stomach for the BBL but sleep on your back for the breasts.
WO: Exactly, so the sleeping part was difficult, but I didn’t experience the pain part. I actually bought a custom donut BBL pillow I would sit in to sleep, so my butt didn’t have any pressure applied to it and my chest was upright.
RS: Are there any other treatments that you like to get regularly?
WO: I got a HydraFacial recently and I definitely want to do a Vampire Facial. But I am not shy about plastic surgery—I got the breast augmentation and BBL, but once I reevaluate everything, I do not mind going back again for something, if I choose to.
RS: What is your best piece of beauty advice?
WO: No matter how tired you are, always make sure to take off your makeup at night and wash your face. My skin has changed dramatically from that. I go to a lot of events, some that are late at night, and I just hop into bed. But I see the difference in my skin when I actually just take the five minutes to wash off my face and moisturize. I wake up in the morning with a glow.
And then try to do a mask weekly—and just keep yourself healthy, take vitamins, drink water… all of those things matter.
