Sharon Osbourne has always been up front about her plastic surgery procedures, sharing details over the years about her liposuction, breast implant rupture, and, more recently, a facelift in 2019. Now she’s describing her experience with her second facelift, which she had in late 2021.
“I had a full facelift done in October and I looked like one of those f*cking mummies that they wrap. It hurt like hell. You have no idea,” she told The Sunday Times. As with her first facelift—which she said left her numb around her mouth—her recovery this time around was similarly challenging. “I’m telling you, it was horrendous. I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be f*cking joking.’ One eye was different to the other. I looked like a f*cking Cyclops. I’m like, ‘All I need is a hunchback’,” she recounted.
It’s unusual to have two facelifts, especially within a few years of each other, says New York City board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Shafer. “She may have had different procedures but called them both ‘facelifts,’” he surmises, noting that the term facelift can refer to surgery specific to the neck, jawline, upper face, and so on.
Therefore, she could be talking about two separate procedures—for instance, a lower facelift the first time and an upper facelift involving the cheeks and eye area the second. “It’s also possible, but less likely, that she needed something as simple as a small scar revision,” says Dr. Shafer.
While there’s no clear risk to doing two facelifts so close together, it’s better to avoid it if possible. That’s because the first facelift could potentially lead to deep scar tissue during the healing phase, which makes elevating the skin—the primary purpose of a facelift—more complicated, per Dr. Shafer. “The first surgery is like peeling an orange with a loose rind that is easy to remove, but the second surgery is sometimes like peeling an orange with a very adherent rind that you have to meticulously peel away,” he explains.
Whatever the reason for her latest procedure, Osbourne goes on in the interview to report that she’s happy with her results now that her face has “settled.” This is a fairly common sentiment among facelift patients, according to Dr. Shafer. “It’s not unusual for patients to have buyer’s remorse during the initial healing phase and then change their tune after the swelling has settled and they see great results,” he says.
That’s because the results don’t appear overnight. The first few days entail changing bandages and applying ice to reduce the swelling, says Dr. Shafer, while the next few weeks are when the face begins to return to a normal appearance (or “settle”). He recommends skipping cigarettes, drinking water, and getting ample protein to speed up healing.
Ultimately, facelifts—while a standard and popular surgery—aren’t always straightforward; expectations can differ from reality, though asking the right questions ahead of surgery can be helpful. But with the procedure on the rise, particularly among younger people, it can be helpful for those in the spotlight to be candid about their own experience.
