Priscilla Presley in 1968 (left) and 2008. (Michael Desmond/Associated Press, ABC)Do cosmetic procedures make us look younger? Or just weirder?
That’s the question posted by MSNBC’s senior health editor, Julia Sommerfeld, who offers a slide show and article about the war on wrinkles. Ms. Sommerfeld explores the ugly side of cosmetic enhancement, including a woman who Botox’ed away all facial expression.
But the real eye-opener is the slide show of celebrities over the years, with text narration by Dr. Tony Youn, a Michigan plastic surgeon who runs the Celebrity Cosmetic Surgery blog. The show isn’t pretty and will make you rethink that planned eyebrow lift. While most of the pictures are a lesson in what not to do, there are a few featured faces — like that of actress Susan Sarandon — who Dr. Youn notes are aging gracefully.
Dr. Youn also offers advice for turning back the clock without looking bizarre. Among the tips: don’t freeze your forehead.
To see the “How Celebrities Are Aging” slide show and read the article, click here.
Healthy living doesn't happen at the doctor's office. The road to better health is paved with the small decisions we make every day. It's about the choices we make when we buy groceries, drive our cars and hang out with our kids. Join columnist Tara Parker-Pope as she sifts through medical research and expert opinions for practical advice to help readers take control of their health and live well every day. You can reach Ms. Parker-Pope at 
The easiest and most pleasurable way to eat well is to cook. Recipes for Health offers recipes with an eye towards empowering you to cook healthy meals every day. 
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i wrote the Knifestyles of the Rich and Famous column for the original DETAILS magazine. This was in the mid-eighties. I had a breast reduction myself and we felt that plastic surgery (which was still way in the back of the closet) was a cool new tool for people to look a little better, so we launched the column. Little did we know it would get this out of control. Now I look at actors on-screen and they look frozen and unreal. But when the tabloids follow them around and scream about how old and saggy they look, the pressure must be overwhelming.
— martha frankelhttp://www.marthafrankel.com
I have only looked at half the slide show as yet, but I’m struck by the stars who appear to have had no plastic surgery or Botox (Susan sarandon, Diane Keaton, Clint Eastwood). These people are still working full-tilt in the industry, as opposed to some of the lesser stars with lots of horrible augmentation. I suspect that stars that reach a certain stratosphere in Hollywood feel confident in their assets to the degree that they see no needs for lots of plastic surgery. On the other hand, younger or less successful actors/actresses feel the need to have an ‘edge’ in order to compete, and that edge, for them, may mean a younger look via plastic surgery and Botox. Or, maybe, the really successful people are getting the roles because they look normal and because they can exhibit natural facial expressions!
I hope the puffy lip craze disappears. I’m so repulsed by the look– it looks unnatural. There is something so attractive and graceful about a winged or cupid’s bow smile; the lip fillers obliterate any of that charm and just leave people with “blotto mouth”.
— ASWow. The slide show is full of “poster children” for how addictive cosmetic surgery can be. I could barely stand to look at some of the “after” photos.
Isn’t it rather silly how many times Dr. Youn touts chemical peels and the like in his comments, though? He must make a lot of money off of them in his practice.
— HeronWhat the article doesn’t address is something more sinister - the less rigid boundaries of “age”. More and more young hollywood stars are looking towards serious medical measures to enhance their looks or perceived (and normal!) signs of aging. Thinking of Lindsay Lohan (21) getting Botox injections, Jessica Simpson (28) having Restalyne injections for years, and Rose McGowan (35) having a bhleroplasty (eyelid operation) is simply frightening.
— rccolaThe celebrities who hadn’t had any work done were beautiful.
Nicole Kidman was evil-looking.
Stallone looked like he was falling apart even with the surgery and hormones.
— SuzieAs a breast cancer survivor who underwent reconstruction surgery, I am constantly amazed that anyone would put themselves through major surgery for vanity.
What is more telling is that these women loose worse-caricatures of themselves, phony–they have made themselves into the very image they hoped to avoid.
It is too bad that they do not have anyone around them to act as the voices of reason and question their motives for mutilating themselves.
— S.R. MoritzI kind of liked a lot of the statements about, “You can’t see any scars of surgery, so this is likely the result of good skin care.”
Heron, I actually noticed that the Dr. referenced several times that the individual had access to a variety of treatments like chemical peels or facials, not so much that the chemical peels were the answer. The real subtext was, “This person is wealthy and has access to better skin care, and it shows.”
I was amused, though, at the one comment that said, “With as much work as he seems to have had, why didn’t he do something about the skin damage from the sun?”
Even odder to me was that unless I had them side-by-side with their before pics, some of the most modified (like Priscilla Presley) didn’t look that odd to me. It wasn’t until I started looking for the ‘tells’ like extra-smooth foreheads or odd lip lines that they started to look strange to me. I wonder if this isn’t evidence of my own perceptions of ‘normal’ being changed by media representations.
— Rowan@Rowan: Point well taken. It seems funny to me that many people will spend a lot of dough on facial treatments as they get older, when they could have greatly reduced the signs of aging if they’d only begun wearing sunscreen regularly when they were younger!
Btw, are you/were you also on the isca bbs (Iowa Student Computing Assocation bulletin board system)? If so, we’ve spoken on there in the past. I went by the name “Heron” there, too. “Rowan” means “little prince,” right?
Sorry ’bout that, TPP. Hope you don’t mind.
— HeronYou forgot the most famous one of all - Jocelyn Wildenstein!
check her out here. Rumor has it, she wanted to look like a lion, to make her ex jealous.
http://www.alldeaf.com/general-chat/31663-jocelyn-wildenstein-has-too-many-plastic-surgery.html
— KittyIt would be interesting for patients to know which doctors performed these procedures. Not so much as a commentary on surgical skill (outcomes are not solely based on a surgeons abilities), but more for
patients to separate out the docs who are operating too frequently and not showing discretion in the cases they choose to take on. There is plenty of reasonable debate on whether the risk-reward of plastic surgery warrants such elective procedures, so a surgeon should only operate when they are confident in achieving a desirable outcome rather than just operating on anyone that walks in the door.
A separate point on the Hollywood plastic surgeons, is that many patients are unaware of the doctors credentials. Case and point is the very successful Dr. Robert Rey, of Dr. 90210 fame, who despite having a successful practice many would be surprised to find out he has chosen not to obtain board certification in plastic surgery. Dr. Jan Adams, has had an equally successful practice and obtained cable TV fame but is not certified either. The lucrative nature of plastic surgery makes it dangerous for patients because there are so many “plastic surgeons” who have not had the proper training. Anyone, interested in any cosmetic procedure should do their due diligence in finding a well trained plastic surgeon or dermatologist.
http://savvydoc.wordpress.com
— SavvyDocS.R. Moritz wrote: “As a breast cancer survivor who underwent reconstruction surgery, I am constantly amazed that anyone would put themselves through major surgery for vanity.” You can say that again, S.R.! Plastic surgeon asked me if I wanted an implant in the remaining breast, so they’d match. Hell, no. Let it hang; I’m so grateful that I’ve still got it.
— Eva DestructionI thought the speculation from the kind doctor was a little much. In some cases he’s obviously right, but in many cases he sounds like he’s guessing. The commentary is largely unnecessary, especially next to the descriptiveness of the pictures themselves.
— JesseThe desire to maintain one’s youth and vitality is understandable. However, wrinkles, saggy skin, and other unfortunate physical changes are part of the aging process. Looking at the slide show reminds me that aging can be a beautiful thing. Audrey Hepburn is a great example of a timeless, natural beauty.
— RunningMy physician suggested breast reduction surgery for me. You should have seen the look on her face when I replied I was not contemplating operations on healthy organs.
— SusannaLet me just say that even the creepy after photos are no match to what these people look like in real life. I’m a Hollywood event planer and I deal with celebrities up close in person all the time. Being in the same room with Cher is truly frightening. There’s nothing human about her. Susan Sarandon, on the other hand, is lovelier than she looks in her photo. I wish I had a catalog of horrors to rattle off here, but the truth is that 95% of the wealthy Angelenos and celebrities I work with look so ridiculous it doesn’t even register anymore.
— jenThere is something sad,tragic and terribly shallow about a person so fearful and obsessed with keeping his or her youthful looks. It is fighting the inevitable and like death, age happens. Beauty they say is from the inside out. I used to hear this from my Mother who was a beauty in her time and who in turn learned from her Mother to keep the mind active and interested, then it will follow one will always be interesting. When the wrinkles appear no one will notice because they are too busy listening to what one has to say!. Grandmother and Mother were always beautiful. They had no trouble with the oncoming tidal wave of age because their minds were active and creative.
— elizabethDear Susanna,#14, I had breast reduction surgery, paid for with my own funds because I didn’t have insurance at the time. It’s one of the very few plastic surgery procedures that is done for health reasons. Don’t know how old you are but I was 20 when I had it done. Never regretted it for a moment. Before that I had two sacks of cysts, constant pain in my shoulders and constant swollenness and pain in my breasts. Not to mention the sexual agression and harassment they attracted from strange men. I’ve never had the personality to go along with having big boobs.
The surgery was done by a celebrity surgeon. Frankly I don’t think he made me small enough. Not all plastic surgery is frivoluous or grotesque.
Breast reduction surgery is known as the happy surgery because these are the plastic surgery patients who are most pleased with the results. Breast reduction is done for reasons of health, comfort, and even social safty. I hope you don’t take your physician’s suggestion as an insult.
Plastic surgery is an extremely personal decision. It is sad that anyone would do something so painful and expensive and risky for purly cosmetic reasons.
— KimettaI question the professional ethics of the surgeons who perform these extreme procedures for purely cosmetic purposes. I’d imagine it is only a fraction of practioners, but the photos are shocking. Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. Surgeons are required by law to provide informed consent before a surgical procedure. This means informed [explaining the risks and benefits in terms the patient can understand] + consent [the patient consents to the procedure once it is adequately explained]. Since the patient cannot be expected to be an expert, the physician must give professional advice, not just do procedures. I suggest the Institute of Medicine study the issue, and make sound recommendations about when these procedures are appropriate.
— David NeumannWhat is wrong with getting a purely cosmetic procedure if you want it? Why should we have to get a ‘doctors approval’ if it is a safely done procedure? Big brother does not need to decide if I can get a cosmetic procedure if I want to do it, it’s safe and I have a good doctor to do so. As Cher said years ago, even before she was frightening looking, “If I want to get my boobs put on my back, it’s no-one’s business but my own”… Just because people (including me) may think someone has gone overboard with the enhancements, so what? Who are we to say what ’should be done’?? We are still a free country, aren’t we?
— Lola LolaSusan Sarandon is pretty much the only celebrity d’un certain age - male or female - who actually looks like herself (and looks HUMAN). But what are the others thinking? They don’t look better or younger - just bizarre and FUGLY! Attention Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Mia Farrow, Nicole Kidman, Martin Short, *Renee Zellweger*, et al! Y’all look like FREAKS and I’m embarrassed for you! And you, STEVE MARTIN, you may have kept your gray hair, but you’re not fooling anybody! Sooo pathetic!
— dallapiccola(But, then again, there are some who should go under the knife. Gwyneth Paltrow definitely needs work done. She probably already has, so she needs a retouch.)
Don’t think that Audrey Hepburn and many other actors who looked wonderful into their later years didn’t have work done. I believe they did. But it was good work, and helped along by fabulous genetics as well, ie bone structure. Most of us do not have Hepburn’s incredible facial and body type to work with. For someone like Zellweger, Kidman, or myself for that matter, who has a naturally rounder facial structure with cheek fat that will then fall into unattractive jowls etc, it’s not easy.
What IS required to stay as truly young- and healthy-looking is exercise and healthy diet and nutritional supplementation if needed. There’s no faking that. Many of these actors smoke, and the results are not truly reversible–maybe for a while on the outside, but not in the lungs, and eventually all the toxicity is bound to catch up with them.
— appleHeron:
I think I’m probably a different Rowan, as I’ve only rarely even been to Iowa (I did travel up for the Council Bluffs Ren Faire several times, as it was one of the few festivals in the Midwest where the ground was soft and clean enough to go barefoot). I will say that the guy I never had the guts to tell I had a crush on him in high school went off to Ames, my best friend did summer stock at Okoboji, and I did once date a guy from the CB area but that’s about all the connection I’ve got with the state.
Sorry to disappoint.
— RowanI had a lower facelift done and I look fine. I did not like the jowls or turkey wattle. The doc wanted to do the eyes, but that kind of thing rarely, if ever, looks right. I’m not kidding anyone about my age, but I don’t have jowls or a turkey wattle. What I find shocking is how nasty and judgemental people are about it. People go out and spend tens of thousands on a fancy car or they go out and get an abortion or they drink and eat to excess, but somehow, a middle aged lady spending 10 large on stalling looking like Abe Vigoda for one more year is one of the worst transgressions on the face of the earth. And don’t you think that some actress over 50 who does not have a sagging jawline didn’t get something done. She just got it done well, flutters her eyelashes, and insists that it was all “facials” and “massage”.
— JennyeGood, bad, and in worse: Michael Jackson, the poster child for the argument against
rhinoplasty.
On the other hand we have Angela Lansbury, who in her “Murder She Wrote” days had just the right amount of tucking for a person with a less than great jawline. As a less than proud possessor of that British/Irish feature, I wish I could afford to get my jawline improved and wish I knew who did her jawline for her.
Years ago I interviewed for a temporary job with a nice lady who lived in Pebble Beach. The interview was held at her house. She stood at the end of a living room that must have been 30-40 feet long. I was in my thirties, and she herself appeared to be in her forties. As I walked across the carpeted floor toward her she “aged” 10 years for every ten feet I moved. By the time I reached her I could see she was in her mid 70’s and with skin stretched as tight as it could be. It was one of those mandarin mask faces stuck in a perpetual half smile. Very nice person, but shame on whoever sold her that bill of goods.
— Joanjennye said:
>
I have the same reaction to the surgically-enhanced & those who drive ridiculously expensive cars: why are they so vain? why are they so greedy for attention? why do they have such low self-esteem?
I never understood the reason “…because it makes me feel good” for plastic surgery. Uh, hello? If someone is that self-obsessed to alter their outward appearance, and we the public have to suffer when we gaze on the outcome, then how does that make a person feel better??
Advice for someone who wants to feel better about themself:
1) Stop staring at your mirror
2) Read a good book
3) Learn an instrument or a foreign language
4) Talk to your friends & family
5) No one is looking at your turkey-gobble, so get over yourself
(Btw, why bring up abortion into the converation? That’s neither here nor there.)
— Cecile Paladilhe