A recent study has caused all kinds of controversy by suggesting that a facelift might make you look younger, but it won’t make you more attractive. But that study, taken at face value (pun only somewhat intended), is a little misleading. If you’re considering plastic surgery and you’re concerned after hearing this study, read on to find out why you might have more dramatic changes than the study suggests.
Firstly, the study looks at facelifts, eyelifts, and brow lifts, but not necessarily combinations of procedures. Secondly, the suggestion of “more” or “less” attractive might be a little misguided in terms of these anti-aging procedures, which are intended to make you look younger, not necessarily different.
The Study
Participants in the study looked at before or after, but not before and after, photos of 49 patients who had undergone aesthetic facial surgery and were asked to estimate their age and rate how attractive they were on a scale of 1-10. Aesthetic facial surgeries include things like facelifts, eyelifts, and brow lifts, but not Botox™ (JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery).
Overall, participants rated patients in their after (post-aesthetical facial surgery) photos as looking an average of 3.1 years younger than their before (pre-aesthetical facial surgery) photos. The patients were between 42 and 73 years old.
But their rating of the patients attractiveness didn’t change between the before and after photos. Typically, participants rated patients between a 4 and 6 on a 10 point scale and that number stayed static whether it was the before or after photo.
So, bottom line, plastic surgery made patients look younger, but it didn’t make them more attractive.
Plastic Surgery Can Take Off More than 3.1 Years
If you’re terrified that a surgical procedure will only make you look three years younger, don’t be. First, it’s important to explain that these numbers come from the difference of the perceived age in the before photo and the perceived age of the after photo. To clarify, participants generally thought patients in before photos were 2.1 years younger than their real age, and that those in the after picture were 5.2 years younger than their real age. When considered altogether, that means patients looked 3.1 years younger than their initial perceived age after surgery.
But that aside, if you still don’t think this is dramatic enough, then consider that the procedures are less intensive and quite varied. Someone who’s only gotten a brow lift might still have other age-betraying qualities. A study done in 2012 found that people who have combinations of procedures, such as a face and neck lift, look younger than those who’ve had fewer surgeries. So, basically, if you have more work done, you’ll get more results (American Medical Association). In fact, the patients in that study looked an average of 8.9 years younger than their real age and 7.2 years younger than their initial perceived age.
So, while a facelift alone might not shave off as many years as you’d like, a face and neck lift will likely get the job done better.
But It Needs to Be Well Done
As this editorial in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery points out, beauty is best experienced subconsciously, which can’t happen when you’re aware someone has had plastic surgery. The phrase “has had work done” isn’t usually a compliment. It’s also why more natural looking makeup tends to rate higher than very pronounced makeup in studies. When you can tell that someone has done something to alter their appearance, then it appears unnatural and, thus, less attractive.
In one study, when participants were asked to gauge the age of someone in a photo, the pleasure centers of their brains lit up; but they were far less stimulated when participants were explicitly asked to gauge attractiveness.
Subtlety is key here, and a good plastic surgeon knows that. So, the best surgical procedures are those that make slight or natural-looking adjustments. In fact, when done well, these can have a profound impact on someone’s first impression of you.
[RELATED: Can Plastic Surgery Make You More Successful?]
And beyond that, an anti-aging procedure is intended to make you look slightly younger, but aside from age, it’s not intended to correct any “issues” that you might feel hamper your attractiveness. So, basically, if the procedure is done well, you’re going to look like you, for better or worse, just younger. Logically, someone gauging attractiveness will probably consider how you look compared to other people in your perceived age group. So if your general face structure is the same, as it would be with these procedures, you might still be the same level of attractiveness despite appearing more youthful.
Bottom Line
Don’t let this study lead you to believe that plastic surgery has minimal effects. I’m not advocating that everyone get plastic surgery; it’s as personal a choice as any other medical procedure is. But I think that the misleading headlines of this study could make women who are interested in plastic surgery a bit fearful. In reality, if you feel strongly that it could help improve your appearance, anti-aging aesthetic procedures, when done well and in the right combinations, can not only make you look younger, but also give you a confidence boost.