The #1 Reason You Should Get a FaceLift...(And It’s Not What You Think!)

In February 2023, I underwent 5 facial plastic surgery procedures and the resulting transformation blew my mind!

At the time, I had recently turned 69. I truly felt that I had to get my facelift and neck lift ASAP... that it was a now or never situation! You might say I was obsessed and excited... on the edge of my seat couldn’t wait until surgery day excited. No one had to convince me. I knew it was time.

After 40 years in the beauty industry, my discerning eye couldn’t lie! I knew I needed it to restore more than just my droopy brows and sagging neck. I needed to have the work to restore me!

This is me before my facelift.

Studies prove that people decide to have a facelift for a variety of reasons. Many are looking to reclaim their sense of attractiveness. To compete more effectively in the workplace. To strengthen their relationship with their significant other. Or, to simply move forward more confidently after the loss of a partner or the breakup of a marriage. 

Others see their potential transformation as a way to make an ex partner jealous, while a small percent believe it will increase their odds of earning a promotion at work. 

Yet, the truth is — most of us pull the trigger because we know it will help us to feel younger because we will look younger. And, we all love the feeling of looking younger than our chronological age! 

In the world of psychology, the term that captures the age you “feel” you are, is known as subjective age.

In an article in The Jerusalem Post, Health & Science Reporter Judy Siegel-Itzkovich writes about a US study that found:

“Fifty nine percent of adults aged 50 to 80 say they think they look younger than other people their age. The percentage was slightly higher among women and among people with higher incomes, more years of education, and current employment. On the other end of the spectrum, only six percent of older adults said they look older than other people their age."

In the Magazine Psychology Today, Author Art Markman, PhD writes about “Why You May Feel So Much Younger Than You Are.” According to Dr. Markman...

 “There are some real benefits to feeling younger than you are. You’re likely to engage in more behaviors that preserve your health like eating well and exercising regularly if you feel younger than if you feel older." 

Dr. Markman goes on to cite a long-term German study that looked at how common it is for people of all ages to feel younger than their actual age, including those in their eighties and nineties! 

According to Markman, “On average, people studied felt about 11 percent younger than their actual age. A 45-year-old feels like they are about 40. In addition, this tendency was larger for women than for men.”

And, the same study, according to Dr. Markman, made the point that the phenomena of feeling younger than your actual age (subjective age) has stood the test of time! 

In his article, Markman makes the following interesting findings:

“The size of the gap between actual age and real age has gotten larger over time.

• The individuals in the study born before 1935 had the smallest gap between felt age and actual age.

• Those born between 1936 and 1951 had a somewhat larger gap.

• Those born after 1952 had the largest gap.

• There is a gradual tendency for people to feel increasingly younger as they age.”

Which brings us back to the title of this blog. The most important reason to get a facelift is not what you’d expect!  Yes, it hinges upon the fact that we all adore looking younger than we really are. And yes, numerous studies have proven that individuals are perceived as looking younger after having a facelift.

But....

What if feeling younger could actually make you healthier?

According to Dr. Markman, the answer is; Yes! It can! 

“Previous studies have shown that feeling younger than one's actual age is associated with longer, healthier lives. There is even support for subjective age to predict actual brain age, with those feeling younger having younger brains!”

Woah! Did you hear that? 

In an article on medicalnews.com entitled “What Are The Pro’s and Con’s of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery?,” freelance writer Beth Sissons extracts several important findings from a plastic surgery study done in 2023:

“Cosmetic surgery can help improve confidence, self-esteem, and symptoms of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Increasing confidence may help improve emotional and social health and overall quality of life.”

These points may sound like generalized platitudes, but trust me, they are anything but! Such possible improvements in social engagement or self esteem is music to the ears of thousands of OG’s past 60! Resonating, in particular, with those who have become uncharacteristically skittish about taking selfies, dreading social functions and/or finding 100 good reasons to skip class reunions. 

I was one of those ‘OG’s, for a good year leading up to my facial plastic surgery!

After 41 years as a beauty industry expert, I, too, had lost my quintessential sunshine. I was terribly saddened by watching my face fall, seemingly overnight. I did not want to snap selfies. I could not look at any pictures of my face that included my throat. Once a bubbly extrovert who loved the camera, I found myself carefully positioning one of my dogs into each picture that I took, trying to deflect the focus onto them.  I wanted to hide from the world’s judging eyes. 

At the same time, like millions of other OG’s, I was living a paradox. I felt young and vibrant on the inside! Years of walking, eating clean and maintaining my girlish figure had paid off. I was healthy and energetic, in my late sixties! I knew, almost intuitively, that the facial plastic surgery would give me a chance to bring that hidden youthful demeanor back out to play. That the facelift would help me to look as young on the outside as I felt on the inside. And, that my life and longevity would be better for it! 

It’s now been over one year since my Deep Plane Facelift, Deep Plane Neck Lift, Deep Plane LipLift, Temporal Brow Lift and Partial Revision of a prior Upper Bleph, with Dr. Jean-Paul Azzi at The Palm Beach Center for Facial Plastic & Laser Surgery in Jupiter, Florida.

While time will tell as to whether my plastic surgery positively impacted my lifespan, I know for sure it has made a big difference in my mental and physical health. Looking in the mirror and seeing a version of myself from several decades ago looking back at me has been... Incredible! Surreal! Magical! 

Bottom line? I found myself again, at age 69. And you can too! 

I now have a unique and wonderful second chance to experience life with the confidence and bravado of a younger me, but the wisdom and patience of an older me. The perfect Yin/Yang! And, who doesn’t want that? 

Let’s Gooooooooo!

Before and after my facial plastic surgery.

To learn more about Jude’s facelift story, click here to watch Part 1 of her popular 2 part video sequel: My MiracLe Facelift, Part 1!