BUYER’S REMORSE

I Didn’t Recognize My Face After Plastic Surgery

“I’m having a hard time looking in the mirror.”

Health and wellness coach Audrey Zona first noticed changes in her face and décolletage five years ago—spots, loose skin, discoloration. Her experience in the beauty sphere led her to believe that it would take more than Botox and lasers to counter these common signs of aging.

“Parts of my face were just not matching the rest of me in terms of just how I felt,” Zona, 60, told The Looker.

“I felt very youthful, and I felt like parts of my face were youthful, but then other parts were really aging, like rapidly.”

During her initial hour-long consultation with Dr. Anthony Berlet, a double board-certified plastic and general surgeon based in New Jersey, they decided on a deep plane facelift, a neck lift, upper and lower blepharoplasty, earlobe revision, and superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) in her lips.

“We were basically on the same page with everything. My neck needed it, and my jowl area needed it,” said Zona, who decided to document the process for her more than 25,000 Instagram followers.

The actual procedure, which took about three and a half hours, was done under anesthesia and typically costs between $35,000 and $50,000.

Although Zona is happy with her results so far, her post-op experience wasn’t as smooth as she had hoped, she said.

“I had truly excruciating pain for about 48 hours. I was ‘round the clock with Percocet and Valium,” Zona said. “I was in bad shape.”

When the pain finally lifted, she was left with a frustrating, unexpected side effect: not being able to recognize herself.

“I look at myself in the mirror, and I do see me, but I don’t see me completely,” Zona said.

By sharing her experience on social media, the health and wellness coach realized her experience wasn’t isolated.

“One girl yesterday was like, ‘I’m looking in the mirror, and I literally don’t really recognize myself. Like I know it’s me, but it’s a different version of me, and I’m having like a hard time really seeing myself,’” she said.

Dr. Berlet told The Looker that the side effect often comes up among his other patients too.

“We’ve had some laughs about how some people, their phone doesn’t recognize them for a while,” he said. “As the phone recognizes them, I think they recognize themselves as well. I think that’s a good monitor, but it can take a few weeks, months even.”

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The phenomenon, sometimes compared to buyer’s remorse, is not uncommon and usually settles with time, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“Even when outcomes are technically excellent and aligned with a patient’s goals, the initial encounter with the mirror can evoke a sense of unfamiliarity,” said Dr. Lara Devgan, a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in New York City.

Across social media, other women who have undergone cosmetic surgery have shared similar stories, opening up about how the experience can be extra emotional.

Dianne, a 61-year-old digital creator based in Florida, opened up in a Sept. 22 Instagram video about the feeling after undergoing a facial rejuvenation procedure.

“I am having a really hard time looking in the mirror,” she said. “I am shocked that this is happening to me—I think of myself as a pretty tough and strong person—but my brain hasn’t caught up to the changes of my face, and I’m finding it really difficult.”

The digital creator said that even though her husband compliments her new look, she feels a dissonance when she sees herself in photos.

“I look at them, and the person looking back isn’t the person that I was a couple of weeks ago,” Dianne said.

Her video racked up more than 900 comments from people offering commiseration and encouragement.

“I’m going through the same. It’s very hard,” one user said. Another reported that they no longer recognize themself after getting an upper blepharoplasty, leaving them “conflicted.”

“I had a facelift 11 months ago, and I felt the same way at first,” a woman recalled, urging patience. “The swelling goes down, and things settle in, and you will see yourself only better.”

“You look beautiful! I know exactly how you feel. That was me at the beginning,” Lee Anne Dunson wrote. But she added, “Five months after my facelift—I completely recognize me.”

Dianne told The Looker on Oct. 7 that she’s “very happy” with the results, even though she didn’t recognize her face for a period of time.

“That adjustment period was real, but it doesn’t mean I regret my decision,” she said.

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Natalie DemareeReporter, The Looker

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