- Ashley Stobart, UK influencer and co-host of the show Nip Tuck podcast, talks about his controversial decision to undergo a facelift at the age of 34.
- Stobart tells PEOPLE that during her third pregnancy, she realized she had gone too far with facial fillers for more than a decade and was “shocked” by her reflection.
- After dissolving all the fillers on her face, she was left with “extreme” skin laxity, which led to her decision to have a face lift.
- While many plastic surgeons refused to operate on her, Stobart found one “who understood my concerns and was willing to do it.”
At the age of 34, Ashley Stobart felt that a facelift was “the best option”.
The influencer from the United Kingdom has been getting fillers since she was 18, and it wasn’t until her third pregnancy that she realized she had gone too far. “With the water retention, my face got so puffy,” she tells PEOPLE. “Seeing my reflection was a shock. I realized how much filler I had accumulated over the years and thought, ‘What have you done to yourself?'”
“It was a huge wake-up call and made me decide to quit fillers for good,” she adds.
However, years of dissolving fillers left Stobart with what she calls “extremely” saggy skin, and at 34, she decided to bypass less invasive procedures like a “ponytail” facelift and go for a full facelift.
“I was left with a lot of loose skin, especially around my jaw and mouth — it was so bad you could take four centimeters off your face,” she recalls. “A full face lift was the best option to address the extent of the sagging and achieve the desired results.”
Several surgeons refused to perform the procedure on Stobart because of her youth, but eventually the influencer found one “who understood my concerns and was willing to do it.”
Ashley Stobart.
Consulting for cosmetics
Although there is no specific age for a face lift, historically women begin to consider an invasive cosmetic procedure in their late 40s and early 50s. But in the last few years, facelifts have become a trend for younger people, with more and more women considering the procedure or a partial “mini” facelift.
“When considering a facelift, the most important factor is your anatomy, not your age,” said Lara Devgan, MD. med., a board-certified plastic surgeon based in New York, in an interview with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons earlier this year. .
Devgan (who did not perform Stobart’s surgery) notes that social media has also played a role in influencing a wider demographic to consider cosmetic surgery to address skin elasticity issues at a younger age.
“I don’t think we ever want to get into a situation where we’ve created — through filters and Facetune and Photoshop — such a dysmorphic atmosphere and society that perfectly beautiful-looking people feel like they need unnecessary procedures,” Devgan said.
Stobart, however, remains steadfast in her decision to go under the knife, despite the early backlash she experienced from a few people close to her.”At first there were a few skeptics who thought I was crazy, but I’m a grown woman, and this was my decision,” she tells PEOPLE. “However, when they saw the results, everyone was delighted. The compliments were wonderful.”
Stobart tells PEOPLE she was “surprisingly calm” going into surgery.
“I trusted my surgeon completely, which made a huge difference,” she says. “Knowing I was in excellent hands eased any nerves I may have had.”
She also says the recovery was “easier” than she expected.
“Thanks to the skill of my surgeon, my downtime was minimal—about two to three weeks,” she says. “I was able to get back to work on my product and podcast very quickly, which was amazing.
After sharing her lifting experience on her platforms (she currently has over 83,000 followers on Instagram and hosts Nip Tuck podcast), Stobart says the response from millennial women has been “overwhelmingly supportive.”
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“Many young women have come forward to say they appreciate my honesty and how I opened up about the reality of surgery and fillers,” she says. “Many podcast listeners said it was refreshing to hear someone speak honestly about these topics without sugarcoating them. It sparked great conversations about body image, self-care, and making informed decisions.
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Ashley Stobart.
Consulting for cosmetics
Because it’s so normalized, the initial decision to get Stobart a filler was a no-brainer. At her peak, she says she was having treatments every month and reckons she was spending “a few thousand pounds a year on it” on fillers.
“A lot of it was discounted or free because of my work in the industry, but the value of what I was doing definitely added up to tens of thousands a year,” she explains.
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Now Stobart has stopped using fillers and instead preaches the importance of skin health through her skincare brand, Cosmetic Consult, as well as a podcast. Transparency around cosmetic procedures is also an important element of Stobart’s platforms, as it “helps manage expectations and dispel many myths about surgeries and treatments.”
“People often only see the end results, not the journey or the risks,” she says. “By being open about my experiences, I hope to help others make informed decisions and understand what’s really involved, physically and emotionally. It’s not about discouraging anyone; it’s about going in with their eyes wide open.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education