COMING around after her seven-hour facelift surgery, 85-year-old Deidre Schwartz was bandaged, bruised and hallucinating from the anaesthesia.
But nothing could have prepared her for the face that would soon be staring back at her in the mirror.
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Deidre, now 86, had just undergone FIVE different facelift procedures in one go.
And all she could think of was the fact that she wouldn’t be spending the rest of her life looking “tired, old and miserable”.
The great-gran was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, West Midlands, but now lives in Los Angeles with her daughter, Adriane, 57.
‘Tired, old and miserable’
She underwent a temporal brow lift, lower blepharoplasty, a revision facelift, a neck lift and an upper lip lift in the mega surgery session, carried out by plastic surgeon to the stars Dr John Layke in Beverly Hills, who charges between $25,000 (approx £18,600) to $60,000 (approx £44,600) for facelift surgery.
Facelift procedures in the over-seventies are on the rise, with 49,593 going under the knife in the States last year, compared to 41,427 in 2022, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Although there are no figures for those in their eighties and nineties, Dr Layke says he has noticed more and more older people seeking surgery.
Latest figures in the UK show facelifts were up by 8 per cent over the last year, with brow lifts up 20 percent.
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Six weeks on from her operation, Deidre, who is divorced with three children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, is thrilled with the results – and encourages other women of her age to “go for it”.
“I literally had everything done. It was the full monty, a full English,” she jokes. “The doctor said if they’re going to do it, they should do it all. And he did a marvellous job.
“He’s such perfectionist. He’s always so kind and so considerate and, you know, technically and artistically he’s really got it all. He’s great. I had been checked out medically, so they weren’t worried.”
I literally had everything done. It was the full monty, a full English
Deidre Schwartz
Deidre says it took a day and half for the anaesthetic to wear off, during which time she was plagued by hallucinations.
At one point, she says her daughter morphed into evil Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
“It was an odd feeling, but that’s the drugs for you,” she says. “It’s all part of the deal.”
Deidre and Dr Layke invited The Sun to the Beverly Hills clinic to take before and after pictures and see the incredible difference – and learn why age is no longer a barrier to plastic surgery.
Deidre, a former stewardess for airline Pan Am, previously underwent a facelift in her fifties, but recently felt her age was starting to catch up with her.
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Dr Layke, who has performed surgery on celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent, asked her to bring in photos of herself from 20 to 30 years ago, so he could make sure she looked like her younger self.
“People say I look 70 or younger now,” says Deidre. “It’s at least a 15-to-20-year difference. I have had one facelift and a necklift before, so I wasn’t that shocked when I first saw myself after coming round.
“You’re bruised and crazy looking, but you’re bandaged, so there’s not much showing. But now, only six weeks down the line, it’s a radical difference. I feel I have more confidence.”
I’m going to be hanging around for 10 years or more and I didn’t want to look tired anymore
Deidre Schwartz
Deidre decided to go for the surgery because she is in good health and anticipates living a long life.
“I think I’m going to be hanging around for probably 10 years or more and I just didn’t want to look tired anymore,” she says.
“It just galvanised me to get it done before I got any older. Of course I had reservations – it’s a big procedure and costs a lot of money.”
While looking her best is a priority, Deidre admits she felt conflicted about overhauling her face.
“So much of the world is suffering and here I am at my age being concerned about my looks,” she says.
“But vanity won out in the end and I’m pleased I made the decision to do it.
“I said to the doctor, ‘I must be your oldest client’, but he’s operated on someone in their nineties.
“We are all living longer and women are getting this kind of thing done a lot later in life.”
Finding the right clinic is crucial, says Deidre.
“You definitely need to research your surgeon,” she warns. “It’s not worth trying to get cheap surgery and having it botched.”
I said to the doctor, ‘I must be your oldest client’, but he’s operated on someone in their 90s
Deidre Schwartz
“Find a doctor who is as good as John, he’s very sympathetic, he’s very gentle and kind. He caters to your every concern and whim.
“I was very confident with John and I’d seen his previous work and it was excellent. It’s not worth getting a bargain deal – it’s your face.”
Deidre had her first facelift to give her a boost after her divorce – and also help her find a job in an “ageist and sexist” society.
But this time, her decision had nothing to do with men. “People are ageist. People are sexist, you know?” she says.
“But this is definitely not about men – no thank you. I’ve got to the point in life where I’m not doing anything for a man. I’m not interested in dating.”
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Deidre says getting plastic surgery in LA is “like going to the dentist”.
But she predicts that when she next visits family in the UK, she’ll have to field some difficult comments.
“I will get absolutely ribbed about it when I go to England,” says Deidre, who moved to the US in her twenties after marrying a New York doctor.
“One person had a go at me about my previous facelift over the dinner table, in front of everyone.
“At the time, I was shocked and hurt – this person looks like hell, is overweight and red in the face from drink, so it was more the principle of him having a jab at me that was upsetting.
“But there’s definitely an attitude towards plastic surgery in England.
“It’s a different culture here. Everyone asks you who your doctor is while you have a cocktail.
“It is LA, it is Hollywood – and Hollywood equals beauty, so you become more conscious of your looks.
“I’m just very grateful I had the opportunity to have this done with a great surgeon like John. But I accept it’s not for everybody.”
Where I live in LA, getting plastic surgery is like going to the dentist, everybody does it
Deidre Schwartz
Dr Layke, who also founded the Proactive Longevity Clinic in Cabos St Lucas, Mexico, said said he had no concerns about operating on Deidre as she passed her medical checks with flying colours.
“Deidre is an amazing woman,” he says. “For so many decades we looked at age as a precluding factor for surgery and then we started realising in data that this is not the case.
“She is a spunky 86-year-old, she’s active and through working at my longevity centre in Cabos St Lucas, I can tell you age is now just a number.”
He says prices for facelifts in the US vary depending on the procedure, but on average, brow lifts start at around $25,000 (approx £18,600) and full facelifts from around $60,000 (approx £44,600). Some surgeons charge as much as $300,000 (£223,245).
Prices in the UK are cheaper, with a full facelift costing between £8,000 and £15,000, depending on the clinic.
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“There are some surgeons out there who say they won’t operate on people over 50, but I’m getting lots of older people coming to me for facial rejuvenation and I don’t see age as a precluding factor,” he says.
“If someone is healthy, active and they are medically clear, I see no reason why they can’t sail through surgery just like someone that’s 40 years or younger.”
Dr Layke adds: “Deidre is an amazing woman which makes it easy for me. She underwent a temporal brow lift as well as a lower blepharoplasty, which is lower eyelid surgery, a revision face and neck lift and she had an upper lip lift which I think completed the entire operation, just making her look so much younger.
“And then on the top we did a fractionated CO2 laser to improve the quality of the skin.
“We are treating patients according to their lifestyle. Obviously, we might run into some frailty issues, loss of collagen, thinner skin, scar tissue from previous surgeries, so it becomes a little challenging, but I enjoy these challenges.”
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“It’s about having the confidence to know what procedures to do regardless of the age. Of course there are precluding factors, such as people with multiple comorbidities. There are reasons why we don’t undergo surgery, but that’s the case whatever the age.
“If someone is healthy, active, and they are medically clear, I see no reason why they can’t sail through surgery just like someone that’s 40 years or younger.
“And this was a case in point where we have someone that you can look objectively and say they’re active, spunky, have the wherewithal and I think they are a perfect candidate for this. It’s not like we’re skipping over safety, all those check boxes are in place.”
’85 is the new 50′
Dr Layke says that Deidre healed faster than most 50-year-olds – and said even three days after surgery, he thought she would have been able to go for dinner with some make-up on and no one would have noticed.
“Deidre is one of the oldest I’ve done surgery on, but I’ve done many more that are in their early eighties,” he reveals.
“Everybody undergoes a medical clearance and once that hurdle has been jumped we can look at the procedures that can be done.
“Remember this isn’t cardiac surgery or intra-abdominal surgery, this is shifting skin around so we have a little more leeway when it comes to performing facial rejuvenation.
“This is definitely an option now for women of this age.
“We have plenty of octogenarians coming into our clinics and they still play tennis; they still see their girlfriends or hang out with the guys. They have very active lifestyles. Some may be in the position where they’ve just lost their life partner, and they are back on the dating scene so they want to look and feel their best.
“I had an 82-year-old come in, he’s a high-powered executive that still is working and he plays pickleball twice a week. He lost his wife, and he said, ‘Make me look 70’. And so, you know, it’s one of those things where you can take a decade or two off and it worked out for him.
“I think 85 is definitely the new 50 when it comes to this kind of procedure.”
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