In the news lately has been some coverage of Donatella Versace’s current appearance, evidently the result of plastic surgery. Her age is 53. She has lost a lot of weight and now has a skeletal appearance in bikini photographs. That reveals the clear outline of her breast implants. Instead of being submerged beneath natural tissue they form two perfect circles with an unnatural look. One cosmetic surgeon who was questioned about it opined that they contained about 300 cc.

Severe suntanning combined with long platinum blond hair looks like an attempt to be 18 years old. The facial skin looks firm and strangely unlined for a woman of 53 and does not match the rest of her skin which looks looser.

Her lips look enormous, clearly from over-use of one of the injectable fillers. Apparently she has always had large lips, but now they look out of proportion. A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who was interviewed thought her eyes looked unnaturally hollow as if some over-aggressive eyelid surgery has been done, and that her nose appears too big and somewhat crooked as if poor nose surgery was done.

This is a woman who has been a fashion model and designer all her life with prominence, wealth and fame. For a person in that situation it must be even harder to grow old than it is for the rest of us. Other celebrities have clearly had a great deal of cosmetic surgery and Michael Jackson is like the “poster child” for too much plastic surgery — a famous child struggling not to look old.

In the real world, cosmetic surgery must be done judiciously to give a natural look. It does not prevent aging; it just softens it. Even with a facelift, liposuction, and all the rest of the sophisticated cosmetic surgery procedures that are now available, an older person still looks better if he or she agrees to age gracefully.

Dr. Rai believes in good patient education and will be glad to give you a personal consultation if you contact our cosmetic surgery office today.