Celebrity Plastic Surgery, News, Gossip

Is Over 50 The New Sexy?

This year’s Best Actress Nominees feature three over 50 actresses, all of whom exude sexiness, elegance and class. Helen Mirren, the favorite to win as Best Actress at the Oscars for her role in “The Queen” is poised to redefine beauty (albeit, temporarily) in the youth-obsessed Hollywood by being the unlikely over 50 winner of an award which has consistently eluded the over 50 actress demographic. The most recent Best Actress winners were all in their 20s or 30s when they won, including Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, and Julia Roberts. Mirren, 61, is joined by two other sexy older actresses in the Best Actress category, namely Meryl Streep and Judi Dench.

We decided to cast our plastic surgery microscopes on these sexy actresses and see if their perennially good looks have had some assistance from the knife. The easiest of the bunch to decipher is Meryl Streep, who at 57 has been sporting a very taut neck, no jowls, flawless face that is virtually free of wrinkles, and refreshed eyes in the film Devil Wears Prada and in recent promotional events. This has led us to believe that Meryl had a face lift, neck lift, and in most likelihood an eyelid surgery. Additionally, we are quite sure that she’s done maintenance over the years via laser or chemical peels and the routine dermal injections such as Botox or Restylane. Also of note, the plumpy cheekbones appear to be a trait of that Streep has had for at least a decade, so we are not sure if she’s had cheek implants or if it’s a natural feature. What is difficult to pin down is not the fact that Meryl Streep had cosmetic surgery, which she did, but rather when it happened. A Make Me Heal poll taken with its members has 93% of the respondents saying that Streep had a face lift.

Browsing through photos of Streep through the years, we came to the conclusion that the actress has had subtle procedures done all along her career, which is why her look in ‘Devil’ did not look overly done or artificial. If anything, we think Meryl looks stunning and wish that she would go public about it and give out her surgeon’s telephone number. The photo taken in June 2006 shows that Meryl has aged well with a little help from her plastic surgeon.

Next on deck, the sexy and saucy 61-year old Mirren actually appears to be getting better looking with age as her sophistication and beauty shines more and more in recent years. Comfortable appearing nude in movies, Mirren does not show any major tell-tale signs of plastic surgery, although her extremely taut and clean neck line being free of any sagging or evident wrinkling could suggest a subtle face lift combined with a neck lift. Some recent photos suggest that she uses Botox to smooth her wrinkles. Some of the older photos of Mirren make her out to look older compared to today, although the lack of changes in her facial structure or eye shape and the presence of the same wrinkles lead us to conclude that she may have had a subtle facelift sometime before 2001. The actress is known not to be adverse to the idea of cosmetic surgery. In the past she has commented, “I’d start at my ankles and slowly work my way up.”

Mirren’s spokesman says, “I have absolutely no idea if Helen has had any plastic surgery.

Mirren’s change of hair style has also done wonders for her, as gone is the long grey hair with the bangs in favor of an elegant, blondish short cut. Additionally, Mirren may have gotten a stylist, as her recent outfits are scintillating compared to the more conservative and older-looking outfits that she wore 5-7 years ago. A Make Me Heal poll with members resulted in 66% of respondents believing she is natural and 33% believing she has had plastic surgery.

Make Me Heal Oscar Coverage member plastic surgeon Anthony Youn told us before the Oscars that he was uncertain about whether Mirren had plastic surgery. “Hollywood’s “Queen” has created a stir around the country with her natural beauty. She appears to be one of only a handful of middle-age actresses who has had no obvious plastic surgery, does not mention plastic surgery in interviews, and carries herself along the red carpet with a classic grace and beauty which transcends the knife,” says Youn. Youn did offer a beauty tip to Mirren, “Now, would a bit of Botox and maybe a lower lid blepharoplasty make her even more beautiful? “Botox would be great to remove many of her forehead and crow’s feet wrinkles as well.” To Mirren’s credit, Youn says “But she seems to be doing just fine without it.”

Catching up with Youn during the Oscars, he seemed to have had change of heart about Mirren’s facelift saying “It is possible that she has had some laser treatments to her skin, as well as a facelift (although likely before 2001) since I agree that her neckline is darn good for someone her age. It is unusual for someone her age to have as nice of a neckline as she does (see Judy Dench) so there is a possibility that a facelift was performed sometime in the past. If it was performed, the surgeon did a very nice job in making it look realistic.”

British-based plastic surgeon Alex Karidis speculates that Mirren may have had a combination of different procedures, including an eye lift, face lift, and laser surgery. “It is possible Helen has undergone some sort of eye lift. It involves taking off excess skin above and below the eyes and often leaves patients with much brighter eyes - as Helen appears to have now. She may also have had some sort of laser surgery to make the skin around her eyes smooth.

“It is also possible that she has had a facelift - these procedures no longer leave patients looking as if they have had their skin tightly stretched and result in a much more natural appearance.”

Rounding out our study of the Over 50 in the Best Actress category, Judi Dench is a great dame at 72 by any standards. Dench appears to be aging gracefully for the most part, as evidenced by the normal tapestry of facial wrinkles and crepey neck (which some nastily call a turkey neck) that characterize her age. However, the lack of sagging skin around her eyes, no hooding over the eyes, and lack of bags below her eyes suggest the strong possibility that she had a blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery). “Judy Dench appears to be aging gracefully, like everyone’s favorite grandmother. While her neckline and facial wrinkles match her age, her lower eyelids do not. The lack of loose skin or bags under her eyes may be a sign of a lower blepharoplasty,” says Youn. Nowadays, blepharoplasties can be performed in a way where the scars are hidden or nearly invisible to the naked eye.

With one of these ladies set to win the Oscar, it will be a triumph for beauty at any age. We congratulate Hellen Mirren, Meryl Streep, and Judi Dench for being towering acting talents with beauty to match and appreciate their role in setting new beauty standards for our society.

YuMin Ye contributed research and quotes to this story.