There was a jaw dropper of a moment in the last series of Real Housewives of London where socialite Caroline Stanbury told Juliet Angus she needed a facelift.
Horrified, Juliet vowed she would never go under the knife. But now she has turned 50, she is starting to reconsider.
Having had Botox since she was just 20, Juliet has not been averse to the odd tweakment. When she noticed her eyes were going saggy last year, she opted for a minor eye lift procedure to rejuvenate her face, which has sparked a curiosity to take it to the next level.
“I got my eyes done last year and I didn't think I'd do that. I’d got to a point where I was doing my makeup and I had no eyelids," she tells Ateh Jewel on the Second Act podcast.
“I don't want to become a different person, just a little tweaking. But I have to watch because I used to be scared of surgery and then all of a sudden I'm in the mirror and I'm like, maybe I could use a lift.”
For years I’ve looked at facelifts as something only available for the likes of Kris Jenner and rich, glossy A-List Hollywood actresses. But recently I’ve heard of at least one school mum and three other acquaintances in their fifties who have gone under the knife for the full works. Even my mum has been treated to a ‘bit of work’ on her eyes after doctors noticed her drooping lids were affecting her eyesight. It seems, just like Botox, having a facelift is suddenly a much more acceptable way of self-care and another step in the quest to look younger or just feel more comfortable in your own skin.
“When you think of all the money you can spend on Botox, and the years of putting injections in your face, it actually makes a lot more sense than you initially might think,” one friend who has gone under the knife tells me.
“I didn’t want to change how I looked necessarily, I just wanted to look more like the me I remembered when I looked in the mirror.
“I felt like all the stress I was carrying was written on my face and I didn’t like to be reminded of it. It took a long time to find the right doctor, a long time to heal, but I’m glad I had it done.”
The question is, are we being more open to having a facelifts now because of the stage in life we are in? Women who are turning 50 in 2026 are more informed about beauty treatments than ever before and have a feeling of empowerment to choose what they want to do with their own bodies to feel good, without judgement.
Or are we still battling a hangover of pressure to look young and ‘perfect’ from the toxic messaging in the noughties?
For Juliet Angus her tweakment journey began when she was just a 20 year-old PR hanging out with her ‘bestie’, actress Lindsay Lohan, now 40, in LA.
Being pictured alongside Lindsay, who is godmother to her daughter Georgina ‘Gigi’, 18, she admits made her feel under constant scrutiny to look good. So she started using Botox before she really needed it.
“It was a very tumultuous time that era,” the 50-year-old says. “A lot of teen stars struggled and I lived through it. You were under constant scrutiny.
“These toxic sites like Perez Hilton were making fun of what you look like; ‘You're chubby, you're too skinny, you look anorexic, you're not eating’, you know, everything was scrutinized and it really makes you feel so alone.
“I mean, I've been doing Botox since I was 20 when I didn't need to because I probably looked ten. If you don't want to get it, don't. But it does help you look younger.”
So which camp are you in - lift or leave well alone? Ultimately t all comes down to personal choice, just promise that you’ll do your research, speak to an experienced, qualified doctor and do it for the right reasons - to make you happy!
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