Facing the Truth About Facelifts

Why Madonna Looks So… Different

Updated 5/29/2025

Say it isn’t so … it’s hard to believe Madonna really wanted to change her look so drastically. The new face Madonna revealed at the 2023 Grammy Awards was the talk of the town. Probably the talk of every town, everywhere, across the globe. Fans expressed shock, sadness, and very little support. Comments on social media became a mini-battle over what defines beauty.

The truth is YOU define beauty. It’s true. You do. It’s very simple; Beauty is Biologically Instinctual. People with no training in fashion, medicine, mathematics or design are intrinsically experts at recognizing beauty. Regardless of age, gender, or culture, beauty is a biological instinct that dictates how we define being attractive or beautiful. We find beauty not in sameness, but in our unique differences. This is why submitting to so-called beauty procedures that tend to morph our faces into a generic shape is the exact opposite of what anyone defines as beautiful.

FACELIFTS

You may be confused by a Plastic Surgeon speaking out against Facelifts and Fillers, but hear me out. There are FaceLIFTs and there are Muscle RESTORATIONS. The two procedures are vastly different and yield very different results. Facelifts performed by nearly all surgeons include the pulling of skin back and up towards the ears like a drapery. Excess skin is removed from in front of the ear. The result erases the natural tapering of the hair line and the sideburn. This type of surgery starts a cascade of more lifting and pulling procedures resulting in faces looking wider and larger. Mouths are stretched into awkward shapes and eyes take on a narrower, almond shape regardless of their original contour. The patient no longer looks like themselves. Wrinkles and sagging are temporarily gone, but the individual’s unique facial features, what makes them ‘them,’ are gone forever.

AGE WELL

Beauty is based on what we project to the world and what we project is based on how we feel about ourselves. People from every walk of life, especially celebrities in the spotlight, often feel pressured to deny or refuse to accept they are aging. This is folly. We all age and there is great beauty at every age. The important thing is to Age Well. Take care of your skin. Get exercise. Stay hydrated. Too often bad decisions are made to combat the aging process in it’s early stages with fillers, injections and ‘minor’ medical procedures. Don’t do it! You would be shocked to see the scans of ‘dissolvable fillers’ showing up as gray lumps in faces years later.

If you take care of your face and body, it will take age gracefully with you. There may come a time when you are ready for assistance in restoring the look of your youth with surgical or other procedures using natural substances. (See Blog post # _____). When it’s time for a revitalization of your face, do your research. Be informed and look for a surgeon capable of restoring your face; not one refashioning a generic face on you by removing wrinkles with little thought to your unique features and facial structure.

THE BYUN METHOD

The BYUN method is not a traditional Facelift and does not pull the skin like a drape or add foreign material to the ‘box.’ Instead the focus is on facial restoration. The critical difference is I restore the muscles of your face to their youthful position. The muscles in our younger selves slowly lose their firm volume and drift down, appearing heavier at the bottom of our faces as we age. It’s simply a matter of volume being displaced, not skin stretching out of place. A BYUN Muscle Restoration returns the volume back to it’s original location. We restore the displaced muscle and tissue bringing it in towards the midline, not pulled away into an unnatural position. Even close friends and family of our patients are astounded to see a younger looking version of their loved one, but can’t quite figure out if they’ve had work done or not. One never needs to tell.

Madonna’s 2025 Met Gala Appearance Marks a Turn Toward Natural Beauty—Dr. Michael Byun Weighs In

Madonna stunned the public with her 2025 Met Gala appearance, presenting a dramatically softened and more natural look compared to her heavily scrutinized appearance at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Her refined features sparked renewed discussion in the cosmetic surgery community, including commentary from renowned facial restoration expert Dr. Michael Byun, who has become a leading voice in addressing the long-term impact of fillers and surgical interventions.

From Overfilled to Refined

At the 2023 Grammys, Madonna’s face drew widespread attention for appearing overly augmented—marked by high cheek volume, a sculpted jawline, and a smoothed forehead, leading many to speculate about extensive filler use, Botox, and potential facelifts. Surgeons at the time noted that her appearance exhibited signs of a “V-shaped” face from excess volume and an unnatural tightness likely caused by deep-tissue interventions.

Fast forward to the 2025 Met Gala, and Madonna appeared visibly transformed. Wearing a tailored Tom Ford suit, her face looked more relaxed, proportionate, and expressive. The shift suggested that some fillers or fat grafts may have been dissolved or removed.

Dr. Byun: “She Has Inspired Possibly a Billion People”

Dr. Michael Byun, a board-certified plastic surgeon known for pioneering the BYUN Facelift, offered both admiration and expert critique on Madonna’s evolving appearance. “Madonna is such a big name,” Dr. Byun stated. “She has inspired possibly a billion people. Her name is recognized worldwide as a truly talented artist. Now, she has a chance to be remembered by her natural face—away from all these fillers and fat grafts.”

Dr. Byun acknowledged the positive changes but added that Madonna’s journey isn’t quite complete. “Now she just needs to go into the reconstruction and restoration from the deconstruction of all the bad that’s been removed.”

The Next Step: Muscle Restoration

According to Dr. Byun, while Madonna looks better, there are residual structural issues—particularly around the mouth. He notes that previous facelifts may have stretched the corners of her mouth, causing a downturned appearance that conveys an unintentionally harsh or “mean” look.

He recommends that Madonna undergo his BYUN Facelift, which focuses on deep muscle repair rather than surface tightening or volume enhancement. “The muscle needs to come back into the midline,” Dr. Byun explains, “especially around the oral and jawline areas, to bring back balance and softness to the face.”

The BYUN Facelift: A Return to Natural Function

Unlike traditional facelift techniques that pull skin outward, Dr. Byun’s method targets facial muscles and brings them back to their youthful, midline orientation. This technique is designed to correct damage from aging or overdone surgeries by restoring natural movement, expression, and facial harmony.

The procedure is often applied in multi-zonal stages:

• Zone II (Mouth/Chin/Jowl): Corrects sagging or distortion around the mouth.
• Zone III (Cheeks/Under-Eyes): Restores midface fullness and softness.
• Zone IV (Upper Face): Rejuvenates the brow and eye area.

A Cultural and Cosmetic Reset

As Madonna seemingly moves away from aggressive facial interventions, her new appearance has sparked conversation not only about cosmetic standards in Hollywood but about how celebrities can reclaim their natural identities after years of aesthetic pressure.

Dr. Byun’s observations highlight a broader shift toward restoration over augmentation—a movement that prioritizes anatomical integrity and emotional expression.

“In many ways,” Dr. Byun concluded, “Madonna’s new chapter could redefine beauty in aging. She has the power, once again, to set the tone for the world.”