For Emily Cipryk, the decision to spend nearly $16,000 on plastic surgery came easy — and early.
At 28, the entrepreneurial influencer found herself looking in the mirror and having regrets about nearly a decade of failure to prioritize sleep — which she felt had left her looking tired and rundown.
The fashionable Torontonian would regularly scroll through her social media and see “beautiful women” she admired, whom she suspected had undergone cosmetic procedures. Soon, she found herself researching how she could achieve similar results. Quickly, she was on a plane to Turkey.
Cipryk is among the growing number of women barely pushing 30 who are openly signing up for major cosmetic surgeries to stave off signs of aging — even as experts warn they’re only creating a new set of problems for themselves as they grow older.
These women are still at the age where spending time and funds on makeup hauls, hair appointments, and skincare treatments is par for the cultural course.
But there’s a new, pricey wrinkle in their self-care routines — a growing, social media-fueled pressure to preserve their youth for as long as possible.
They’re taking aging into their own hands, undergoing intensive surgeries and skin procedures that were once reserved for their mothers and grandmothers. And that’s putting new demand on New York’s top plastic surgery practices and even abroad in aesthetic treatment hot spots — Turkey and South Korea most notably.
Dr. Ryan Schwarcz, a double-board certified oculofacial plastic surgeon and facial aesthetics specialist in the Big Apple, told The Post he’s observed a “seismic shift” in his practice in the last five to 10 years of younger women coming in for anti-aging surgeries and procedures — a phenomenon that has him concerned.
“You should do surgery when you notice (a problem) and when it’s called for,” Schwarcz said.
“But to do it preemptively — like, ‘My lids are going to fall, so let me do a procedure now’ or ‘My mom got jowling early’ — I don’t like that at all. Because when you’re younger, your face is still aging, and then it won’t age the way it was appropriately going to.”
Surgeons aren’t the only ones who harbor concerns about the growing trend of Gen Z cuspers going under the knife.
Some mental health professionals — such as Robyn Stern, a Long Island cognitive behavioral therapist who specializes in body image issues and anxiety disorders — see the phenomenon as another societal danger to young women’s mental health and well-being.
“This (practice) leads these women to feel ‘less than’ if they don’t have surgery — not as polished or put together,” Stern told The Post. “It’s not a great thing in terms of mental health and promoting a healthy body image. On the flip side, if you have bad results, it can lead you down this rabbit hole of having to do corrective surgery or being taken out of your life because you’re not satisfied.”
The Post spoke with Cipryk and a handful of other women who had major work done either just before or close to their 30th birthdays — here’s what they had to say about their experiences.
The face-lift seen around the world
Emily Cipryk, 30
Approximately $15,600 for mid-face lift, temporal lift, upper blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, lip lift, buccal fat reduction, and facial fat grafting
When in Turkey, where cosmetic treatments are known for being significantly cheaper, Cipryk signed up for a raft of facial procedures and surgeries — most notably a mid-face lift, a procedure typically sought by those in their 60s.
Calling the experience “seamless and streamlined,” she woke up, threw up — and then went through three days of “intense healing.”
“Nothing can really prepare you for that,” Cipryk told The Post. “There’s an unbelievable amount of swelling.”
Then came the videos on her TikTok account @hotgirlenhancements, where she began regularly posting content detailing the results. Media outlets far and wide soon began picking up on her story, sparking mixed reactions from pros such as board-certified dermatologist Dr. Shereene Idriss, who called the practice of cutting into a face that doesn’t need it yet “asinine and reckless.”
While Cipryk did acknowledge that surgery is certainly “an intense way to have a glow-up,” she has no regrets about her decision.
“I once read an article that said, ‘Wouldn’t you want to look like the best version of yourself now when you’re in your prime?’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, I would.’ ”
Cipryk, who remains vocal about the results of her procedures, maintains that while she realizes surgery isn’t right for everyone, it was the right choice for her.
“Nobody needs it. It’s not needed,” Cipryk told The Post. “It was something I wanted to do for myself and it was a very personal, uplifting experience. I’m really happy with my results.”
Taking it on the chin
Revian Chang, 31
Approximately $8,000 for chin liposuction and FaceTite (radiofrequency procedure)
As an experienced cosmetic injector and registered nurse, New Yorker Revian Chang, 31, has always believed in being open about her aesthetic procedures. On her Instagram and TikTok @injectedbyrev, she regularly shares the results of her beauty treatments with her followers.
In her early 20s, Chang received six rounds of Kybella (a non-surgical treatment designed to reduce submental fat) to address her genetic double chin. Though this helped for a time, by 29 she didn’t like the look of her chin and jawline in pictures.
With her wedding date fast approaching in March 2026, Chang decided to undergo chin liposuction in late June, at 30.
After consulting with Dr. Darren M. Smith, a board-certified plastic surgeon on the Upper East Side, Chang decided to add on FaceTite — a non-invasive procedure that uses radiofrequency energy to tighten the skin, to further enhance her results.
After surgery, Chang wore a compression garment for 48 hours to reduce swelling and was instructed to wear it at night for another week, though she wore it for three out of an abundance of caution.
After a monthlong hiccup with some fibrotic banding — an issue that can result when the platysma muscle in the neck becomes loose or separated — she has observed positive changes in her appearance in the four months since her procedures.
“(My chin) was something I’ve been insecure about all my life, and when I was younger, I didn’t have the financial means to afford (chin liposuction),” Chang told The Post. “But the best part has been seeing my results day by day. I’m very happy with it now.”
Hannah Swanson, 30
$5,585 for chin liposuction
Before her wedding in 2019, Hannah Swanson had tried CoolSculpting, a non-invasive fat reduction treatment, to address unwanted chin fat.
Though the procedure worked for a while, a series of weight fluctuations stemming from an eating disorder eventually prompted the then-28-year-old student, living in Brooklyn, to look into surgical options.
“I had become really insecure about my double chin,” Swanson, who now lives in Pennsylvania, told The Post. “There were days I’d be walking to work and catch my reflection in a window, and I would just go home. So I decided I’d be irresponsible and opened up a credit card (to do chin liposuction). Honestly, I’m glad I did because it’s been life-changing.”
Swanson had a consultation with Upper East Side pro Dr. Thomas Sterry — and quickly booked the procedure. When it was done, she took an Uber back to her apartment, then laid on her couch for four days.
“It was really hard to eat for the first two to three days just because of my jaw,” Swanson recalled. “But I only had to take off two days of work since I got it near the weekend. It really wasn’t that bad.”
After the initial four-day healing period, Swanson noticed gradual changes in her chin’s appearance for six months. Now that her results are permanent, she couldn’t be happier with her updated jawline.
“Everything I’m doing with my life now, I could not have done before the procedure,” said Swanson. “I’m doing theater again and I don’t think I could have gotten onstage before knowing that people could see my profile…It quieted my mind in a way I’d never felt would be possible.”
No more (eye) baggage
Aaliyah Ximines, 28
$9,800 for lower blepharoplasty
For Aaliyah Ximines, a 28-year-old marketing professional from Toronto, prominent under-eye bags were a genetic trait and lifelong insecurity.
For awhile, under-eye skin boosters, which would perk up the area for a few months, kept her happy — but the results would always fade and leave her looking “tired” again.
Ximines tried to address the issue by changing her diet and trialing different eye creams. When that didn’t work, a TikTok she saw of an influencer who got a lower blepharoplasty — a cosmetic surgery designed to address sagging in the lower eyelids — got her thinking that she should try the same, though she had doubts.
“I’d never had surgery in my life — the most I’d had was stitches,” Ximines told The Post. “I was very scared, since this was near the eyes. I started reading all the things that could go wrong, and blindness was one of them…It probably took three or four months of research before I was like, ‘OK, this is something I really want to have done.’ ”
Anxious about potential pushback, Ximines avoided the social media splash, only telling close family members before she had her lower blepharoplasty, which was funded by her boyfriend. Ximines also chose to undergo the procedure near her home, so she could easily follow up with her surgeon, Dr. Asif Pirani, if needed.
Though Ximines experienced mild annoyances during the three-week recovery period, like not being able to exercise and having to apply eye drops multiple times a day, she described the surgery as “worth it.”
“It’s really helped boost my confidence a lot,” said Ximines. “It’s still a little swollen, but I’ve been going out with no makeup on, doing dinners, and I feel fine. I feel like I see a whole new person.”
All in the family
Samantha Moeller, 34
$3,500 for upper blepharoplasty
Samantha Moeller, a 34-year-old marketing agency owner in Columbus, Ohio, began her journey with cosmetic procedures in her mid-20s, to address her sagging eyelids. Though Botox made a small difference, the changes were “nothing significant,” she found.
Being that her mother and grandmother had received an upper blepharoplasty (a surgery that removes excess skin from the upper eyelids) at 55 and 70 respectively for the same issue, Moeller reasoned that she should undergo the procedure at a younger age — to allow her to enjoy the results.
“I think (an upper blepharoplasty) is becoming more popular now because it’s not physically overwhelming but also makes a significant difference,” Moeller told The Post, who had the surgery at 33. “Everyone calls it the ‘gateway surgery.’ The recovery is also really easy.”
For Moeller, recovery took around five days, after which her surgeon’s office took out her stitches. She noticed the results “immediately.” Though she was told she shouldn’t have to undergo the procedure for another 30 years, she told The Post she’d “literally do it next year, if (I) had to.”
“It’s $3,500 spread across 30 years, versus me doing a ton of Botox to try to lift my brows and manipulate things the wrong way,” said Moeller. “I think this was a healthier option for sure. My only regret is not doing it sooner.”
She also believes that those who do get work done should be transparent about their decisions.
“I don’t like that people are hiding a lot of this stuff,” Moeller said. “I think it’s a really dangerous thing when they’re getting all these nips, tucks and tweaks and not being honest about it. It’s creating unrealistic standards of comparison where everyone’s curating what they share.”
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