Not so fast with that scalpel! Turns out, plastic surgery[1] is not the answer if you're looking to appear more beautiful.


According to a new study published by JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery[2] on Thursday, those who receive facelifts, browlifts or eyelid surgery don't end up looking more attractive after all of that nipping and tucking. What's more, they don't look a whole lot younger afterwards, either -- only three years on average were chopped off participants' appearances. But don't get discouraged just yet.


"I don’t want people to think, 'Oh, if I get a facelift, I’ll only look three years younger.' This study includes people who just had an eyelift or a browlift," author of the study Dr. A. Joshua Zimm told the New York Times[3] .


So how did the study go about calculating attractiveness? A group of 50 people studied the photos of 49 patients who had had the aforementioned plastic surgery (either a pre-op or a post-op photo was shown, not both). They then estimated the ages of the patients and rated their attractiveness on a scale of one to 10. [Ed. note: Most raters only gave participants an attractive rating from four to six[4] . Harsh.]


While this study reports that the change in attractive ratings was insignificant, that hasn't seemed to stop us from running to the plastic surgeon looking to become prettier and more youthful (thanks, social media[5] ). But if a recent anti-aging survey done by Allure is to be believed, this might all change with Millennials, who seem to be a more judgmental bunch[6] when it comes to cosmetic procedures. Maybe this new study will help prospective patients make more informed decisions and really examine their objectives when it comes to plastic surgery -- because it really can become an addiction[7] .


Would you consider a facelift if you weren't considered "more attractive" after all was said and done?


Plastic surgery isn't always the answer...



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  • Gwyneth Paltrow


    <a href="http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/cover/gwyneth-paltrow-interview-0513#slide-1" target="_blank">Gwyneth told Harper's Bazaar in 2013</a>, "I won't do Botox again, because I looked crazy. I looked like Joan Rivers!"




  • Joan Rivers


    We all know Joan Rivers is a walking plastic surgery job -- she has reportedly had over 789 surgeries! But not all operations are equal to the funny woman. In 2009, she told "People" she <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20258303,00.html" target="_blank">regretted getting liposuction. </a> "I didn't check out the doctor and the result wasn't smooth," she said.




  • Sharon Osbourne


    "I wish I'd never had my breasts done the last time," she told New Magazine. "They've put these bloody great bags in that are too f***ing round--it's like a water bed on your chest." (Getty photo)




  • Nicole Kidman


    The youthful-looking actress regrets getting Botox. "I didn't like how my face looked afterwards. Now I don't use it anymore -- I can move my forehead again!"




  • Jessica Simpson


    The singer has been vocal about how it's important to be natural. But during an interview with "Glamour" in 2006, she told the magazine she regretted getting lip injections. "I had that Restylane stuff. It looked fake to me. I didn't like that. But it went away in, like, four months. My lips are back to what they were. Thank God!"




  • Cher


    She told "People" in 1992 that she regretted getting breast implants. She got them after giving birth to Chaz and did not want to part with her naturally enlarged breasts due to pregnancy. "They got so much bigger and I couldn't bear to see them deflate. My breast operations were a nightmare. They were really botched in every way. If anything, they were worse after than before."




  • Jane Fonda


    The outspoken actress always said she was an opponent of plastic surgery but she caved when she 72 years old and regretted it. She got her eyes and neck restructured. "If I was really brave, I would have not. I vowed I wouldn’t -- I did, and I don’t feel proud of it. It made me look more like I feel. But I don't want to do it again."




  • Kathy Griffin


    The always-hilarious Griffin wrote in her memoir that her liposuction surgery made her look like a "CSI crime scene photo." “I want women to know when you get liposuction trying to be Jennifer Aniston, this is what it really looks like.”




  • Denise Richards


    "When I was 19, a doctor put in bigger implants than what I asked for. I was in such a hurry to get them that I didn't research my doctor," Richards told Us Weekly. "I just thought because they're a plastic surgeon, they must be good. You have to be your advocate for your own body and ask 100 questions." Later Richards wrote: "At 19 when I first got my breasts done, I wish that I was confident enough with my body to not have had surgery. That is something that I really want to encourage in my daughters, to embrace their healthy body and have confidence. I actually feel more confident in my skin now than in my 20's. Being confident is one of the sexiest qualities a woman can exude." (Getty photo)




  • Jenny McCarthy


    "Me and my friends found a doctor in Arizona that cost about $1,500 to get our boobs done--because they didn't use anesthesia and I didn't know it," McCarthy told WENN. In a later interview with Us Weekly, the former playmate said she was "too young" when she got her implants at 19.

    (Getty photo)




  • Victoria Beckham


    In an interview with British Vogue, Victoria was asked about the absence of her "torpedo bazookas," to which the former Spice Girl reportedly replied, "gone".

    (Getty photo)




  • Courteney Cox


    The actress told InStyle in 2010 about how sometimes she overdos it with botox injections. She said, "I feel weird if I can't move my face, and that one time I overdid it, I felt trapped in my own skin."




  • Courtney Love


    Some stars need a few operations to learn their lesson. Such is the case with Love. In 2003, Love got liposuction on her butt and said, "Nobody should lipo their butt. I've flattened my perfect fat a**!” Then, in 2007, she regretted her lip injections. She wrote on MySpace, "I just want the mouth God gave me back; it was perfectly cute, and I had nice big lips." Finally, the singer regretted her nose job saying she "hated that nosejobby nose, it was like a little beak.”




  • Carmen Electra


    She regrets getting breast implants that took her from a 32B to a DD. "I didn't want to go as big as that. It's nice that I don't have to wear a push-up bra any more, but I could have left myself alone. I think I was fine the way I was. I had nice breasts before -- though they were small."




  • Kourtney Kardashian


    When she was 22, she got surgery to go from a B-cup to a C-cup. "It was so dumb... I just got the idea in my head one day, and that was that. There was no talking me out of it," said Kardashian in an interview with Us Weekly.

    (Getty photo)




  • Heidi Montag


    The Hills star -- now a size "E or F" depending on the bra--had a staggering 10 procedures done in one day. "I'm obsessed with fitness but it's impossible to work out with these boobs," Montag told Life and Style Magazine. "It's heartbreaking. I can't live an everyday life."

    (Getty photo)




  • Jennifer Grey


    The actress wishes she didn't alter her nose -- the one feature that made her a distinguishable actress. I went in the operating theatre a celebrity -- and came out anonymous. I'll always be this once-famous actress nobody recognizes... because of a nose job."




  • Kimberly Stewart


    In an interview with Now Magazine, Kimberly states her famous father was supportive of his daughter when she had the implants put in at 18, and even more supportive when she decided to get rid of them. She recalls, "He's very supportive of whatever I do. He was just like, 'If you don't feel comfortable, if you don't feel safe, just get them removed.'"

    (Getty photo)




  • Jenna Jameson


    "When I had implants, I felt uncomfortable," the former porn star told Us Weekly. "I would be shy at the beach. I know it sounds funny, but I'd wear high-necked clothes, unless I was at an adult-film convention. So I thought, 'why don't I be who I am and get my real ones back?'"

    (Getty photo)




  • Tara Reid


    "I was a 34B, but the right one was always bigger than the left," she told Us Weekly. "He gave me Cs, and I didn't want them. At all."

    (Getty photo)




  • Tori Spelling


    "Well, I got my boobs done in my early 20s," Spelling told Good Morning America. "If I had known that it would or could possibly impact production of milk, I wouldn't have had them. I love being a mom. I am on my third baby. We want to have more. That's my role... these don't matter."

    (Getty photo)




  • Heidi Montag's Plastic Surgery Overkill


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