Let’s talk about Mar-a-Lago Face

What is happening to women’s faces — and some men?

A few people whose faces have transformed beyond what is normal come to mind: Kristi Noem, Laura Loomer, Susan Dell, Laura Trump. Even Matt Gaetz’s face was a sight to see at the Republican National Convention.

It is weird to ask this question, because I try not to make a point of caring about people’s appearances; I am more concerned with what they do, not how they look. That is still true, but this is too far to pretend not to notice. At some point, we need to be able to say we notice and are concerned.

There has been speculation that it is body dysmorphia — they do not see they have gone too far. I have heard they cannot stand themselves, so they are changing their faces to more closely match whatever persona has taken them over. And I think that can be true in some people’s cases — maybe people in Hollywood who overdo it trying to keep up a performance face.

But in Trump’s circle, I do not think that is what is happening anymore. There is a distinct face that keeps revealing itself, and the face we once saw is barely recognizable now.

Until recently, this was not a concern of mine. I was just letting it go and ignoring the fact so many women are severely distorting their own faces. But when I saw a sincere question from a man on Threads about Kristi Noem’s face, and then the Susan Dell picture was released right before that question, sparking a lot of people’s interest in what was happening, I became curious.

His question made me pause and reconsider my apathy toward these women who are severely distorting their faces. And for what? Is this a mental health issue? I also began questioning the ethics of plastic surgeons doing this to their faces. Do these plastic surgeons have any responsibility to face (pun intended) for allowing this to happen? A few days later, I saw someone respond about Susan Dell’s look, calling it “Mar-A-Lago Face.”

What is a Mar-a-Lago Face? Is this real or a social media trending name?

At first, I thought it might be such a social media trend, but now I see plastic surgeons are legitimately naming it as something they are doing on purpose and are admitting it is about status. I found two providers who advertise for “Mar-a-Lago Face.” One website I found, The Naderi Center, is advertising this look. Here is how it describes the face: “The Mar-a-Lago Face: Wealth, Power, and the Rise of America’s Most Recognizable Elite Look.”

So are these women, and some men, doing this on purpose to signify power and wealth?

Shervin Naderi, the expert on this website, who is double board-certified in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and as an ENT, says this is not just cosmetic; it is cultural currency. It signifies wealth and is a social status because this face never will fade into the background.

This also is from the Naderi Center website: “Dr. Shervin Naderi, world-renowned facial plastic surgeon and founder of The Naderi Center, describes it as ‘a modern aristocratic mask — surgically sculpted to convey affluence, precision and control. It’s not about reversing time. It’s about rewriting the rules of aging.’”

Naderi is located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The other provider I found specifically offering this service is Scott Ennis in Florida. He has a less in-your-face approach to this new trend, being about wealth, power and control. He describes it this way: “Cosmetic enhancements that reflect timeless elegance rather than fleeting trends.”

Ennis describes Mar-a-Lago Face as more of a fine-tuning and not to be overdone. He says it is a simpler procedure — simpler fillers, Botox and surgery. It is small adjustments over time; they do not wait for the big overhaul. He’s not offering your normal big boob and overdone lip adjustments. This one is more timeless, elegant and simpler, he says.

His website explains: “The so-called ‘Mar-a-Lago Face’ facelift emphasizes soft cheek definition, a slightly elevated upper lip and overall symmetry. It doesn’t scream surgery. Instead, it whispers refinement — something that looks elegant both in person and in photos.”

Yet most of the Mar-a-Lago faces I am seeing are way overdone.

It is so weird to be listening to professionals advertise “Mar-a-Lago Face” as a legit look — like they are trying to create that face on purpose. Are these doctors telling themselves this so they can sleep at night? They really meant to do that?

Whether they really believe Mar-a-Lago Face signals power and wealth or is subtle elegance that adjusts more simply over time, many of us looking at these faces from the outside are not picking up any of what they are saying. Most of what I am hearing is: Are these women mentally well? Is there something else going on with their health? I have not heard anyone look at these faces and say, “Wow, she must be powerful and wealthy,” or “What a subtle and elegant change.”

The trend of Mar-a-Lago Face also has inspired some potent parody.

Whether you think it’s funny or not, we want to know what is happening to these faces. Why are their faces changing so much that we do not see even a shred of what they used to look like anymore?

Absurd beauty standards have long been an important part of the evangelical and conservative movements. Evangelical pastors having hot wives has been a part of the package, not an accident. You may have heard women and men say this when some marriages fail: “Well, she really let herself go.” Or if women are abused and assaulted: “What did she wear? Was she inviting it?”

After Donald Trump was elected president the first time, one of my friends posted online that we finally have a “beautiful first lady.”

All of this has to do with the fact that everything they do is about image — they use BS to promote their businesses, churches, politics and relationships. None of it is substance or based in reality. They want beauty, power and wealth — it does not matter if it is true or good.

The way these doctors are now presenting Mar-a-Lago Face as a legit look is a case in point. Using women’s faces to profit and pretend they are not destroying their faces. On Nadir’s website, it says to get that face is a $200,000 to $300,000 investment over a decade.

This is grifting, and it is sad.

I understand many of these women chose this, but something has happened mentally to them that led them to agree to do this. This constant need to please Trump is sick and it is distorting their faces. Everyone’s relationship with Trump is distorted, and it shows on their faces.

I believe the women feel like they have to do this to be in his circle. Now their faces are basically gone, and a narrative is circulating that only rich, powerful and elegant women can achieve this look.

I’m not buying the grifters’ story. Nice try, though.

Recently, at the University of Oklahoma, a young student wrote an essay that failed and made the national news. This student claimed she was the victim of religious discrimination. Since Turning Point USA posted the student’s essay online for all of us to read, I gained some insight into the minds of the women who want to be in Trump’s inner circle.

In the essay, she says this, which the Bible does not say, and she did not cite the Bible when she wrote it: “God created men in the image of his courage and strength, and he created women in the image of his beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.”

Nowhere in Scripture does it say God created women in his beauty. I find that interesting. She believes that and wrote it down. That tells me a lot. She probably heard that in a sermon and did not cite that sermon either.

So, this is the message in the Trump movement: Women are to be beautiful. Beautiful helpers, to be precise. This is an indoctrination that is happening at a very young age, and it is wreaking havoc on women’s minds, academics and faces.

I would like a conversation within this community as to how we can respond. It is not good or right for us to pretend we are not seeing what we are seeing. And it is not OK to let the grifters spin the story and tell us what we are seeing isn’t how we see it. As you can see in the current headlines out of Minnesota, it is deadly when we allow them to tell us we are not seeing what we know we see.

 

Lindsay Bruehl is a 2022 graduate of Perkins School of Theology with a master of divinity degree. She is the founding Baptist House of Studies assistant at Perkins. She also holds a finance degree from Oklahoma State University and works as a bookkeeper for a nonprofit. She serves on the Social Justice Committee as the public education liaison for her church, First Congregational Church of Norman, Okla., and serves on the Capitol Action Team for the Sierra Club Red Earth Group in Norman. She and her family live in Norman.