Mar-a-Lago face

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Kimberly Guilfoyle Official Portrait scaled.jpg
Official Portrait of Secretary Kristi Noem (cropped).jpg
Melania Trump's Official White House Portrait (colorized 2025) (cropped-2).jpg
Kimberly Guilfoyle, [1] Kristi Noem [2] and Melania Trump [3] have been described as having Mar-a-Lago face.

Mar-a-Lago face is a plastic surgery and fashion trend among American conservative and Republican individuals described as excessive or uniform plastic surgery interventions such as lip augmentation, Botox, and jaw contouring, coupled with heavy makeup, spray tans, fake eyelashes, and dark smoky eyes. [1] [4] The trend has been described as a status symbol among Donald Trump's inner circle, signaling wealth, privilege, and alignment with Trumpism. [5] [1] [6] Some commentators and surgeons have described the look as engineered and overdone, and have linked it to the aesthetics and aspects of Trump-era politics. [7] [2] [8] Cosmetic surgeons listed facial surgery, injectable filler, and cosmetic dental work among the procedures constituting the look. [9] Noted public figures described as having the Mar-a-Lago face include First Lady Melania Trump, [2] Matt Gaetz, [10] Kimberly Guilfoyle, [1] Kristi Noem, [2] and Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump. [8] The trend is named for the Trump's home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. [11] [2]

Contents

Plastic surgeons and consultants describe Mar-a-Lago face as a deliberately conspicuous and homogenized aesthetic, with one estimate placing the 2025 cost of a full set of procedures at around $90,000 plus ongoing maintenance. [9] Journalistic and academic analyses have situated the trend within far-right and Trump-aligned visual culture, arguing that a recurring, highly stylized face helps signal allegiance to Trump and project shared values among his supporters. [12] Some commentators compare the look to forms of aesthetic eugenics tied to a Caucasian beauty ideal and to the display of the body as a political symbol for Trump’s circle. [6] Others relate Mar-a-Lago face to gender-affirming surgery or drag-like performances of exaggerated femininity and masculinity within the MAGA movement. [10] Conservative surgeons and writers have criticized the label as a politically motivated attack on conservative women and allies of Trump, rather than a neutral description of cosmetic trends. [13]

Origin

Mar-a-Lago face is named for Trump's home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. [14] [15] [2] [11] El Confidencial reported in 2024 that the Mar-a-Lago face was first observed via Matt Gaetz, when he appeared at an event with a "completely different face". [16] Vanity Fair Italia traced the origins of the Mar-a-Lago face concept to 2006, prior to Gaetz, citing the American reality television program The Real Housewives of Orange County as a potential origin of the trend. [17] The Week called the look a "must-have accessory" for the inner circle of President Donald Trump. [5] Melinda Anna Farina, an aesthetic consultant, identified the Mar-a-Lago face as attempting to emulate the appearance of Eastern European women. [2]

Wee Kek Koon in the South China Morning Post observed that Mar-a-Lago face was similar to King Ling of Chu of the Zhou dynasty's preference for "thin-waisted" officials, noted in the Annals of the Warring States as well as the works of Mozi. [11] Koon notes that Mozi also illustrated further Mar-a-Lago antecedents such as Duke Wen of Jin, whose officials dressed in "sheepskin coats, cowhide belts, and undyed silk caps". [11] According to Women.com , Mar-a-Lago face is characterized by excessive makeup, fake tans, fake eyelashes, dark smoky eyes, and lip augmentation. [1] Vanity Fair Italia cited Melania Trump as an inspiration for Mar-a-Lago face. [17] In The New World , Nicky Woolf wrote, "origins of the Mar-a-Lago face could well lie in the Fox News anchor look," citing a prevalence of Trump to understand the world in "large part through a television screen". [18]

Procedures

Board-certified surgeon Jeffrey Lisiecki characterized the Mar-a-Lago face as "overfilled cheeks that are high and firm, full lips and very taut, smooth skin". [9] Writing for The Guardian , Arwa Mahdawi commented that when the appearance is applied to men, enhancements are applied to the jawline rather than lip size. [19] Mark Epstein, a New York City plastic surgeon, observed an increase in requests in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. [20] From January 2025 onward, plastic surgeons in the U.S. capital area reported a "surge in ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ requests from Trump insiders". [21] Axios reported the increase was due to many Floridians moving to the Washington area at the time. [21] Retail doctors in Florida near Mar-a-Lago had begun advertising "Mar-a-Lago face" surgery services, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun . [22]

One cosmetic surgeon listed a brow lift, a face and neck lift, an eyelid lift, a nose job, fat transfer to the face, Botox, injectable filler, neuromodulation, microneedling, facials, chemical peels, laser treatments, "medical-grade skin care products", and dental veneers among the procedures constituting Mar-a-Lago face. [9] Kelly Bolden, a plastic surgeon, reported that those who want a Mar-a-Lago face "have to be able to handle needles" in order to receive "overdone filler and Botox that gives them that mask-face type of appearance". [21] California surgeon Matthew Nykiel estimated the 2025 cost in U.S. dollars to be approximately $90,000 along with upkeep costs of $2,500 per year. [9] Procedures such as Mar-a-Lago face reportedly last 8-10 years before failing and requiring further surgical intervention. [22]

Analysis

The New York Times called Mar-a-Lago face a "Trump woman" look, and noted it included but differed from "conservative girl" or "Republican makeup". [14] However, Agence France-Presse framed Mar-a-Lago face and "Republican makeup" as the same phenomena. [23] The Hollywood Reporter describes Mar-a-Lago face as a "Fellini-esque exaggeration of the dolled-up Fox News anchorwoman look". [8] One etiquette and image consultant told HuffPost that the aesthetic is designed to signal wealth and privilege. [9] Beyond what this beauty trend may look like in practice, the use of plastic surgery to create a homogenized aesthetic has been attributed to the success of anti-feminist and far-right social media content. Megan L. Zahay, professor of communications at the University of Wisconsin, asserts that repetition of the aesthetic serves to amplify particular ideological beliefs, creating a sense of in-group homogeneity or consensus. [24]

Barnard College professor Anne Higonnet argues the move towards this particular aesthetic serves as "a sign of physical submission to Donald Trump", in that the aesthetic creates traditional feminine and masculine features. [12] Melissa Rein Lively, a MAGA political worker, was reported by Le Journal de Montréal to reject any "any idea of ​​submission or constraint" associated with Mar-a-Lago face, and that "no one forces me to do two hours of sport a day, to go to the hairdresser every three and a half weeks, to get my nails and eyebrows done, to get Botox." [15] Juliet Williams, a gender studies academic and professor at University of California, Los Angeles, compared the phenomena to "war paint" in "service of an anti-feminist ideology". [15]

Santiago Martinez Magdalena of the University of Navarra compares Mar-a-Lago face to "aesthetic eugenics", and associates it with "the Caucasian model as a hygienic and normative horizon, the choice of working models and the exposure of the body as the focal point". [6] Catherine Tebaldi of the University of Luxembourg and Scott Burnett of Pennsylvania State University hypothesize the inclusion of men within this aesthetic to be a part of a broader trend in the US far right movement, bolstered by online image boards and publications, where both "hardness" and symmetry in facial features is seen as important to outwardly demonstrated masculinity. [25] The promotion of a uniform aesthetic within the MAGA movement has been likened to body fascism, [26] an ideology which prizes individual physical strength and beauty conformities as reflections of the wider political movement of fascism. [27] According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, Trump supporters and some Mar-a-Lago faces have a "tendency to emulate" Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt. [22]

Joan López Alegre, a professor at Abat Oliba CEU University, describes the phenomenon as reflecting Trump's changing base: "The Trump voter is no longer a conservative voter like the Bush voter, but a lower middle-class voter. It is not clear to me whether they want to be more like Romeo Santos or Barbie's Ken". [2] He further states that Trump's aesthetics were seen as "tacky" in New York City, but are more accepted in Florida, and therefore may appeal to the evolving demographic support of the Republican party. [2] A Boca Raton plastic surgeon said Mar-a-Lago face "whispers refinement", and a Washington, D.C.-area surgeon identified it as a "modern aristocratic mask". [21] Tina Alster of Georgetown University Medical Center and Washington surgeon Anita Kulkarni noted that Mar-A-Lago face seemed to be an aspect of the Second presidency of Donald Trump, and that it was rare during his first 2017-2021 term. [18] [22] The South China Morning Post called Mar-a-Lago face the "unofficial badge of power in Washington" with an aesthetic described as political; the Post described it further as a "lacquered, petrified mask". [11] Williams of UCLA also noted the political nature of Mar-A-Lago face, and that it became political by signaling that the "value of women depends on their desirability to men". [15]

Reaction to trend

Many of Donald Trump's critics have sought to identify any hypocrisies arising from the ideological proponents of natural health and traditional beliefs about women. Writing in Der Tagesspiegel , Ronja Merkel compares the bodies and physical appearance of the present Trump cabinet and members to the Trumpist version of America First ideology: that those who fail to meet even the artificial image of America are unwelcome. [28] Merkel describes the surgically altered appearances of Trump insiders as "rules, control, and the restoration of a 'natural' hierarchy". [28] Christoph Künne writes in the German magazine Docma that Mar-a-Lago face is not "total disfigurement", quoting a surgeon who described the look as "overdone" and "plastic". [7] El Confidencial noted that the sudden changes of Mar-a-Lago face were similar to rumored "drastic" appearance changes of Spanish politicians José Bono and Albert Rivera, and that more "gradual" rumored appearance changes in politics were preferred, citing examples of José Blanco López and François Mitterrand. [16] Aspects of the Mar-a-Lago face were "catching on in Italy" among media figures, according to Vanity Fair Italia. [17]

Writing for Mother Jones , Inae Oh calls Mar-a-Lago face "gender-affirming care the right can celebrate". [10] She states that Mar-a-Lago face "seems intended to signal membership with Trump" and "force strict gender norms" with a blunt approach. [5] [10] Eva Wiseman in the Otago Daily Times also associates Mar-a-Lago face with gender-affirming care and drag. [29] Daniel Belkin, a New York dermatologist, was quoted in Le Journal de Montréal on comparisons of Mar-a-Lago face to gender-affirming medicine, calling the conservative social trend "interventions to assert their gender, in this case to accentuate their femininity or virility." [15] The president of the Italian Association of Botulinum Aesthetic Therapy, Giovanni Salti, defended the cosmetic and therapeutic medical use of botulism, noting that a "well-done procedure is noticeable because it goes unnoticed." [17]

The Week describes the trend as "the leader and followers compet[ing] to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision". [5] Joan Callarissa, a fashion-and-celebrity journalist, identifies Mar-a-Lago face as an extension of Trump's "counter-revolutionary" movement, saying, "If they have a face they don't like, they change it, without caring if it looks natural or not, because reality does not matter to Trumpism". [6] Ani Wilcenski writes in The Spectator that Mar-a-Lago face represents the "broader Trumpian artifice" and the "national id" of the US. [3] The Chosun Ilbo observed that Mar-a-Lago face is a trend of "noisy facial transformations" among Trump loyalists. [30]

In response to criticism, surgeon and conservative activist Sheila Nazarian has described the term "Mar-a-Lago face" as an attack on conservative women. [13] In USA Today , Nicole Russell said conservative women were victims of "cruel attacks" due to Mar-a-Lago face. [21] According to San Diego State University political science professor Ronnee Schreiber, [18]

"You have these folks who are trying to hyper-feminise the way they look, including using surgical procedures and so on, and yet are critical of people who are trying to express their gender identity in other surgical and medical ways to feel authentic, or to be authentic."

However, Schrieber warned against focusing on the appearance of women involved in politics, but said there was "more to unpack" to the question of why MAGA supporters favored the appearance. [18]

Noted individuals

Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is a noted example of Mar-a-Lago face in a male Matt Gaetz (53807914107) (cropped).jpg
Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is a noted example of Mar-a-Lago face in a male

Individuals who have been described as having Mar-a-Lago face include:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Roe, Bernadette (March 27, 2025). "What Is Mar-A-Lago Face? The Plastic Surgery Trend, Explained". Women.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Werner, Kayleigh (April 26, 2025). "Mar-a-Lago face: The plastic surgery trend that's taking over Trump's inner circle". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 26, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilcenski, Ani (February 17, 2025). "The Mar-a-Lago face-off" . The Spectator. Archived from the original on April 13, 2025.
  4. ↑ Montgomery, Mimi (November 10, 2025). "D.C. plastic surgeons see surge in "Mar-a-Lago face" requests from Trump insiders". Axios. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Mar-a-Lago face: the Maga plastic surgery trend" . The Week. June 13, 2025. Archived from the original on April 26, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alonso, Marita (February 24, 2025). "The popularity of the 'Mar-a-Lago face' soars in Trump's inner circle". El País. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Künne, Christoph (May 5, 2025). "'Mar-a-Lago Face': Die politische Ästhetik der visuellen Konformität". Docma (in German). Archived from the original on May 5, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sancton, Julian (November 24, 2024). "Plastic Surgery Trend: Will 'Mar-a-Lago Face' Take Over D.C.?". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 13, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Davis Smith, Jamie (June 2, 2025). "Plastic Surgeons Reveal How Much It Costs To Get A 'Mar-A-Lago Face'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. According to Dr. Matthew J. Nykiel, a board-certified plastic surgeon at SoCal Plastic Surgeons, Mar-a-Lago Face "refers to a recognizable combination of facial features and plastic surgery enhancements, often modeled after Ivanka Trump's signature look."
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Oh, Inae (March 17, 2025). "In Your Face: The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Koon, Wee Kek (November 29, 2025). "Trump insiders' 'Mar-a-Lago faces' echo Chinese elites' unhealthy efforts to please a king". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on December 17, 2025.
  12. 1 2 Marcotte, Amanda (March 24, 2025). "From 'Mar-a-Lago face' to uncanny AI art: MAGA loves ugly in submission to Trump". Salon.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2025.
  13. 1 2 Vittert, Leland (May 30, 2025). "'Mar-a-Lago Face' becoming popular in plastic surgery". NewsNation. Archived from the original on August 7, 2025 – via MSN.com.
  14. 1 2 Friedman, Vanessa (May 12, 2025). "Can I Wear a Sheath Dress Without Looking Like a MAGA Woman?". New York Times . Archived from the original on May 13, 2025. No matter what they wear, however, they are never anything but a Trump woman, even before they get to policy. There is actually a name for how they look: 'Mar-a-Lago face,' after the Trump golf club that is home to so many of those sporting the look. Which also involves 'conservative girl makeup.'
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Botox, faux cils et longs cheveux blonds: dans l'univers des femmes MAGA" [Botox, false eyelashes and long blonde hair: in the world of MAGA women]. Le Journal de Montréal, Agence France-Presse (in French). November 10, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Velasco, Margarita (August 12, 2024). "La cara Mar a Lago o cómo la medicina estética ha deformado la cara del equipo de Trump" [The Mar-a-Lake face, or how cosmetic medicine has deformed the faces of the Trump team]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. El revuelo surgió cuando Matt Gaetz se colocó tras el atril con una nueva cara, en la que sus altísimas cejas y sus pletóricos pómulos encendieron las alarmas del retoque estético, tanto para los expertos como para los profanos. Gaetz, que tuvo que renunciar a su nombramiento como fiscal general de Trump por sus escándalos sexuales, rompía con las normas canónicas y no escritas de los cambios físicos en política y se marcaba un 'Extreme Makeover' de reality. Es decir, se hacía una nueva cara.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Paudice, Allesandra (May 4, 2025). "Mar-a-Lago face, il trend di medicina e chirurgia estetica nell'era MAGA di Trump" [Mar-a-Lago Face: A Trend in Cosmetic Medicine and Surgery in Trump's MAGA Era]. Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). Archived from the original on December 17, 2025.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Woolf, Nicky (December 12, 2025). "Mar-a-Lago Face: the new Trump uniform". The New World . Archived from the original on December 12, 2025.
  19. ↑ Mahdawi, Arwa (August 27, 2025). "Why does the Maga elite love conspicuous cosmetic surgery?". The Guardian. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  20. ↑ Abbate, Grazia (May 29, 2025). "The 'Mar-a-Lago Face': Ivanka Trump Becomes the New Ideal of Beauty". La Voce di New York. Archived from the original on May 30, 2025. The new aesthetic ideal in the Palm Beach of Trump loyalists no longer comes from Hollywood, but from Mar-a-Lago: according to two well-known plastic surgeons, more and more clients–mostly women, but also men–are asking to look like Ivanka Trump.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Demopoulos, Alaina (November 18, 2025). "Plastic surgeons wrestle with requests for 'Mar-a-Lago face': 'You're going to look like Maleficent'". The Guardian . Archived from the original on November 19, 2025. As of January, plastic surgeons in Washington DC have seen a "surge in 'Mar-a-Lago face' requests from Trump insiders", Axios recently reported. Surgeons told the outlet that more Washingtonians want their procedures to be not unnoticed but obvious and overdone.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lee, Yoon-Jung (November 20, 2025). "필러 가득 넣어 주세요···미국 보수 진영서 붐이라는 이 스타일 '마러라고 페이스'" [Pack in the filler: The style said to be booming in U.S. conservative circles, ‘Mar-a-Lago face’]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 17, 2025.
  23. ↑ End, Aurélia (November 9, 2025). "Big Lips And Botox: In Trump's World, Fashion And Makeup Get Political". Barron's, Agence France-Presse . Archived from the original on December 17, 2025. While professing family values and religious beliefs, these MAGA women are anything but shy in their appearance. Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and 'contouring,' a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. Many opt for cosmetic interventions, including fillers and surgery to achieve fuller cheeks, plumper lips and a refined nose... 'It's a mistake to dismiss this as just about fashion, just about makeup,' said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA. 'It's actually absolutely central because this Trump MAGA movement was able to return to the White House in 2024, I believe, essentially because of leveraging the gender war.'
  24. ↑ Zahay, Megan L. (2022). "What 'Real' Women Want: Alt-Right Femininity Vlogs as an Anti-Feminist Populist Aesthetic". Media and Communication. 10 (4): 170–179. doi: 10.17645/mac.v10i4.5726 . ISSN   2183-2439.
  25. ↑ Tebaldi, Catherine; Burnett, Scott (2025). "The Science of Desire: Beauty, Masculinity, and Ideology on the Far Right". Journal of Right-Wing Studies. 2 (2). doi: 10.5070/RW3.1604 . ISSN   2770-9698. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  26. ↑ Gottlieb, Julie (2011). "Body Fascism in Britain: Building the Blackshirt in the Inter-War Period". Contemporary European History. 20 (2): 111–136. doi:10.1017/S0960777311000026. ISSN   1469-2171.
  27. ↑ Falasca-Zamponi, Simonetta (2008). "Fascism and Aesthetics". Constellations. 15 (3): 351–365. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8675.2008.00496.x. ISSN   1467-8675.
  28. 1 2 Merkel, Ronja (August 22, 2025). "Das Botox-Kabinett von Donald Trump: Darum sehen Amerikas neue Rechte alle gleich aus" . Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Archived from the original on August 22, 2025. Die Ideologie dahinter ist klar: Trumps Regierung setzt auf Grenzschließungen, Massenabschiebungen, die Kriminalisierung von Migration und ein Verbot geschlechtsangleichender Maßnahmen für Minderjährige. In mehreren Bundesstaaten wurden Abtreibungsrechte massiv eingeschränkt, trans Personen aus dem Militär ausgeschlossen und Antidiskriminierungsgesetze zurückgedreht. Die Körper im Kabinett sind das visuelle Versprechen dahinter: America(ns) First – alle anderen müssen draußen bleiben. [...] In autoritären Systemen ist der perfekte Körper nie nur Oberfläche. Er steht für Regeln, für Kontrolle, für die Wiederherstellung einer 'natürlichen' Hierarchie.
  29. ↑ Wiseman, Eva (May 17, 2025). "Made-up to look like women". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2025. If it was, it would surely not require all this — the injectables, the lipstick, the dye, or indeed the surgery, which some might call gender-affirming care. It's drag, with all the campery and inauthenticity that implies.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 Lee, Chul-min (November 19, 2025). "Trump Allies Embrace 'Mar-a-Lago Face' Plastic Surgery Trend in Washington, D.C." The Chosun Ilbo . Archived from the original on December 17, 2025.
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