What Exactly Is Mar-A-Lago Face And Who Has Clearly Tried The Trend

Frozen, unmoving foreheads, arched and overfilled-in brows, dainty tipped noses smothered between two peaking and swollen cheekbones, and don't forget the lip filler. These are all common signs and symptoms of what many have referred to as "Mar-a-Lago face," a trend including the often visible overuse of plastic surgery. One of the many things any good plastic surgeon would want you to know is that fads come and go, and this particular trend could be very costly not only to get, but also to fix should anyone suffer from buyer's remorse.

Of course, this current style is plastered all over the more conservative social scenes — take President Donald Trump's lawyer Alina Habba and her plastic surgery rumors or even Attorney General Pam Bondi who looks unrecognizable in throwback photos. It seems to be that the cavalcade of women surrounding President Trump are all working with the same mold of Botox, fillers, and facelifts.

Plastic surgery has no political boundaries, with dermatologist Tina Alster admitting to the Hollywood Reporter that "everybody gets some tweaking." However, the rate and extent to which women (and some men) in the MAGA sphere alter their appearances to a mutated "Stepford Wives" degree is pretty prevalent. It's to the point that even young rising stars like Karoline Leavitt are rocking duck lips and signs of Botox while still being in their 20s. To better get to the bottom of what "Mar-a-Lago face" is, it's easier to show some examples. Here are five of the worst offenders of potential MAGA-inspired plastic surgery.

Quite possibly the archetype for "Mar-a-Lago face" is Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-fiancée Kmberly Guiflyole. After divorcing her ex-husband Gavin Newsom, Guilfoyle underwent both an internal and external marveling transformation. During her time within the Trump family, Guilfoyle started packing on makeup and donning loud and skintight outfits. Notably, her face began to tweak its way into a different shape — her lips appeared fuller and fuller and fuller, and so did her eyebrows and cheekbones.

But this facial phenomenon isn't just about potential plastic surgery; it also involves a very particular styling to go alongside it. There's a heavy use of eyeshadow and contouring, often coupled with the wrong color of bronzer, possibly not blended in all the way. The hair must always be long, and it must be down. Once again, Guilfoyle seemingly paved the way for this sense of style to become ubiquitous throughout the MAGA masses. Of course, there are makeup and styling mistakes Guilfoyle should absolutely ditch to prove that she's moved on from Don Jr., but it might be hard to leave such a legacy behind.

Previous Republican National Committee co-chair and current wife of Eric Trump, Lara Trump has undergone quite the jaw-dropping transformation. Picking up what Kimberly Guilfoyle seemed to have started, Lara added an intense physical aspect to what MAGA women could aspire to. Her workout routine is as intense as her face, and both appear to have worked to garner her a favorable position within the inner circle of President Donald Trump. In fact, the slim yet toned features coupled with some rather obvious facial procedures make Lara one of the more obvious examples of "Mar-a-Lago face."

Plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn said in an interview with the Daily Mail that this type of plastic surgery is "something you'd see in 'Real Housewives' stars, a combination of Botox and filler ... that are mildly to moderately overdone." Dr. Youn also pointed out that Lara is a clear example of someone who has gone through the most transformation to fit a specific mold. Indicating that the type of plastic surgery that MAGA women are going for is not "distorted necessarily, but they also don't look like they used to. It is definitely a plastic look." And while she's yet to admit to any procedures, Lara does look unrecognizable in throwback photos, spurring many to question why these Donald Trump devotees seek out this type of look.

When Donald Trump hit the campaign trail in 2024, he was noticeably surrounded by a roving pack of young women, each boasting a similar type of plastic surgery and brash demeanor. There seemed to be a "type" Trump wanted to surround himself with — thin, young, attractive, with subtle hints of high cheekbones, full lips, and glam makeup. The loudest of the bunch was controversial conservative figure Laura Loomer, whose relationship with Trump had many scratching their heads. In fact, Loomer was so devoted to morphing her appearance to fit the MAGA look that she sought out a pro-Trump doctor.

According to Buzzfeed News, Loomer first encountered Dr. Joseph Pober while she was taking fellow Trump supporter Jovanni Valle to get patched up. Loomer and Dr. Pober hit it off so well that she ended up giving him the moniker "Dr. Redpill" and ultimately sought him out for a nose job. Dr. Pober has made a name for himself as a specifically conservative plastic surgeon ever since, however, this has not saved Loomer from overdoing her facial reconstruction.

Whereas it's been whispered that Trump prefers a certain aesthetic in his women, he also has been rumored to oppose those who get rampant plastic surgery. According to the Atlantic, it wasn't the content of her character that eventually got Loomer booted from Trump's inner circle, but her overuse of plastic surgery.

However one feels about what a glow-up should truly be, it's hard to deny that scandalous Florida man Matt Gaetz has had one. When Gaetz burst onto the RNC stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2024, it was obvious that something was inherently different about his appearance. Gay rights activist Matt Bernstein even took to X, formerly Twitter, to say that the anti-LGBTQ congressman appeared to have "more botox than every drag queen combined." While it's true that Gaetz is unrecognizable in throwback pics due to some serious forehead work, it also brings up the truth that physical appearance is important to more than just the women in the MAGA movement.

The Miami New Times interviewed Dr Michael Salzhauer (aka "Dr. Miami") to discuss what potential procedures Gaetz could have undergone for such a dramatic look. Dr. Salzhauer suggested Botox, a thread lift, and some fresh eyebrow shaping as the three main procedures Gaetz could have gotten to appear "surprised and weird looking." Not for nothing, Dr. Salzhauer also posited that Gaetz could have joined the ranks of Kimberly Guilfoyle and applied some extra makeup to achieve his glossy glow. Hopefully, his transformation is drastic enough to warn others to take it slow and remember that Botox often takes a minute to kick in, so don't overdo it out of impatience.

In one of the most drastic examples of someone altering their appearance to get in with Donald Trump, Kristi Noem has undergone an intense transformation. It is one that has people wondering not if she's had plastic surgery, but how much. When asked about not only Noem's makeover but the prevalence of "Mar-a-lago face," Anne Higonnet, a professor of art history at Barnard College, told Mother Jones, "I read it as ... the idea that the surface of a policy is the only thing that matters. In a way, these women are performing a key part of Donald Trump's whole political persona." This directly relates to how seriously Noem took her outward appearance when she was a potential running mate pick.

In a rather surprising move, Neom got a new smile and then bragged about it on social media. Her seemingly promotional video of her upgraded teeth actually got Noem stuck in a legal battle, which was ultimately dropped. Even though this move didn't secure Noem the position of vice president, it did catch Trump's attention. Noem was ultimately confirmed as the head of the Department of Homeland Security, and it seems that Trump was so fond of her dental advertisements that he wanted her to do the same thing for his administration. In an interview with Rolling Stone Noem mentioned that Trump told her he wanted her to be in a series of commercials congratulating Trump himself for the intense immigration crackdowns. "'I want your face in the ads,'" she recalls him saying. With all the potential work Noem has had done, it's a miracle she was able to move her face to thank anyone at all.