A WOMAN who spent £22,000 getting a “Kris Jenner” facelift in Korea has admitted she experienced almost no pain after the seven-hour surgery.
April Brodie, 59, made the decision to fly from her home country of Australia to the country in order to have a deep plane facelift because she “didn’t see the person that I felt I was on the inside”.
And while she had previously relied on ‘tweakments’ such as Botox and laser treatments, facialist April discovered that as she got older, they became less effective.
So, she decided to start looking into plastic surgery – with a deep plane facelift top of her wish list.
She didn’t rush into anything, and interviewed numerous potential surgeons before settling on the CEO surgeon of a cosmetic hospital in Seoul.
April paid a 10% deposit for the surgery before touching down in Korea – with the total bill coming to an estimated £20,000.
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For that, she had a deep plane facelift, a neck lift, a lateral brow lift, removal of the excess skin under her jawline and autologous fat transfer – which involved her own fat being harvested and injected into areas of the face that require a bit more volume.
After more consultations, ensuring that the entire procedure was meticulously planned, April went under the knife on September 12th.
While general anaesthetic is common for such surgeries elsewhere in the world, they use “advanced twilight sedation” in Korea, which they believe speeds up recovery time and minimises trauma.
Still, April was stunned when she woke up and experienced absolutely no pain.
“I had zero pain. No nerve pain. Nothing,” she told the Daily Mail.
“I just felt really tight because I was so swollen, but there was no unpleasantness at all.”
The morning after the surgery she began walking around the hospital and, once back at the hotel her surgery payment covered, had daily LED treatments, lymphatic support and hyperbaric chamber sessions to help the recovery process.
April has also been documenting the surgery journey on her Facebook page, and took to the site to share an update video seven weeks after the op.
“Seven weeks ago, I got a facelift in Korea,” she began.
“Am I happy with the results?
“Yes, I am really happy with the results so far.”
However, she was also quick to point out that the full results of the facelift won’t be seen until six, or even 12, months after surgery.
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The Fox Eye surgery trend sees supposedly invisible strings put in above the eyes to pull them upwards.
It uses biodegradable threads to surgically lift the eyes and the results can last anything from weeks up until a year.
Former Celebrity Big Brother star Danielle Lloyd revealed she’d had the procedure in March 2021.
In 2019, ex glamour model Katie Price was seen undergoing a similar surgical procedure in Turkey, where she opted for a face and eye lift.
Chloe Ferry revealed she was a fan in 2022 while Patsy’s fellow Love Island alum Mollie Salmon opted for the surgery more recently, back in 2023.
Dr Omar Tillo – plastic surgeon and medical director at CREO Clinic – has warned about the additional risks of getting cosmetic procedures done abroad.
He said: “Sadly, the cosmetic surgery tourism industry is not above massaging the truth to lure patients to medical tourism hotspots, including Turkey, Poland or Thailand.
“Unscrupulous online marketing tactics are unregulated, meaning that the hundreds of positive reviews you see on consumer sites could be fake. What looks like a premium facility may really only be an illusion created by elaborate and aggressive marketing.
“Many medical tourists will forget about the return journey and the complications that can come with long-distance travel following a recent surgery.
“Flying within the same week of a cosmetic procedure can greatly increase the chances of blood clots, which could lead to deep vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism.”
“That’s super, super important to understand,” she added.
“I went into this journey knowing that. I had done all my research. I understood that the face that you see at six and seven weeks will change.
“There’s still a lot of swelling. It’s a long surgery. I had over seven hours of surgery.
“That swelling just doesn’t dissipate in seven weeks. You need to be mindful if you’re making that decision.”
She added in the video caption that she’s “still in the healing phase”, writing: “The results so far make me incredibly happy, but patience is key.
“It takes months for swelling to settle and the final transformation to appear.
“Healing is a process, not a moment, and trusting that process is everything.”
The deep place facelift hit headlines once again earlier this year when Kris, 70, opened up about her decision to have a “refresh” of her former surgery in an interview with Vogue Arabia.
“I decided to do this facelift because I want to be the best version of myself, and that makes me happy,” she told the publication.
A rep for Kris has previously told Page Six: “We can confirm that Dr. Steven Levine did Kris Jenner’s recent work.”
Comedian Katherine Ryan, wanting to follow in Kris’ footsteps contacted the surgeon and revealed it now cost £130,000.