[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Black Han Sans|700||on|||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”46px” header_letter_spacing=”4px” custom_margin=”25px||5px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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It’s been 15 years since the moment she broke the internet.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-25-at-10.45.38.png” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”Screenshot 2025-04-25 at 10.45.38″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n When Heidi Montag debuted her plastic surgery transformation on The Hills<\/em> in 2010, it was called everything from \u2018heartbreaking\u2019 to \u2018tragic\u2019 and \u2018obsessive\u2019. Viewers watched Montag, then 22, return to her hometown in Colorado to tell her disapproving mother Darlene Egelhoff about the 10 surgeries she had endured over one day.<\/p>\n \u2018I got a slight eyebrow lift and that\u2019s why I had these staples in my head,\u2019 she said. \u2018I had my nose redone. I had my own fat injected into my cheeks. I had my ears pinned back. I had injections in my lips. I had my chin shaved down. I had my breasts redone and my back shaped and then I had a little bit of inner and outer lipo[suction] done.\u2019 Visibly very upset, Egelhoff told her, \u2018You risked your life to do the things that you did. You had elective surgery that was completely unnecessary.\u2019 To which Montag replied, \u2018To you it was unnecessary.\u2019<\/p>\n The episode, which was watched by 2.7 million viewers in the US when it first aired, turned Montag into a tabloid punch bag. She was labelled \u2018addicted to plastic surgery\u2019, told her new look was \u2018career ending\u2019 and that it was evidence she was \u2018mentally ill\u2019. Fifteen years later, the clip of that episode has gone viral on TikTok, but the responses are very different indeed.<\/p>\n \u2018She looks amazing lol mom is jealous,\u2019 reads one comment. \u2018It looks so natural,\u2019 reads another. While a third wrote, \u2018She looks perfect, I\u2019m confused.\u2019 There is even a Reddit thread dedicated to the discussion. \u2018I just saw some pictures of Heidi Montag from back in the day and was surprised to see how \u201cnormal\u201d she looks for today\u2019s standards,\u2019 it reads. Some responded to say Montag was \u2018ahead of her time\u2019, while others noted \u2018what she had done is the minimum order to be on reality TV\u2019 today.<\/p>\n This is something that beauty critic and columnist Jessica DeFino calls \u2018aesthetic inflation\u2019: the gradual normalisation of cosmetic procedures that were once considered extreme. \u2018What was unique for Heidi 15 years ago is borderline \u201cboring\u201d today,\u2019 DeFino argues. \u2018People transform their faces all the time, whether with cosmetic work or Instagram filters or Face- Tune and the public is used to seeing this.\u2019<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n A seismic shift in beauty standards has taken place in the past 15 years \u2013 which DeFino says is fuelled by a number of factors, including the rapid development of new cosmetic technology \u2018and the democratisation of this technology. Once reserved for the very wealthy, now more people can access more expensive treatments with Buy Now, Pay Later programmes or by taking on cosmetic debt.\u2019<\/p>\n The ubiquitousness of social media has also blurred the line between celebrity and the average person \u2013 \u2018we all exist in the same space and are judged by the same standards\u2019, DeFino continues. Lydia Badia, a consultant surgeon in facial plastics at Rhinoplasty London, agrees that \u2018intensified self-scrutiny\u2019 has lead to an aesthetic shift. \u2018Many people now view cosmetic procedures as a common aspect of self-care. The idea of boosting self-confidence and therefore emotional wellbeing is seen as a positive. A change in appearance is now considered a way to \u201cshake things up\u201d and feel more motivated to start a new phase in life.\u2019<\/p>\n Knowing the measures she took to achieve her beauty ideals, for Montag\u2019s appearance to be considered \u2018natural\u2019 is a tough pill to swallow. Our moral stance on cosmetic surgery might have changed, but there is still truth in her mum\u2019s initial response. Speaking to Paper<\/em> magazine in 2018, Montag admitted she \u2018died for a minute\u2019 during surgery. \u2018I had to have 24-hour nurse care,\u2019 she explained. \u2018My security guards called Spencer and told him, \u201cHeidi\u2019s heart stopped. She\u2019s not going to make it.\u201d And I easily could\u2019ve. Cutting yourself up isn\u2019t something I\u2019d recommend.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Evidently, the dangers are not a deterrent. In the UK, 27,462 cosmetic surgical procedures were performed in 2024 \u2013 a 5% increase on 2023 \u2013 of which more than nine in 10 were on women. According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), much of the rise was driven by increases in facial \u2018rejuvenation\u2019 surgery, such as face and brow lifts. The association\u2019s president, Anthony MacQuillan, chalks the rise up to surgery becoming cheaper and easier to access, with patients saying there is also less stigma.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a flip side, says DeFino. \u2018Whereas Heidi faced a lot of criticism for going under the knife 15 years ago, the normalisation of this level of surgery has made it so women face more criticism today for not meeting the standard of beauty. The gulf between what is considered beautiful and what the average person naturally looks like is widening. Today\u2019s baseline standard of beauty relies so heavily on procedures, treatments and tweakments, it\u2019s now harder for women to opt out of spending their time, money and energy on this aesthetic labour.\u2019<\/p>\n So, where will aesthetic inflation take us next? \u2018Demands [for procedures] will always change depending on evolving cultural trends,\u2019 warns Badia. While some fear the rise of AI-created imagery will drive beauty standards into dangerous territory, Badia thinks AI advances will make people more aware of \u2018fake results\u2019. Could the pendulum swing back to celebrating \u2018real\u2019 untouched faces? Ask us in 15 years…<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Photos: <\/b>Getty<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A clip of Heidi Montag’s ‘new face’ from The Hills in 2010 has gone viral \u2013 and the response is entirely different…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8867"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9345,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8867\/revisions\/9345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘I just saw some pictures of Heidi Montag from back in the day and was surprised to see how \u201cnormal\u201d she looks’<\/h2>\n
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