The Facelift Diaries: what it's REALLY like to have a facelift (Paperback)

~ Jill Scharff (Author), Jaedene Levy (Contributor) "WE'RE HAVING A FACELIFT, AND WRITING ABOUT IT FOR YOU, whoever you are, wherever you are in your thinking about YOUR face..." (more)
Key Phrases: face surgery, corn pudding, New York, Auntie Dorrie, Father's Day (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Full of psychological insight into the motivations and aftermath of an event both consider transforming -- (The Washington Post, January 11, 2005)

I found your excerpts really, really interesting. I suggest any woman thinking of having work done read them -- (Linda Vester, Dayside, Fox News, January 19, 2005)

Two psychotherapists get real from beginning to end -- (Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, ABC, March 14, 2005)

Product Description

Short description: In The Facelift Diaries, clinician friends Jill Scharff and Jaedene Levy offer forthright, professional advice and intimate personal experience, revealing what it's really like to have a facelift. This guide explores all the angles with personal diaries chronicling the authors' own facelifts. In entries ranging from "Sunshine and reflection" to "Screw this!" and "Still a weirdo," the two friends give a faithful account of their post-op highs and lows. 500,000 Americans have facial cosmetic surgery every year, and each week, countless makeover shows glamorize such surgeries. Scharff and Levy's personal and professional approach to all aspects of cosmetic surgery - emotional and physical - demystifies the experience and offers tips and truths on everything from selecting a surgeon to facing family and friends. Honest and insightful, informative and conversational, The Facelift Diaries is a must-read for everyone who is wondering "Should I or shouldn't I?"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (September 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594576173
• ISBN-13: 978-1594576171
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,048,705 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put this book down, December 7, 2004

By	N. Prendergast (Chevy Chase, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I sat up that first night and read half way through. I loved the idea and the execution is terrific. It's good to hear both voices, Jill's and Jaedene's, and to know of the differing experiences. And they made me laugh as if we were friends talking together.
Bravo to Jill and Jaedene for being so honest and for sharing their facelift experiences with us. This would be a great book to give to anyone who is even thinking of having facial surgery, a very practical guide to the bumps along the way.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just Skin Deep, January 12, 2005

By	R. Kaplan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This slim book offers much more than it's title suggests. The two writers who have two distinct voices offer any reader who has ever thought about having a facelift an unvarnished vivid account of their experiences of having facelifts at the same time. They are close friends who also happen to be well respected psychotherapist. They questioned their own motives,in light of their dedication to helping patients get to know their inner lives. Ultimately, their reasons for having cosmetic surgery are not unusual.

What is unique is their honesty. This book is very different than the glossy and so seductive adds that I admit to having read on more than one occasion. They offer a closeup of the gory aftermath and recovery, including the their very different recovery times and the impact of that on their feelings about each other.
While the book is lively as well as practical some information was difficult to think about. Most poignant for me was the long 14 month period of Jill Scarff's recovery. She had to face the reactions of her own children, peers who didn't recognize her, not least that she didn't look like the self she recognized when she looked at herself in the mirror.

The the book is direct, accessible and they write with wit and humor. They also offer a lot of tips which are well organized for the reader who is about to have a face lift aand for their loved ones.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important to read if you are considering a facelift!, February 10, 2005

By	looking younger in michigan (ann arbor, michigan) - See all my reviews

I am happily recovering from my own facelift which I had a month ago but only discovered this book a week ago...... I read it with great interest, comparing my own experiences with those of the authors, and I found it very honest, insightful, humorous, informative and touching. I especially appreciated their individual philosophies with respect to aging, self image and the importance of recognizing and understanding the variety of responses of family, friends and the world at large. I have given a copy of this book to my own surgeon because I think it would be very valuable to anyone considering a facelift or about to undergo one.....there is much information that I would have loved to have had before I started!