‘Mar-a-Lago face’: Why are Trump insiders chasing more fillers, Botox trend?

The flawless looks of Hollywood celebrities are a thing of the past. The “Mar-a-Lago face” is the new trend in the United States.

To impress President Donald Trump, his inner circle is chasing an unnatural beauty standard, with more obvious cosmetic work. Reports say there has been a surge in demand for plastic surgery in Washington, DC, since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Let’s take a closer look.

What is ‘Mar-a-Lago face’?

‘Mar-a-Lago face’, named after Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, is described as a plastic surgery and fashion trend that has become popular among American conservatives and Republicans.

It “refers to a recognisable combination of facial features and plastic surgery enhancements, often modelled after Ivanka Trump’s signature look”, plastic surgeon Matthew J Nykiel told HuffPost.

President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is reported to be the inspiration behind the viral look.

Plastic surgeon Dr Jeffrey Lisiecki said to HuffPost that the Mar-a-Lago look is marked by “overfilled cheeks that are high and firm, full lips and very taut, smooth skin.”

Other features include a strong jawline, well-defined eyebrows, an elevated hairline, and very white teeth, as per The Week. To achieve the look, people are undergoing a number of surgical procedures and injectables, including veneers, Botox, a facelift, eyelid surgery and so on.

California surgeon Nykiel estimated that the signature look costs about $90,000 (Rs 79.7 lakh), with its maintenance running $2,500 (Rs 2.2 lakh) a year.

Rise in demand for ‘Mar-a-Lago face’

The ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ has taken over Washington, DC. As per an Axios report, plastic surgeons across the US capital have seen a spike in patients seeking overt procedures.

Many Trump insiders are opting for Botox-filled lips, taut foreheads and plump, pointed cheeks.

However, such was not always the preferred look in Washington. According to plastic surgeon Troy Pittman, people in the US capital “want to look good, but don’t want it to be obvious they’ve had work done”.

This changed after Trump came to power in January. “[Now] we’re seeing people who want to look like they had something done,” he said.

Calling them the “Palm Beach crowd”, Pittman told Axios that his “Maga-verse clients” want more lip fillers and wrinkle treatments like Botox and Dysport.

Unlike the older politicians, these Maga patients are openly talking about their procedures and exchanging surgeon recommendations.

DC plastic surgeon Anita Kulkarni told Axios she has turned down new political clients asking for “a more done look, like that Mar-a-Lago face.” She said the requests did not align with her practice’s more understated vibe and that the demands of some of these clients would potentially be dangerous.

Getting extensive work done can lead to “filler blindness” in patients, she said, where “you lose sight of anatomic normalcy.”

Local plastic surgeon Navin Singh’s male politico patients usually lean towards Republicans rather than Democrats, with many hailing from plastic surgery-popular states like Texas.

Pittman said that men are seeking procedures to appear “younger” and “more virile and masculine”.

In Hollywood, there is a “growing trend” for stars to “dissolve their fillers for a more natural look” and an “increasing demand for less invasive, minimalist procedures”, but those opting for Mar-a-Lago face “are doing the opposite”, as per The Independent.

Who all have the ‘Mar-a-Lago face’?

Many members in the Trump administration are believed to have got the “Mar‑a‑Lago face”.

This “shift in the appearance” could be “down to a desire to please” a president who is believed to have “a preference for attractive subordinates”, according to the Daily Mail.

Last year, Kristi Noem was reported to have had her teeth straightened to land a top job in the Trump administration. In January, the US president appointed her as the Secretary of Homeland Security.

There are rumours she has further “work” done. Two plastic surgeons told Daily Mail her transformed appearance could be due to “subtle tweaks using Botox to banish wrinkles and filler to plump her cheeks and lips”.

In 2024, The Daily Beast reported on “the look-alike women in Donald Trump’s orbit,” which included First Lady Melania Trump and Margo Martin, his then-deputy chief of communications.

Is there a political message behind the look?

The “Mar-a-Lago” face is political because it is “a way of signalling to all women that your value depends on your attractiveness to men,” Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA, told AFP. 

“It’s a mistake to dismiss this as just about fashion, just about makeup,” Williams said. “It’s actually absolutely central because this Trump Maga movement was able to return to the White House… I believe, essentially because of leveraging the gender war.”

With inputs from agencies