The holidays are prime time for ice skating, sipping peppermint lattes, and going to see The Nutcracker—and for getting nips, tucks, and injectables, too. Gifting plastic surgery for Christmas or Hanukkah is a thing, and apparently a big one.
“Probably at least a third of any plastic surgery happens in the last quarter of the year,” says Daniel C. Mills, a plastic surgeon and the president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. “Part of it is that many people have the time off from work already. And they’re also more likely to go at this time to get a little pick-me-up for all the holiday cheer—photos, parties, etc.”
The American Academy of Facial and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) reports exactly that kind of holiday boom: Cosmetic treatments and surgeries increase by about 25 percent from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, and facial-rejuvenation treatments end up as stocking stuffers.
Facial plastic surgeon and former AAFPRS president Edwin Williams says the demand for gift cards at his New York practice grows 10 to 15 percent each year, with nonsurgical procedures, like Botox, being especially popular, increasing 30 to 35 percent in the months of November and December.
