How Madonna's Face Has Transformed Over The Years, According To Our Plastic Surgeon

Many Hollywood stars dabble in plastic surgery, but Madonna's face change feels more like a transformation than a tweak. It's far from botched territory, but it's definitely not playing the "did she or didn't she?" game that many celebs favor. These modifications didn't happen overnight; Madonna has been inching toward this look for years, and her controversial 2023 Grammys appearance just happened to be the peak. Naturally, we're curious: What exactly did she do to her face, and was it all intentional?

Ironically, being bold enough to skip subtlety doesn't mean Madonna's eager to talk about it, and she's not one of the celebrities opening up about plastic surgery. Instead, she's made it clear that she's "absolutely against having to discuss it" (via the Mirror). So, while her face keeps changing, her silence stays the same, and we have a lot more questions than answers. To separate fact from filler, Glam spoke exclusively with Dr. Daniel Barrett of Barrett Plastic Surgery to walk us through Madonna's face transformation.

Early in her career, the singer-songwriter's features were softer, and her nose was slightly wider and less contoured. Today, that look is long gone, and according to Dr. Barrett, it's a telltale sign of surgery. "She may have undergone a rhinoplasty, as her nose appears more refined and sculpted in recent years compared to earlier in her career," he says. But it's not just her nose that's changed. "It also seems likely that she's had a face and neck lift, potentially more than one," Dr. Barrett explains. He also adds that the "Like a Prayer" singer possibly had a blepharoplasty, a trendy micro-procedure for augmenting eyelids. However, the most glaring sign that Madonna may have gone beyond subtle enhancement is her impossible-to-miss cheeks.

Although the change in nose shape and lack of wrinkles have certainly indicated plastic surgery, the largest difference over the years is in the volume of Madonna's face. More specifically, the Madonna of the 2020s has fuller cheeks than ever. "She also appears to have had significant facial filler over the years, which may be contributing to the more dramatic volume in her cheeks, which is often referred to as 'Pillow Face,'" says board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Barrett. He adds that some of the fullness could also be lingering swelling from previous procedures.

Madonna hasn't named it outright, but we can't help wondering if this dramatic shift is one of the tweaks she hinted she's no longer a fan of. "I don't regret any of it," she told Dazed Magazine in 2008, "but I do sometimes think: 'Oh God, what was I thinking...'" Of course, owning her decisions hasn't spared Madonna from backlash. Her dramatic changes have sparked conversations about whether women should be allowed to age naturally or feel free to transform their appearance without judgment.

On one hand, some view Madonna's exaggerated look as a bold rejection of a culture that constantly dictates women's appearances. On the other, critics argue that these tweaks give in to patriarchal beauty standards and set women back, especially since everyone seems to be dissolving their fillers lately. But despite the noise, the "Material Girl" hasn't flinched or offered any explanations. And maybe she doesn't need to. Back in 1985, she told Record Magazine, "I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a b***h, okay" (via The Washington Post). Nearly 40 years later, it still feels like her final word.