Whenever Matt Gaetz opens his mouth, you can expect headlines to follow. But ever since the Florida congressman took the stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, no one has been talking about what he said. All anyone can focus on is how, um, different he looked. If Helen of Troy’s face launched a thousand ships, Gaetz’s is the mug that launched a thousand memes.
His taut, shiny, extremely angular-browed new look has been compared to everything from the Real Housewives to Eddie Munster to the vampires on Buffy. Look, we’re not in the business of shaming anyone for their appearance, but there is clearly something going on here, so we called up an expert, board-certified dermatologist Corey L. Hartman, M.D., to get his opinion.
Dr. Hartman, who has not worked with Gaetz, chalks it up, mostly, to an “overly heavy hand and poor placement” of neuromodulators like Botox. “It’s too heavy in the forehead and not lateral enough to prevent Spock Eye,” which is why Gaetz’s brows have that sharp, pointed angle like, well, Spock’s. “Plus, the glabellar injections [the vertical lines between the eyebrows] use an older technique that pushes the brow down and makes him look more menacing than usual,” he hypothesizes. “He also has lid ptosis bilaterally,” which means that the neuromodulator placement has caused his eyelids to droop.
The overuse of neuromodulators in the forehead also leads to “that embossed, too-slick look that is a dead giveaway,” notes Dr. Hartman, who clocks possible filler in Gaetz’s cheeks that “isn’t so bad, but you can’t get past the terrible toxin.” Overall, his skin looks tighter, which could be from laser resurfacing or a chemical peel.
The bottom line, says Dr. Hartman, is that whoever injected Gaetz didn’t factor in a man’s different facial anatomy and just increased the amount of neuromodulators used to account for the larger treatment area—and then injected it poorly. “This is easy to do. Nuance is harder. It takes more skill to make it look like nothing was done,” he says.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (and again and again): There is nothing wrong with getting neuromodulators like Botox or dermal fillers. We are personally huge fans of both, and we don’t fault Gaetz for using them. However, he has quickly become the poster boy for one of the cardinal rules of facial aesthetics: You have to pick the right provider, especially if you are a man.
How good your results are depends on one thing—that your provider knows what they’re doing. Read reviews, look at before-and-after photos, and do your research to make sure that person has ample experience working on men. Dr. Hartman says the best way to find someone is by word of mouth, because even before-and-after photos can be altered these days. And please, don’t get your Botox at the Republican National Convention.
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