Mum and daughter fly to South Korea to get matching facelifts on ‘final household journey’

A mum and daughter have taken family bonding to a whole new level by flying to South Korea to get matching facelifts. Pia Marshall, 40, and her mum Marion, 69 said they had the “ultimate mother-daughter trip” when they decided to have twin surgeries.

The Aussies, who live on the Sunshine Coast, recovered side by side in matching compression bandages, documenting the swelling, bruising and vomiting on Instagram.

Pia, who works in marketing and content creation, decided to go under the knife after noticing her face was sagging. She said: “Forty felt like the right time because it looked like my face had quietly deflated. I wanted to look less tired and like I had eight hours sleep every night.”

The content creator and her mum scoured through Facebook face lift groups to find the right surgeon. They eventually chose Dr Youngjin Lee at Elite Plastic Surgery in South Korea to perform the procedures.

The mum and daughter were each quoted £18,900 (AU$36,000) for their surgery package with their operations taking place one day apart.

Marion went under the knife first, undergoing a deep-plane facelift, neck lift, lower blepharoplasty, endoscopic brow lift, and philtrum reduction. Her surgery lasted for four hours with everything going smoothly.

Pia joked that her mum looked as though she had “gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson”, despite insisting she felt “absolutely fantastic”. Pia underwent a deep-plane face and neck lift, revision brow lift, lower blepharoplasty, and philtrum reduction.

She wanted to reduce the hooding around her eyes which was hiding the winged eyeliner she has worn for more than 20 years. The content creator had the three-hour operation the following day after her mum but found the recovery process tough.

Pia’s swelling increased after her drainage tubes were removed, temporarily leaving her looking like “an alien from Avatar”. She said: “After nine days of compression garments, bruising, swelling, ice packs, and questioning my new face, I was finally starting to look like myself. It felt like a turning point.”

She added: “I’ve shared everything, the good, the bad, and the swollen, with no make-up, editing, or gatekeeping.” The pair were able to explore Seoul before flying home. Pia is pleased with her natural-looking face lift.

She said: “Cosmetic surgery is often kept secret, but I don’t believe people should lie about having help. Would I recommend a mother-and-daughter facelift holiday? Ten out of ten, although I’d suggest packing a little dignity.”