Mother-of-four, 32, transformed by £2,500 lunchtime surgery to banish her ‘saggy eyelids’
A mother-of-four who was left looking permanently exhausted by ‘saggy eyelids’ has revealed how £2,500 surgery to lift them transformed her face.
Sophie Watkins, 32, had long hated her ‘hooded eyes’, which she says run in the family but were made worse by years of sleepless nights with her children.
The marketing agency director from Bradford, West Yorkshire, finally decided to undergo an upper blepharoplasty – a 40-minute operation to remove excess skin, fat and muscle from the eyelids.
The mother-of-four was wide awake throughout the procedure, in which surgeons sliced into the natural crease of her eyelids and trimmed away 1.7cm of sagging skin before stitching them neatly back together.
She was on the train home the very same afternoon.
Ms Watkins said: ‘I’ve wanted it done for ages but thought I’d wait until I was a little bit older. I’ve always had hooded eyes, it runs in my family.
‘They were saggy. There was loads of excess skin. [Being a mum of four] there’s lots of sleepless nights, which does make you more tired.
‘I always found the more tired that I was, the hooding of my eyes became more visible.
Mother-of-four Sophie Watkins, who was left looking permanently exhausted by ‘saggy eyelids’, has revealed how £2,500 surgery to lift them transformed her face
Ms Watkins, 32, had long hated her ‘hooded eyes’, which she says run in the family but were made worse by years of sleepless nights with her children.
‘Beauty treatment change the fact you have hooded eyes. I knew surgery would make a huge difference to my face and make me look younger and refreshed.’
Ms Watkins paid £2,500 for the surgery, which involved a surgeon cutting into the creases of her eyelids to trim sagging skin and remove excess fat.
The pain-free procedure took just 40 minutes. She said: ‘I was back on the train later that day. You could get it done on your lunch break.
‘The results are instant. I didn’t really bruise at all. A week after the procedure, I removed the tapes and you wouldn’t really know I’d had it done.
‘It’s just a tiny line on my eyelid which is on the crease of my lid.
‘It’s made me look a lot fresher and less tired. It’s given me more confidence and made me look so rejuvenated. It’s made my face look younger.
‘I want to maintain a more youthful look. I’m not trying to look 10 years younger, I’m happy I’m in my 30s, I have four kids so I’m always going to look more tired.
‘This is just a little thing that’ll make me feel more confident and give me a more youthful appearance.
Ms Watkins said: ‘I’ve wanted it done for ages but thought I’d wait until I was a little bit older. I’ve always had hooded eyes, it runs in my family’
The pain-free procedure took just 40 minutes. She said: ‘I was back on the train later that day. You could get it done on your lunch break’
Ms Watkins said: ‘The results are instant. I didn’t really bruise at all. A week after the procedure, I removed the tapes and you wouldn’t really know I’d had it done’
‘Life’s too short if something brings you down and you can spend a bit of money to change it and it gives you a confidence boost, then go for it.’
Blepharoplasty is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures worldwide.
Figures from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery show more than 1.2 million eyelid operations are performed every year, with around 115,000 carried out in the United States alone.
In the UK, the latest British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) audit shows it is the third most common procedure overall, with 3,138 performed in 2023–24, up 13 per cent on the year before.
Women make up the vast majority of cosmetic patients, but blepharoplasty is also the second most popular operation among men, behind only nose jobs.
Surgeons say the true numbers are far higher because many Britons travel abroad for cut-price surgery.
During the operation, a fine incision is made along the natural crease of the eyelid.
Surgeons remove or reposition fat, skin and sometimes muscle before stitching the eyelid back together with delicate dissolvable sutures.
Facial plastic surgeon @drspiegel told his 37,000 followers on TikTok that Taylor Swift now has more visible eyelids which he believes is due to surgery
Fans and cosmetic surgery bloggers, including London-based aesthetic doctor Dr Jonny Betteridge, have speculated that pop star Taylor Swift has undergone a discreet eyelid lift
Because the scar lies in the fold of the lid, it is virtually invisible once healed. Some clinics now offer laser versions of the procedure which reduce bleeding and shorten surgery time.
Actress Amanda Bynes recently confirmed she underwent an upper blepharoplasty, calling it ‘one of the best things I could’ve ever done for my self-confidence.’
Pop megastar Taylor Swift has never addressed the subject, but fans and cosmetic surgery bloggers have repeatedly speculated that her more open-looking eyes may be the result of a discreet eyelid lift.
Others frequently rumoured to have had the procedure include Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lawrence, Paris Hilton and Catherine Zeta-Jones, although none have confirmed it publicly.
Other options include lower blepharoplasty to remove bags under the eyes, ptosis repair to correct a drooping lid, and canthoplasty to tighten the corners of the eyes.
Double eyelid surgery, which creates or enhances a crease, is particularly common in East Asia.
Non-surgical alternatives such as Botox brow lifts, filler injections or radiofrequency skin tightening are available but results are temporary compared with surgery.
For Ms Watkins, the result has been ‘life-changing’.
