Former First Lady and ex-model Melania Trump is no stranger to speculation about her appearance, and Election Day was no exception.
When Mrs Trump appeared with her husband at a polling station near Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, wearing oversized sunglasses indoors, internet onlookers renewed a conspiracy theory that the person was not actually Melania but a body double.
Plastic surgeons speaking with DailyMail.com set the record straight: Of course it was Melania – but they added people weren’t wrong for thinking something was different about her.
Dr Dennis Schimpf, a cosmetic plastic surgeon based in South Carolina, said Mrs Trump has ‘probably had additional filler work done anticipating’ her husband’s win and the ensuing media extravaganza.
But according to Dr Thomas Barnes, a plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, California, ‘She just looked plain tired’ – likely from supporting her husband through a grueling election campaign.
Mrs Trump has vehemently denied ever going under the knife despite widespread speculation to the contrary.
Board-certified plastic surgeons have previously posited that she has likely undergone fillers in her cheeks, Botox in several spots, a nose job, and a face-lift.
Melania Trump’s appearance on Tuesday has sparked insane theories that she was swapped with a body double for the cameras
At the polling place with her husband, Melania Trump opted to keep her sunglasses on, which one plastic surgeon posited could be due to some swelling from injectable filler
The future First Lady has kept a relatively low profile view for much of the campaign season, making a rare campaign appearance at the President-Elect’s rally of supporters at Madison Square Garden last week.
She shocked the Manhattan crowd when her name boomed around the arena, and she mounted the dais, later telling Fox & Friends: ‘I love New York City… I wanted to support my husband. So I was there for him and for everybody else.’
Draped in Dior, she smiled politely next to her husband on Tuesday and kept her sunglasses on despite being inside.
This set off a torrent of theories that the person who voted with Trump on Tuesday was not Melania.
But Dr Barnes said that her slimmer-looking jaw and less-than-voluminous cheeks are ‘consistent with what she’s been through for the last whirlwind several weeks and months.
‘She’s probably not been sleeping, she’s probably a little bit dehydrated in the face, perhaps she’s lost a little weight.’
It is possible, doctors said, that Mrs Trump had filler injected into her cheeks in order to pull up her lower face and smooth the lines running from her nose to the corners of her mouth
As for the sunglasses, Dr Barnes guessed that a simple makeup mishap, where some mascara or powder got in her eye, left her with red, dry eyes, ‘which is not going to look good on a model-looking person.’
The quick remedy, he said, is to wear sunglasses, adding that he doubted she would have undergone surgery or anything more invasive than injectable filler during a time when the media is trained so closely on her.
Dr Schimpf offered another explanation for the unusual decision to keep her sunglasses on indoors.
He said: ‘She could have had some undereye and cheek filler. That often causes bruising, so it makes sense that she would be wearing sunglasses.’
Mrs Trump, pictured at her husband’s rally at Madison Square Garden last week, had noticeably fuller cheeks and deeper nasolabial folds compared to her appearance on Tuesday
To further burst many bubbles, Mrs Trump removed her glasses for a small press gaggle after she and the now-future President cast their ballots.
Dr Schmipf added that the lines between the sides of her nose and the corners of her mouth appeared much shallower than usual, suggesting fillers in her cheek to lift and support the skin around the mouth area and smooth out the wrinkles there.
Her jaw on Election Day is also noticeably narrower than it appeared last week. A wide array of treatment offerings could have achieved this.
Dr Brian Reagan, a board-certified plastic surgeon at CosmetiCare in Newport Beach, California, told DailyMail.com that between her appearance in New York and at the polling place, her chin and jawline ‘appeared narrower than Melania’s typical structure.’
He believes the most likely jaw-slimming technique was Morpheus 8, a non-surgical treatment that uses radiofrequency energy and microneedling to tighten the skin around the jawline and stimulate collagen production.
Mrs Trump also has access to the most cutting-edge skincare products and youth-preserving facials, the most qualified dermatologists, and infinite resources to follow a healthy diet and maintain a rigorous exercise regimen, all of which can help stave off visible aging.
The Trump campaign has not returned DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk