We’ve all had our celebrity obsessions at one point or another. Many at some point in our lives have probably looked at a beautiful or handsome celebrity and thought “Wow I wish I looked like them”. Most of us, however, don’t ever actually try and change our appearance to look more like those people, perhaps beyond diet and exercise. Serena Smith, also known as “Barbie Girl”, however, decided she would stop and nothing – and no dollar amount – in order to look like Marilyn Monroe, among other celebrities, whom she admired. Since 2018 she has spent $50,000 on plastic surgeries – and she claims she isn’t done yet.
Serena Smith is a 23-year-old reality star and musician from California. A quick look at her Instagram and you might think “it looks like this woman is made out of plastic”. At this point, that is honestly partially true. Smith began getting plastic surgery at just 18 years old when she took her breasts from an A-size cup to double Ds. Since then, she has spent $50,000 on surgeries to make her appear more and more like golden age Hollywood celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe. (1)
The list of surgeries that she has had will make you raise an eyebrow or two. Since that first breast augmentation, she has had rhinoplasty, a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), botox, and lip fillers. Her most recent surgery was the BBL, which is known to be one of the most dangerous plastic surgeries you can have done. A 2017 report by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery revealed that a whopping 3000 patients have died due to this procedure. Smith says she is well aware of the risks but was very confident in her surgeons. (2)
“My recommendation is to save your money and go to a highly skilled surgeon who performs safe surgery,” she said. “If you need two operations to get your desired results it’s much more worth it than losing your life with a cheap surgery and irresponsible doctor. There are way too many horror stories out there to take that risk.”
Plastic surgery is major surgery. The recovery times are long and can be incredibly painful. Often they require you to avoid certain activities for long periods of time, such as exercise or even lying down on your front or back. They also require specific things to be worn in order for the results to be what you want them to be. These are usually highly uncomfortable and need to be worn anywhere from several weeks to months. Smith described BBL recovery as feeling like she had been “hit by a truck”.
“The recovery for this procedure is very intense, definitely the hardest so far. You have to wear a compression garment 23 hours a day for two months and it can get pretty uncomfortable,” she explained. “The most painful part of the recovery was the initial first two weeks. I was sore all over covered in bruises and very swollen. I had drains in me collecting all the blood and fluids coming out of my body for almost two weeks which wasn’t a pretty sight, but in the end, it was all worth it.”
She also explained that after a BBL, you can’t put any pressure on your behind for two months. That meant she had to sleep on her stomach and could never sit down. She said that for those two months anytime she had to go somewhere, her friend would drive her and she would lie down in the trunk. This is not unique to Brazilian Butt Lifts – things such as breast augmentation are the same. With breast surgeries, you can’t lie on your front for a long period of time. It will also be many many months until you can do any kind of overhead lifting or pressing. Certain gym exercises, such as chest press, will forever be something you will have to be careful doing. (3)
Despite the number of months she has spent recovering from painful surgeries, Smith says that her most recent BBL won’t be her last time under the knife. She enjoys getting surgeries done and she says that they make her feel happier about herself and her appearance. In fact, she’s already planning her next one, which will be increasing her breast size yet again.
As one can imagine, Smith is regularly on the receiving end of a lot of hate online. People will comment nasty things to her and send her incredibly mean private messages. Despite that, she says that she doesn’t care. Her surgeries aren’t for others or to make other people happy, they are for herself. In fact, she pities those who waste their time and emotionally energy hating her for her decisions.
To the people that choose to judge me and spread negativity without knowing a single thing about me or the type of person I am, I feel bad for those people who want to bring others down,” she said. “I am not hurting anyone with my choices.”
At the end of the day, what anyone decides to do with their time, appearance, and money is up to them. If this is how she wishes to use all of that, it is her personal choice. After all, like she said, her getting plastic surgery isn’t affecting anyone else’s life but her own.