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Dr. Steve Levine has been the baby-faced facelift king to the rich and famous for years. The sheer volume of industry types, celebrities, celebrity-adjacents, and well-connected New Yorkers rumored to be his patients is overwhelming, if not also somewhat alarming. If you haven’t already received one of his signature Submuscular Aponeurotic System procedures, you’ve probably unknowingly mingled with some of his faces recently; and if you haven’t, you’re sure to see at least one of his lifts at any of the hundred events happening tonight in New York or L.A. “If you’re talking about plastic surgery among a group of wealthy people with access, his is the name that comes up,” one person with intimate knowledge of this world told me. “I remember being at a dinner and talking about who did [famous fashion person’s] work, and this rich woman was like, ‘Levine! Levine!’”
Levine, who is only in his mid-40s but looks much younger (in a natural way), achieved the apex of fame in this literally cutthroat world earlier this year after Page Six confirmed that he was the architect of Kris Jenner’s second facelift. After Jenner’s surgical reveal, I was astounded by the amplification of the Levine discourse—past clients wanted to brag about their association, and prospective patients wanted an in. At a dinner recently, I sat next to someone who told me that two of their relatives had gotten facelifts from Levine, and earlier this week I talked to a handful of people who’ve either already gotten a facelift, know people who have, or have scheduled consultations with Levine—a coveted ticket that itself costs about $1,000.
Unsurprisingly, the price of his already six-figure facelifts has supposedly tripled since last year, at least according to the $300,000 figure quoted in The Cut’s “The Forever 35 Face” story last week. I heard that Levine’s been so inundated that some prospective patients can’t get a callback from his office, even if they know someone. Shortly after the Jenner news, I was deluged by texts and D.M.s from people asking if I personally knew Levine. Some were simply curious. Others, I presumed, wanted an introduction.
I was originally introduced to Levine seven or eight years ago, when he was primarily known for the mini boob job—a subtle enhancement procedure he popularized early in his career as the protégé of legendary plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Baker, whom Levine worked alongside until opening a Park Avenue practice of his own in 2019. Levine was always friendly and approachable, unusual traits for a plastic surgeon. In my experience—and I’ve interviewed many of the top surgeons over the years—they’re often arrogant, and possess questionable, if any, bedside manner. If you dare mention a peer, they’ll almost always tell you how they’re always “correcting” his work.
Levine’s signature SMAS procedure promises a fresh, youthful look without the tautness and expression of permanent surprise we associate with bad plastic surgery—but every face is different, and even Levine’s celebrated procedure isn’t right for everyone. And yet, setting aside some general critiques of the SMAS, Levine is one of very few plastic surgeons I’ve heard only good things about. At the same time, he’s kept a surprisingly low profile. While most surgeons post dramatic before and after photos, the famously private Levine hasn’t posted on Instagram since 2022.
Of course, Levine still has over 220,000 Instagram followers. But someone once told me that Levine saw no point in growing his footprint with followers who will never be able to pay for his services. Also, discretion matters in this business. “His patients choose him because he’s not on social media,” an insider said. “He doesn’t need hundreds of thousands of followers.” I’ve talked to many people about Levine, including his patients, and this was a key factor in their decision to trust him with the knife.
Dr. Feelgood
Few ever thought Jenner would go public about her facelift—or who performed it. But once other surgeons more or less started to take credit for her new new face (the first new face was arranged 15 years earlier, courtesy of Dr. Garth Fisher), Jenner decided to come forward and name Levine. A person close to the situation confirmed as much.
The endorsement from Jenner, who turns 70 in November but looks 20 years younger, was especially powerful. The lore that now surrounds Levine and his Upper East Side practice gets more ridiculous by the day. Someone I know paid about $100,000 for one of his facelifts about a year ago. (They’re thrilled with the result, by the way.) Another person told me that after they booked a consultation with Levine, in April, they subsequently received an email notifying them that $150,000 was the starting price for face and neck work. I hear others are now being quoted around $300,000, the figure reported in The Cut.
One person told me you needed a “secret code” to get an appointment; others said “direct referrals” were the only way to even get his office to call you back. Currently, his office plays a recorded message that he’s only accepting new patients with “direct referrals.” (Levine didn’t respond to requests for comment.)
Our collective obsession with facelifts, coupled with the mainstreaming of a procedure once reserved for the last third of one’s life, has been slowly percolating for a few years. People used to get the procedure in their 50s and 60s. Now they’re booking them in their 30s and early 40s: rumors about Lindsay Lohan and Anne Hathaway are rife in the “undetectable era.” The standard is now more expensive and exacting than ever—in addition to looking thin and ageless, it also has to appear like you didn’t get any work done. I guess I’ll have to start saving up.