Beauty expert Joan Kron, 96, who has undergone THREE facelifts calls out at celebrities for lying about cosmetic surgery

Joan Kron, 96, began working as a contributing editor at large for beauty magazine Allure in 1991 when she was 63 - and she had her first facelift the same year, pioneering a new plastic surgery beat. 

She not only covered cosmetic procedures - she quite literally wrote the book on them: LIFT: Wanting, Fearing And Having a Facelift. 

Joan was behind the plastic surgery-focused documentary, Take My Nose … Please!, and is now working on a second doc about Botox, which she's an expert on. 

The nonagenarian recently opened up to Allure about her three facelifts, and then spoke to FEMAIL over the phone from her home in Miami about all things cosmetic, from Botox to rhinoplasty. 

Joan Kron, 96, began working as a contributing editor at large for beauty magazine Allure in 1991 when she was 63 (shown above in 2017) 

The journalist she had her first facelift the same year she started working at Allure and pioneered a new plastic surgery beat

Joan, who wrote for The Wall Street Journal and started the home section for The New York Times, was married to a general surgeon for 21 years while living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and developed a great deal of respect for talented doctors.

While Joan might be a proponent of plastic surgery now, she was originally against getting a facelift, until she investigated the procedure for an Allure Magazine article. 

She was hired to report on the psychology of beauty and 'fell into the story' after a 35-year-old was assigned an investigation into 'shopping for a facelift.' 

After she had her first facelift, she called famed Allure editor Linda Wells and said, 'Linda, you've got to give me this beat.' 

Joan told Linda, 'This is a fantastic topic. I don't think it's ever been covered properly. I think it's all kind of sensational. And I think until you've had it, you can't possibly appreciate it. I feel that now I've had it I can see psychologically what it does for you.' 

However, the beauty guru didn't feel that way before diving into the world of plastic surgery - in fact, because she was 'not familiar' with facelifts before investigating, she thought the experience seemed 'violent and dangerous.'  

Plus, Joan said that when she was young, like most people she thought, 'My face is never going to age,' and joked, 'Of course, when you're in your 20s you think you're gonna look like that forever.' 

After she had her first facelift, she called famed Allure editor Linda Wells and said, 'Linda, you've got to give me this beat' (above, Joan circa 1963) 

The former Philadelphian is also a pop art expert who was friends with Andy Warhol and is working on a memoir about her experiences 

Former Allure editor Linda Wells, Joan (center) and former Travel + Leisure editor Nancy Novogrod at Joan's 90th birthday and Take My Nose...Please! documentary release in 2018

When the pop art expert first picked up her plastic surgery beat, she was one of the only people covering cosmetic procedures and folks were incredibly tight-lipped.

While they'd happily spill their secrets to the journo, they didn't want their names in print. 

'Oh, people love to talk about it, but they didn't want to mention their name,' Joan spilled. 'If they were having surgery, then it was always a big secret.' 

Even when she penned the story about shopping for a facelift doctor, her agent told her not to sign her name, so her byline was anonymous. The magazine wanted pictures, so an artist came to her house to do sketches that didn't quite look like the author. 

After the story came out, people became fascinated by the hot topic. When she'd go to events, people were pulling up chairs to discuss their thoughts on surgeries.  

'They told me stories, they told me their problems. They told me if they had consultations, if they had surgery, if they wanted to have surgery - everybody confided in me and they trusted me to honor their confidences.' 

By experiencing the procedure and covering it, the experience encouraged her to be open about her facelift - she would tell people exactly what she had done when they told her how great she looked, and walked them through the pros and cons of various procedures. 

'My whole attitude towards plastic surgery is compassion,' Joan said. 'I have compassion for people, because it's secretive.'

Since people remain tight-lipped about her procedures, Joan thinks it's difficult to find out information, admitting, 'If they seem to be telling the truth, they're telling 50 per cent.' 

'Oh, people love to talk about it, but they didn't want to mention their name,' Joan spilled. 'If they were having surgery, then it was always a big secret'

Joan is pictured above in 2019 in her signature sunglasses in New York City, snapped by Patrick McMullan 

'The Martha Stewarts of the world have an obligation to be more honest,' Joan proclaimed 

Joan thinks that because of the secrecy, there's even more speculation. 

The beauty guru brought up Martha Stewart and said, 'Lately, she started looking very different - in the beginning kind of actually unrecognizable, and then more like herself.'

'The Martha Stewarts of the world have an obligation to be more honest,' Joan proclaimed.  

Joan said the stealth nature was 'just a replay of things that happened 10 or 15 years earlier,' when doctors would watch their clients on Johnny Carson or Jay Leno. 

She recounted how the host would compliment them and they'd say, 'I've changed my diet' or 'Oh, I've got this fantastic exercise trainer.' 

The doctors behind the true transformations often told Joan it was disheartening hearing their patients credit their improved looks to their diet instead of their abilities. 

Now, many celebrities are open about slight tweakments, like Botox, peels, or fillers, but still won't talk facelifts. 

'Botox is the go-to answer for everything,' Joan agreed. 'Botox only relaxes a wrinkle, it can't cure a face full of wrinkles. 

'They'll use anything not to say that it's a facelift.' 

The Miami resident is currently working on a documentary about Botox, and said that most people 'don't know what it is' and 'blame Botox' for how celebrities change their appearance. 

The Miami resident is currently working on a documentary about Botox, and said that most people 'don't know what it is' and 'blame Botox' for how celebrities change their appearance

Joan, pictured above with the late interior designer Mario Buatta, celebrated her 80th birthday with a bash in New York City, where she lived for many years 

During her first facelift, she didn't want a brow lift, which at the time would leave a full scar across her hairline like a headband - but during the second, she embraced the procedure

Joan has seen how the technology behind cosmetic procedures has changed over her time covering the topic - and firsthand. 

During her first facelift, she didn't want a brow lift, which at the time would leave a full scar across her hairline like a headband. Many times, the hair wouldn't grow back in that area. 

Five years after her first facelift, she was having sinus problems and asked her surgeon if she could have him operate at the same time on a bump in her nose. 

Joan's surgeon told her 'when you get to a certain age or the tip of your nose starts dropping down, and it looks like you have a bump,' and she compared the look to that of a witch. 

'I had a relative amount of fame and I ended up in the society column in profile. Bill Cunningham took my picture and I just took a pen and went across my nose and sent that picture to my surgeon,' she divulged. 

At the same time, she decided to do a brow lift since the technology had changed and there were little incisions in the hairline. While they were at it, they cut the muscle that leads to the 'elevens,' or the indentations between the brows, which is a more permanent fix than Botox. 

'I probably signed a release [because he] said as long as I'm in there, I'm just gonna give a yank to your cheeks,' Joan quipped. 

'The nose made such a difference,' the journalist raved. 

She told the doctor, 'I don't want to pug nose, I don't want it too cute, I just want to have just the nose I had 10 years ago.' 

'The tiniest little refinements in a nose can make a huge difference,' Joan said, citing Marilyn Monroe's transformation. 

'She had a little refinements, nothing anybody would notice - but she just looks so much prettier, right?'

'The tiniest little refinements in a nose can make a huge difference,' Joan said, citing Marilyn Monroe

Joan talked to More magazine 20 years ago about having a facelift and her book Lift 

'If I had known how easy it was, I would have had it done sooner,' Joan said about her facelift. 'That's what said to me more often than "Oh, my God, it was a terrible experience"' 

What she didn't know about the recovery was that she was going to 'feel like a brick dropped on my head.'

Joan clarified that there were different ways to do facelifts, and some were a bit more 'ghastly.' 

'They're taking your face apart like a pie crust - they're disconnecting the skin, from earlobe to earlobe across your forehead. It's like a piece of dough that you're laying on top of an apple pie,' she detailed.

But with the procedure, Joan said there was more discomfort than pain. 

'You have to sleep sitting up in the beginning, you have to watch the salt in your diet, your face is swollen, different colors and bruising,' Joan warned. 

She explained that your face would be extremely sensitive. 

It hurts if someone pinches your cheeks, and your ears are constantly cold.

Despite the difficulties, Joan's attitude is 'I'm gonna look great, who cares?' because 'you have to suffer for beauty.'

'If I had known how easy it was, I would have had it done sooner,' she said, which was a popular sentiment among people she had spoken to.

'That's what said to me more often than "Oh, my God, it was a terrible experience."'