Side-By-Side Pics Showcase Sarah Palin's Face Transformation Since Leaving Office
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Sometimes it takes putting two things side by side to see the similarities or differences between them. When we put pics of Sarah Palin from 2010, the year after she left Alaska's governor's office, next to one from 2025, it's easier to analyze the 15-year transformation. Not only has Sarah Palin had a remarkable style transformation since leaving office in 2009, but her face has, too.
Looking back at pics of Palin at an event in Haiti at the end of 2010, the 46-year-old looked fresh-faced with minimal wrinkles. There was even media speculation at that point that she may have begun doing cosmetic work, as she appeared to look a decade younger than her age. Fast-forward to more recent times when the Republican pundit was photographed at an event with disgraced Fox News host Bill O'Reilly in March 2025. At age 61, Palin had changed, but not in the ways that you'd expect of someone who hadn't had any work done. In the after photo, Palin's cheeks look fuller, which is usually the opposite of what happens naturally, i.e. fat loss that leads to a concave appearance in the mid-face.
Plastic surgeons have also speculated that she's had blepharoplasty, the trendy micro-procedure that's aimed at the eyelids. "Botox to forehead, dermal fillers to cheeks, upper blepharoplasty, necklift, midface lift, laser resurfacing or skin treatments," plastic surgeon Dr. Raja Mohan speculated to our sister site The List in 2026. And X users have repeatedly questioned her lip filler use over the years, with one writing in 2016, "What happened to Sarah Palin's face, looks weird? Hardly recognizable, she went filler, botox & lip plump crazy."
Sarah Palin's hair and hometown may be two of her secrets to looking youthful
Back in 2008, Sarah Palin enlisted makeup artist Amy Strozzi. At the time, Strozzi said in an interview, "The Governor's skin is the most beautiful skin I have ever worked with. Of course, makeup always helps to create an even canvas, but the condition of her skin was flawless. I attribute it to the clean Alaskan air, lots of fresh fish and protein, and a good fitness regime" (via HuffPost). Strozzi may have been on to something; a 2015 study in Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine has shown that people who live in less sunny places tend to have less environmental damage to their skin. And this hockey mom from the cold climes of Alaska may be living proof. If nothing else, it may at least be a contributing factor to her enviable skin.
But there may be some other factors at play, like her bangs. You can't look at Palin's face transformation over the years without taking her entire look into account, including her fringe. Even though she has lightened her hair over the years, the bangs have remained relatively consistent, per side-by-side pics of Palin at the 2010 Time 100 Gala and in a 2021 Instagram post. As she shows, bangs are the haircut you should try next if you want to hide your wrinkles.