Hailee Steinfeld, Before and After

Hailee was only 13 when she first started walking the red carpet. You’ll recognize her signature full brows and chestnut brown hair. But what’s different? Her lips, teeth, nose and possibly even her eyes (!!). 

Our next shot was taken only a few days after her 14th birthday. (And the film she was promoting, True Grit, would soon earn her an Academy Award nomination.) I’m sure you’ll agree with me that a few of her features don’t look like this anymore. The main obvious thing is her smile—her lips were naturally thinner, and she had a gap between her front teeth. 

Here, she was already way more polished than your average 14-year-old. Case in point: the subtle but sophisticated makeup, and her tone-on-tone warm highlights. But you can see from these pics that her nose was wider and more prominent, compared to her eyes and lips (even though it wasn’t “big” by any means!). 

Unlike most teens in the pre-Cara Delevingne era, Hailee left her brows alone instead of tweezing them into oblivion—smart girl! Notice how they were naturally low, and how her lids were quite heavy, because I believe something changed in that respect later on. It’s also evident that when she smiles, much of her top lip disappears.

Yes, even Hailee had an awkward phase like most of us did, and hers was around the age of 15. During this time, her earlier highlights had grown out, she still had her baby fat, and her lips and teeth remained au naturel. 

Her devotion to bold, sparkly shadow began the following year, when she was 16. I have my suspicions that her eyes were less “open” here compared to now, although with such heavy makeup, it’s hard to say for sure. This was before the trend of over-lined lips, so we can easily see her natural lip shape.

Then, she got these long, brow-skimming bangs about a month before her 17th birthday. Worn straight, they give her such a completely different look—I love it! The makeup is also unusually good considering her age and level of fame at the time. She was so cute before she got into the more aggressively sexy looks that she’s been sporting as of late.

Here’s another one where her eyes look narrower than they do now, and I don’t think it’s just from the dark eyeliner she’s wearing. During these years, she was also dealing with the typical teenage skin challenges, which we can see on her forehead.

In 2015, Hailee stepped out with more sophisticated styling, such as these smoky eyes with sleek hair. I don’t know if that’s why it seems like we can see more of her eyes from this point forward, or if she made use of a longer-lasting procedure. She was still struggling with acne here.

Now this is the type of creative makeup that I’ve come to identify with (and love on) Hailee. And see what I mean about her eyes? More of her pupils are visible, and she has a lot more lid space now, versus 2010. Normally, I wouldn’t suspect 18-year-olds of undergoing such drastic procedures, but consider that her lips are suddenly equal in plumpness, too (which can be achieved with Restylane).

By 2016, her style reflected her newfound fame (including a soon-to-be-announced Golden Globe nomination). She was 19 here, so less baby fat could account for her slimmer face. But I think her nose was altered by this point, and she may have had some conservative lip fillers. Her top lip has a “keyhole pout,” which is a telltale sign of injections.

Is it just me or does Hailee look really different here? She has a mixed heritage (Filipino, African-American, British, German and Jewish), so that might explain why her features seem to change, depending on the makeup and the angles (something Olivia Munn has talked about experiencing as well). Her nose, lips and eyes look different now, and her skin is also getting a lot clearer.

And just like that, she morphed into a baby J.Lo! They now share a makeup artist (Mary Phillips), so that explains the over-lined lip gloss and facial sculpting. But even the best highlighting and contouring job can't account for the new, more defined shape of her nose. The same goes for her lips, which seem inflated and even a little lumpy underneath the goopy gloss.

Alyssa Milano, is that you? That’s who Hailee reminds me of here! I think it’s the curly updo, the ‘90s-inspired styling... and the way her features have been painted and/or altered. For example, while her nose had a wider, flatter shape when she was a tween, now it is narrower, with a much more prominent bridge and tip. 

In 2019, she stepped away from the Kardashian-esque makeup, at least for one event. The classic red lipstick and pink blush are a welcome change from the bronzey, contoured looks she was favouring. Honestly? If I only saw this photo, I’d never dream that she’d undergone any cosmetic procedures!

In her most recent red carpet photo, Hailee looks more polished than ever. Doesn’t she just glow? After years of not smiling on the red carpet, we finally get to see her teeth, and she no longer has the same gap-toothed grin she did at age 14. It’s also evident that she’s been having fillers in her upper lip, because it doesn’t disappear anymore when she smiles.

Not long after that, she showed off an even plumper pout on Instagram. It’s obvious from the darker ring around her lips that she used lip liner to make her mouth seem bigger. However, the fact that her upper lip is now significantly fuller than the lower one definitely suggests she had injections. It’s funny, she’s only 23 here, but the unnatural lips really age her. 

Fast-forward to 2021, and Hailee is apparently still getting her lips enhanced—or at least the upper one, as indicated by its bigger size and unrealistic projection. It looks so top heavy! She also continues to do the lip liner thing, but at least here it’s in the same rose tone as her lipstick instead of a darker ring.

This is one Before & After where you really need to see the “before” beside the “after” to believe it. Hailee just isn’t on the radar when you think about celebrities who’ve had work done.

That’s why I haven’t found any cosmetic surgeons talking about this (yet), unlike more obvious cases such as Ashley Tisdale, Khloé Kardashian and Iggy Azalea.

Still, there’s not much doubt in my mind that. like most celebs, she underwent a rhinoplasty to make her nose narrower, with a more prominent bridge and chiseled tip. Contour and highlighter can only do so much!

The same goes for lip liner. As we know from Kylie Jenner, makeup doesn’t mean your upper lip can double in size, even when it’s being stretched by smiling. It has to be filler.

What else? I believe she had a little cosmetic dentistry done, using Invisalign and maybe porcelain veneers to close the gap between her two front teeth. (Notice how they’re whiter than the others.) Most likely, she also worked with a dermatologist to clear her skin using medication and/or lasers.

The one thing I’m not sure about, but suspect, is a blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) to make her eyes appear more open. If you study her younger pics, it seems like some excess skin was removed from her upper eyelids, and possibly combined with Botox to lift the brows.

Bad lip fillers aside, it’s good work. But it’s a lot of work, especially for someone her age. I can’t help but notice how these procedures are quickly becoming a rite of passage for young celebrities—and are not being done to address the changes that happen with aging, which was the original intent!