‘I DIDN’T THINK OF MYSELF AS SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY’

Tess Stimson, 49, lives in London with her husband Erik, 50. She has three children, Henry, 24, Matt, 21, and Lily, 16.

A few months ago, I bumped into an old family friend in the street. ‘You’re starting to look so much like your mum!’ she exclaimed. I adored my mother before her untimely death at just 59, 20 years ago, so I took it as a compliment. But that night, I gave myself a long look in the mirror.

I was only 49, but already I could see the reflection of my mother’s face looking back at me. In particular, my eyelids were sagging so much over my eyes you could hardly see what colour they were, just as they used to do with my mum. I looked tired and worn out, which didn’t reflect how I felt.

The next week, I happened to be going on holiday to Florida to visit an American friend, Monique, who’s the same age as me. She looked so much fresher by comparison, and it wasn’t just the tan.

‘How do you do it?’ I asked. ‘My dad’s a plastic surgeon,’ she said. ‘He’s retiring this year, but if you want him to fit you in, I know he will.’

I’d never thought of myself as someone who’d have plastic surgery. What was the point of trying to hold back the years? Ageing is inevitable, and fighting it just makes you dissatisfied.

Besides, I feared it might be like redecorating just one room of your house — it’d make the rest of it look shabby by comparison. If I ‘fixed’ my eyes, would I then start to fixate on something else?

But on impulse I went to see Monique’s dad Ed. He was lovely and reassuring, telling me I didn’t need much done, but that a little nip-and-tuck around the eyes would make all the difference. No one

‘I looked tired and worn’