Karen Elson has revealed the frightening results of cosmetic procedures as she fell victim to the same fat-freezing that left Linda Evangelista ‘deformed’
The English supermodel, 46, explained that she was left looking ‘skeletal and hollow’ after undergoing CoolSculpting and RF microneedling.
The cryolipolysis procedure, called CoolSculpting, was designed to decrease fat cells but not everyone has experienced the promised outcome.
Karen rose to fame in the late 1990s as one of the biggest names of her generation alongside Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.
And now she has admitted she has endured painful and long-lasting side effects from popular aesthetic treatments.
‘RF microneedling? Never again. That experience taught me to use caution before jumping on every aesthetic trend,’ she disclosed on Substack.
British supermodel Karen Elson has revealed the frightening results of cosmetic procedures as she fell victim to the same fat-freezing that ‘disfigured’ Linda Evangelista
The English supermodel, 46, explained that after having the same procedure Linda did (pictures in 1987) she was left looking ‘skeletal and hollow’ after undergoing CoolSculpting
Microneedling uses a fine needle to create micro-wounds in the skin to trigger the production of elastin and collagen. RF, or radio-frequency, microneedling releases radiofrequency into the micro-wounds, causing additional damage with the aim of enhancing the effects of standard microneedling.
‘Some things are simply too good to be true,’ she added. ‘The aftereffects were frightening: I lost so much facial fat that I looked skeletal and hollow.
‘And the pain rivaled labor! I booked three sessions, but by the second, I sobbed and begged for it to stop.’
The Manchester-born model also revealed she had tried CoolSculpting, the controversial fat-freezing procedure that led fellow supermodel Linda to sue its manufacturers after claiming it left her ‘permanently deformed.’
Karen explained that she too had an undesirable experience as she said that isn’t of removing the fat it made it look more prominent.
She said: ‘CoolSculpt? Same verdict: don’t bother. A decade ago, I tried it for a tiny patch of belly fat that diet and exercise wouldn’t budge.
‘Instead of removing it, CoolSculpt increased it and made it look stranger and more pronounced. I had to get it removed later.’
The mother-of-two, who shares her children with ex-husband Jack White of The White Stripes, said she had turned to aesthetic procedures to cope with the pressures of ageing in an industry obsessed with youth.
‘We live in an age-obsessed society, one I am not immune to or above,’ she said. ‘I admit I miss my 30-year-old face, my 30-year-old body, eyesight, stamina, and sharper brain. It’s hard to surrender to aging in an industry like mine.
Karen rose to fame in the late 1990s as one of the biggest names of her generation alongside Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell
And now she has admitted she has endured painful and long-lasting side effects from popular aesthetic treatments
‘Of course, I want to age well and avoid the ‘overcooked grease-pan filler face’ so many women fall victim to… it’s so easily done.’
Elson revealed she first tried Botox around her 40th birthday – and while she praised the results when done sparingly, she also described botched treatments that left her temporarily unable to smile.
‘Once, on a friend’s recommendation, I went to a famous plastic surgeon’s office in Nashville,’ she said.
‘The nurse’s frozen, filler-filled face should have been my warning. Panicked, I begged her to do 50% less than her normal dosage and stressed that I only wanted minimal Botox.
‘She ignored me and injected multiple syringes into my face. The result was ghastly. She hit a muscle incorrectly, pulling my smile down so I looked like I’d had a stroke.
‘She put so much Botox in my forehead it physically hurt to close my eyes for weeks. Hideous.’
After also experiencing botched tweakments over the years, Linda revealed she still needs therapy to ‘see what she looks like in the mirror’.
Linda explained that in 2021 she had been left ‘permanently deformed’ after trying CoolSculpting.
The iconic model, graced the cover of Harper’s Bazaar’s May 2025 Beauty issue, and in an interview with the publication, she shared how she’s changed her approach to her appearance, following a double mastectomy in 2018.
Linda admitted that she ‘still doesn’t look in the mirror’ after a fat-freezing procedure back in 2016 left her ‘permanently deformed.’
She explained: ‘I have to go through therapy to like what I see when I look in the mirror, and I still don’t look in the mirror. I didn’t want to see myself because I didn’t love myself or like myself.’
Breaking down in tears, she added: ‘I really think beauty is something you earn. I think of my grandmothers’ faces and what the war did to them, the toll it took on them … just wearing their hardships.
‘They wore it, and they were so gorgeous. It had nothing to do with perfection or youth.’
Evangelista previously revealed in 2021 that she decided to retreat from the public eye after she developed a rare reaction to a cosmetic procedure in 2016.
After also experiencing botched tweakments over the years, Linda revealed she still needs therapy to ‘see what she looks like in the mirror
Linda explained that in 2021 she had been left ‘permanently deformed’ after trying CoolSculpting
Linda admitted that she ‘still doesn’t look in the mirror’ after a fat-freezing procedure back in 2016 left her ‘permanently deformed’ (pictured in February 2024)
She said the procedure made her cells become enlarge and she soon began developing ‘bulges’ all over her body, which made her worry that she was losing her mind.
‘To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers’ careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting procedure which did the opposite of what it promised,’ she wrote at the time.
‘It increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful corrective surgeries. I have been left, as the media described, ‘unrecognizable.”
During the Harper’s Bazaar interview, Linda also revealed that she’s ‘fine’ with her appearance now after she quietly underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnsed with breast cancer in 2018.
She said: ‘My double mastectomy, I’m fine with it. I did put in very small implants. What they took out, I put in, cc-wise.
‘I’ve had all those lung surgeries, oh my God, and my keloids and all the chest-tube scars and my C-section scar. There were a lot of surgeries. I’m cool. I’m fine with those. I won. I’m here. I won.’
She added that in the wake of her ordeal, she’s become more at-peace with the prospect of ageing, saying: ‘I don’t care how I age. I just want to age. It doesn’t have to be gracefully. I really, really, really don’t want to die.
‘I have still so much to do. I’m finally getting comfortable with myself and with everything, and now I want to enjoy it.’
