Identical Twins, Identical Facelifts

SISTERS ERICA HYMAN AND NANCY MARCINIAK, 61, HAD THE SAME PLASTIC SURGERY PROCEDURES BY THE SAME DOCTOR JUST HOURS APART. THE SHARED EXPERIENCE—AND THE BRUTAL RECOVERY—BROUGHT THEM CLOSER TOGETHER THAN THEY’D BEEN IN YEARS

- BRITTANY TALARICO

Mirror Image Erica Hyman (left) and Nancy Marciniak sat down with People at Hyman's Palm Beach Gardens home in August.

Growing up as identical twins in the New Jersey suburbs, Erica Hyman and Nancy Marciniak did everything together. From playing the same sports to wearing the same prom dress (Hyman found it first; Marciniak got it in another color) to even dating brothers in high school, the sisters experienced life in lockstep. Decades later they’re still very much in sync. Now 61, the twins live just two houses apart in a private Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., development. So when Hyman, whose daughter works at People as a writer-reporter, decided she wanted to address signs of aging with plastic surgery, she knew who to call first: her twin. “I just wasn’t happy with what I saw in the mirror,” says Hyman. “I wasn’t trying to look different—just fresher. Like me, but a bit younger.”

Call it twintuition, but Marciniak didn’t need convincing. “For me it was the iPhone,” she says with a laugh. “You look down at your phone, and suddenly you’re like, ‘Where did all those wrinkles come from?’ They multiply.”

The sisters turned to Dr. Jacob D. Steiger, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based facial plastic surgeon known for his natural-looking results—and deep plane facelift expertise. “The deep plane facelift is a more advanced technique rising in popularity,” Dr. Steiger explains. “Rather than just stretching the skin or muscle, we’re releasing and restoring the retaining ligaments of the face—which are what really sag with age. The result is a lift that looks natural, lasts longer and doesn’t have that pulled or ‘done’ appearance.”