When Manhattanite Fro Moniz needs a little pick-me-up, she doesn’t run out for a fancy iced coffee or splurge on luxe label retail therapy.
She simply gives herself a facelift.
But rather than blowing $100,000 to go under the knife — à la the likes of Kris Jenner or the elite ladies of the Upper East Side — Moniz opts for a no fuss, no charge change to her look that not only raises the 30-something’s spirits, but also elevates her eyelids, brows and forehead with just a few funky twists of her hair.
“The more lifted you look, the more you love looking at yourself in the mirror,” Moniz, a makeup artist of 10 years, exclusively told The Post of the trending “fake facelift” hack.
It’s a makeshift makeover with faux real results.
“Everything just looks cleaner,” Moniz gushed of the age-reversing transformation, which she achieves by making a small braid near each temple or just behind her ears.
After tightly entwining both sides, the brunette snuggly secures the braids toward the center of her head, binding them together with an elastic band to create tension near her hairline. The taut styling offers Moniz a splendidly “snatched” — or lifted — finish that virtually erases sagging and fine lines.
She then hides the braids beneath tresses from the crown of her head so that no one’s the wiser.
“You just look fresh,” Moniz raved of the quick fix, achievable in less than 10 minutes. “Your cheeks pop, your eye makeup looks sharper — you’re ironing your face without surgery.”
“It’s a look we all crave.”
And owing to its $0 cost, everyone — from Big Apple bombshells to A-list luminaries — is eating it up.
Actress Anne Hathaway, 43, sent mouths watering for the titillating trick mere moments ahead of the 2026 Oscars last month.
The star of “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” out May 1, and her glam squad, led by hairstylist Orlando Pita, amassed over 17.5 million Instagram views with footage of their not-so “secret” method for achieving her flawless face — wrinkle-free perfection that’s recently sparked plastic surgery speculations.
But it seems Hathaway prefers tiny braids over a doctor’s blade.
The Academy Award winner is practically in a class by herself as VIPs and everyday peeps alike are coming up with new, nutty ways to remain — or at least feign — forever young.
From pumping their cheeks full of cadaver donor fat to undergoing back-to-back-to-back cosmetic procedures, anti-aging antics are running amok from coast to coast.
But Moniz, an expecting first-time mommy, tells The Post that her affinity for the “free, quick and customizable,” fake facelift is rooted in self-care rather than age-related vanity.
“Pregnancy changed a lot for me. I’m more tired and more in need of little confidence boosts here and there,” said the married millennial, at 38-weeks of in her third and final trimester.
“The fake facelift makes me feel like a baddie,” she giggled at the good vibes the hack provides. “I do it whenever I want a little extra oomph.”
Maddi Heyn, a married mom of three kids, ages 8, 5 and 2, enjoys the added kick of oomph, too.
“I saw Anne Hathaway’s hairstylist do the take facelift on Oscars night, I tried it and couldn’t believe that it actually worked,” Heyn, 36, a lifestyle medicine physician’s assistant from Utah, told The Post.
Video of the Beehive Stater giving herself the do-it-yourself enhancement scored more than 14.2 million views from both impressed fans and spoilsport cynics across the internet.
“Love this trick! But only do it for special events because it will eventually rip all the hair out around your hairline and that’s not cute,” warned a critic under Heyn’s clip.
“Instant headache,” wrote another, fearing the yanked technique might trigger internal discomfort.
“I just wanna be in my 40s in peace, I don’t need a migraine to go with it,” an equally alarmed onlooker agreed.
But to the negativity, an unfazed Heyn says, “beauty is pain.”
“You definitely feel a headache after a few minutes, depending on the tightness of the braid,” she laughed. “But that’s the price some of us are we’re willing to pay.”
And suffering in the name of beauty is paying off in spades.
“I did the fake facelift for a date night,” said Heyn. “My husband definitely noticed. He complimented my look and said I looked really pretty.”
It’s a self-esteem bump that money can’t buy.
“Moms pour a lot of ourselves into our kids, husbands, homes and jobs — we kind of put ourselves last,” Heyn sighed. “Doing little hacks like this, prioritizing the things I enjoy, makes me feel like me again.”
“And that makes me a better person all around.”
