In an effort to be transparent about the lengths she’s gone to feel good about her appearance, HGTV star Mina Starsiak Hawk, 40, posted photos of herself looking nearly unrecognizable as she heals from a facial procedure she underwent on January 7, 2025.
Joking that she “spent money to torture myself,” Starsiak Hawk said in the comments of her post that she paid $2,000 for a CO2 hybrid laser treatment, also known as skin resurfacing. Manhattan plastic surgeon Dr. Adam Kolker told Marie Claire the procedure is “particularly effective for improving wrinkles, sun damage, scars and skin texture” with “long-lasting results.”
“I’m about to have the baby fresh skin … once I’m done being a monster,” Starsiak Hawk captioned her post, which drew more applause than criticism from followers who admired her decision to be open and honest about it.
Mina Starsiak Hawk Says She’s ‘Putting It All Out There’
Starsiak Hawk has a history of being transparent about her medical and health choices, from sharing the IVF process she and husband Steve Hawk went through to get pregnant with their second child, daughter Charlotte, to the plastic surgery procedures she had done in 2021, commonly known as a “mommy makeover,” per People.
The Indianapolis-based renovation expert — who starred on eight seasons of “Good Bones” with her mom, Karen E. Laine, until the show’s end in the fall of 2023 — shared photos and videos in her Instagram Stories before and after her latest procedure, including the healing process that comes with intense swelling, redness, and “oozing.”
On January 8, she shared in her Stories, “I am venturing out today to pick the kids up from school, so if you are a parent and you see me, just divert your eyes and pretend that I don’t have unusually large sunglasses on with weird, creepy red face peeking out.”
“It’s grosse, but putting it all out there for those who are interested,” Starsiak Hawk wrote in her January 9 post about the healing process, which requires regularly slathering her face in Aquaphor and vinegar soaks. “Those who are not but like grosse stuff and those who compare themselves to others who maybe haven’t been so open about their physical looks.”
“Hate me for it or love me for it,” she continued. “And I’d rather you have to explain to your adolescent child what this crazy lady did to make her face look like a babies butt than you have to explain to them why they don’t look like the other girls/boys/fill in the blank they see online who are altered or are probably full on AI at this point. 🤷🏼♀️”
“If you’re 40 and your face doesn’t look like mine,” Starsiak Hawk wrote, “you’ll at least know it’s because I spent money to torture myself to get that fresh to death skin. So be cool to each other (and to me). Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk ✌🏼”
Fans Celebrate Mina Starsiak Hawk’s Decision to Share Procedure
HGTVThough some followers sharply criticized Starsiak Hawk’s decision, most celebrated Starsiak Hawk’s transparency, including one who wrote, “It’s really refreshing to see someone in the public eye being honest about what they’re doing to their face. Bravo to you. Also – ouch!”
Another shared, “Wow never thought people could be so worried about what other people get done! Thanks Mina for sharing your process, it’s very helpful and eye-opening 🙌”
One concerned follower asked, “Will you lose your freckles ? I love your face. I think you’re gorgeous” and Starsiak Hawk responded, “they’ll definitely lighten a bit. I love them too! But they technically are sun damage 😩”
When another said she was “dying” to try the procedure but “terrified” of the recovery, Starsiak Hawk wrote, “day one and two. Tragic. Day three is honestly perfectly fine. Like not even a number on the pain scale.”
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Fans Applaud HGTV’s Mina Starsiak Hawk for Sharing Shocking Photos: ‘Spent Money to Torture Myself’