The Real Housewives of Dallas star says she got the invitation just a day after her procedure

On Wednesday, Simmons, 50, revealed on People TV’s Reality Check that she was unable to attend the celebration, which took place on Jan. 23 with Bravo’s biggest stars and Cohen’s pal John Mayer, because of the face lift she had done two weeks prior.

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“Well actually, I had a face lift on January 8, because we only get a little bit, you know, January February time off,” she explained to host Lyndsey Rodrigues. “The day after, I got an invitation to Andy’s baby shower. I mean literally came in the mail the day after and I went ‘Oh my God!’ ”

“But there was nothing I could do, I couldn’t go at that point,” Simmons said, adding that she also took out her hair extensions. “When you have a face lift, you have your hair out and everything. I mean I didn’t even look like myself, I looked like a monster for a while.”

Simmons got her face lift to celebrate a life milestone — her 50th birthday.

Image zoom Greg Endries/Bravo

“I did that because when I turned 50, I think everyone needs to decide what they want to do with their body and their lives,” she said.

“Of course my mother has had a few … you know she’s had a little bit of work done over the years,” Simmons said. “She always said ‘you wanna do it, better to do it earlier than too late, because then people can notice. You just wanna wake up like you look refreshed.’ ”

“The only bad thing is, I had the face lift, my husband left three days later to go to National Geographic for a conference,” explained Simmons. “I am by myself, and I got depressed, because people don’t tell you you get depressed when you have a face lift. So I ate donuts for literally a month, because you know I love donuts from the show. I gained 25 lbs. after my face lift.”

Image zoom D’Andra Simmons

In the months since her procedure, Simmons has dropped 15 lbs. “I stopped eating the junk. Just back away from the donuts and the table!”

Simmons, who has a skin care line, “Hard Night Good Morning,” told Reality Check she wasn’t concerned that her plastic surgery would cause people to question the effectiveness of her products.

“No because it doesn’t matter what kind of skincare you use, you can’t solve gravity,” she said. “Gravity happens to everyone unfortunately. And when I went to my doctor, he was saying to me, ‘I can’t believe your skin is so amazing. What do you use on your skin?’ I said, ‘Well, my skincare line; I’ve been using it for over 20 years. And my mother’s before mine.’ And he said, ‘This will be so easy because your skin is in such great shape. And you’re going to bounce back really well and you’re going to look fantastic.’ ”