If you’ve been considering whether or not you should get plastic surgery, then you are not alone. In my previous post (part 1) I talked about the importance on figuring out ‘the why’ when making the decision to have plastic surgery. Once you’ve determined that your mental state is sound (or maybe it’s not and you are moving forward anyway. I’m not a psychologist, so… more power to you), you can focus on ‘the what’–which basically needs to be rooted in reasonable and realistic expectations.
Of course you probably already have a what in mind (eg facelift, rhinoplasty, etc), but I think it’s important to consider the full picture as changing one facial feature may not end up as you hoped. Meaning, you may need to change another feature as well to restore harmony to the face–are you okay with that?
Making a permanent decision is a big deal, and sure, you don’t need me to tell you that, but I think sometimes we make in-the-moment decisions that in retrospect were not in our best interest long-term (cue tattooed eyebrows).
Therefore when making the decision for plastic surgery and/or cosmetic enhancement you should be after: balancing your facial features and correction of proportions. In spite of balance (and beauty) tending to be a bit subjective, let’s go through some general ideas about it.
One of the first things to consider about balance, much like choosing the right haircut, is face shape. There are many different face shapes, but they can be boiled down to seven basic face shapes–when you combine things like pear and triangle, or heart and inverted triangle for example. I know how very confusing it can be to figure out your face shape, especially when you do a google search and there’s so much conflicting information. The good news is you just have to get close enough for this exercise.
If you don’t know your face shape, don’t panic. Pull your hair back into a bun, give someone your phone and ask them to take a picture of you from the hips up. Make sure you stand/sit up straight and that the lighting is good. Now that you have a picture you may be able to see your face shape right off the bat, but if not, compare to this face shape picture I made for y’all (I don’t like that word actually, and I’m not sure why I just used it.) Do note that some people may have square features or round features. Meaning, Jennifer Aniston has a triangle/pear shaped face but she has a square prominent chin–which doesn’t make her a square face shape, it just means that she has a square feature.
Once you’ve determined your face shape, take note of your features (eg forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose, lips, chin, etc). Do you have round eyes? Almond eyes? High checks? Pointy Chin? Large or small forehead? You may have some features that are prominent, large, small, protruding, or receding.
Now that we’ve gotten the basics out of the way, this is what you need to consider:
1. Do you need Balance? Balance can be thought of as creating opposition. If you have round eyes, big round lips, and a round face you need some square shape in your life to help balance out the roundness. Maybe the fix is something simple like getting a different haircut or doing a winged liner. Or maybe it is something more permanent like a chin implant and jaw contouring.
Let’s take a look at a couple pictures of the lovely Amanda Seyfried for a visual example: Amanda in this first picture is very round. Every feature is full/big/round.
In the second picture she is more balanced. What’s different? Less fat in her cheeks, a squarer jawline, and a more prominent chin. Also she has some volume on top of her head to create length for her face, and the darker eyeshadow on the corner of her eyes is helping to create more of an almond eye. The changes are subtle but they make a difference.
2. Do you need correction? It’s true that correction will affect balance but this is where you need to consider things that are “off” about your face shape and features. If, for example, your face shape is square but your lips are much too thin for this face shape, there may be a lot of focus on your nose and eyes (not in a good way).
Again, I think it’s always a little easier to see what I mean so let’s take a look at Kylie Jenner. Whether you agree with how far she’s gone with plastic surgery is up to you, but her chin and lip injections helped balance out her facial features. Initially, her square face and small forehead put a lot of attention on the middle of her face, and when you looked at her you saw: a short wide face. But after correcting the proportion of her lips, it added softness in a way that balanced out the harsh lines which plague a square shape. The chin injections helped elongate her face, and also by wearing a soft wavy hair style she continued to soften those harsh lines. Even the change in her makeup is contributing to better balance for her face shape.
For me personally, this is how I made my decisions on which procedures I wanted to have done. I have an oval face shape but it appeared a little on the slim/long side due to a down-turned nose and the jawline dipping in right before the chin. Additionally, my profile seemed a bit convex (receding forehead/chin) due to my nose. I also had deep nasiolabel folds (that’s an on-going battle so stay tuned for a post about that), and lips, which were so thin/short that I could barely close them together. When I attempted keep my lips together, I looked like I was trying to hold a mouth guard in or like I had an underbite–part bulldog is not necessarily the look I was going for.
In order to correct and balance my facial features, I chose to get some plastic surgery procedures (rhinoplasty, juvederm lip injections, my jaw contoured, and fillers in my cheeks to help counter fullness in the lower portion of my face). Aside from the rhinoplasty, everything else was minimal but again really made a difference when considering the overall balance of my face. Here’s my before and after (I apologize for the poor quality pictures. I never took any of these with the intention of showing them to other people and I don’t have a time machine yet so, yea…):
There are six years between these two photos. The photo on the left was taken first (I just blew your mind, right? I think I look older then). If you compare the two you can see the difference in my cheeks, nose, lips, and jawline. Yes, the differences are subtle, but my face and facial features look much more balanced. Having thicker eyebrows is a good thing for me too.
Hopefully, you can see now that there is a little more than just having one plastic surgery procedure solve all of your (balance) issues. I experienced that first hand when I realized there was still something “off” even after having a rhinoplasty. It takes an aesthetic eye to truly see what’s needed in order to achieve the beauty you desire.
That’s why it’s so important to work with a doctor who understands your needs and concerns. I also found two really great posts for you guys on this same topic matter, and I feel like they really dive into the technical aspect of facial balance: The Science of Beauty and Balancing Your Facial Features.
Have you been considering plastic surgery? Or maybe you’ve had something done already but keep thinking that something about your face is “off”? Did this help you pin point it? I would love to hear your story! And if you enjoy my blog please do subscribe!
Stay Lovely,
XOXO
