The ideal aesthetic for the nose has changed. There is a “New Nose” that is becoming the desired nose of Hollywood and around the world. In the past ten years, we have seen a dramatic shift to a nose that is more natural. Gone are the days when patients came in and wanted a scoop and a turned-up nose. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, young women consulted plastic surgeons pursuing noses that had a low bridge and a turned-up tip. During the 2000’s we began to sense a change. Patients who had undergone this previous style of surgery had grown unhappy. Many had kids who didn’t like their parent’s or aunts’ noses. They recognized that this style of nose did not fit the face. As a result, there began a shift towards a less telling, more natural nose. As rhinoplasty specialists, we are witnessing a rather drastic change in patient goals. Patients now want a stronger bridge. They would prefer a straight line on their bridge rather than this scoop. They don’t want their tip to be turned up and show their nostrils. As a rhinoplasty surgeon, my patient’s biggest concerns are that their nose will be too scooped out and have a tip that is too high.

This trend towards a natural, more classic-elegant nose is in direct response to noses that were over-reduced. This feeling exists all over the world, including in the Middle-East, where having a scooped out nose was a sign of wealth. It signaled that the person had enough money to have plastic surgery and therefore was elite. Now that plastic surgery is more affordable and considered common practice, people don’t want to have signs of surgery. They want to be perceived as being naturally beautiful. This is especially true for actor and models, which we see frequently in Beverly Hills. Having a nose that appears to have had surgery can negatively affect a model or actor who is trying to brand her image as being a natural beauty. Although the overall acceptance of plastic surgery has grown tremendously over the past decade, public personas do not want plastic surgery to be a topic that may take away from the success of their careers. This is also true for people who maintain a very private lifestyle. They don’t want people at work or school to know they had surgery. I have developed “Natural Structure Rhinoplasty” as a way to ensure this happens with patients who are undergoing nasal surgery in order to achieve this result. This technique ensures that all the techniques used during surgery maintain a structure that would naturally exist in nature. No strange grafts, no strange implants.

Another key to this is by creating a nose that fits the face in a custom fashion. This means we customize approach, technique and procedure specific to the nose for each individual’s face. The tools that we have available now have revolutionized the results surgeons are capable of achieving. Innovations such as 3-Dimensional photography which can communicate surgical goals and has the potential to predict post-surgical results. We can sit with the patient and explain how taking the bridge too far down makes the nose look unnatural. We can see what style of nose may look more natural. This ability to image has also changed the way that patients look at their noses and their faces.

Also, the New Nose is one that works. The nose has a function…to breathe. We need to preserve and improve this.  Previous surgical techniques was full of risks to the nasal breathing passages. Our new techniques have proven that the way that we now do rhinoplasty usually improves breathing (Zoumalan and Constantinides, Objective improvements in Rhinoplasty)

In the future, I believe that a natural appearance will prevail. I don’t think we will ever go back to the days when patients wanted something that looked operated on. We have entered a new era, and the “New Nose” is really a natural nose that will be a classic beauty for generations.