Did She or Didn’t She? Telltale Signs of Bad Plastic Surgery
By Ronnie Koenig
Fake. Unnatural. Downright weird. You can always tell when someone's gone under the knife or needle.
1. Breast Augmentation
So what exactly makes bad plastic surgery so noticeable? Beach-ball sized breasts like Pamela Anderson's are obviously not natural. Besides size, Ohio plastic surgeon Jeffrey Donaldson, M.D., says, "breast augmentation is obvious when implants are misplaced or have developed capsular contracture. Capsular contracture is firm scar tissue that can develop after surgery as a result of infection or trauma, and it can cause a very unnatural appearance. If capsular contracture is severe, the implants will look and feel unnatural, like firm, round balls on the chest. " Do the breasts seem a little too high or off to the sides? Implants are not always placed in the correct anatomic position, so if someone's breasts look a little...misplaced, you know why.
2. Liposuction
Lipo may seem like an easy solution for getting rid of unwanted fat but the results can look all wrong (especially when it is used as a treatment for obesity), says Donaldson. "The best results come from a smooth, sculpting technique within the deep fat that flattens those areas and restores a natural proportion. Poor results are noticeable when there are lumpy, inconsistent contours from removal of superficial fat. Also, newer laser lipo, SmartLipo and Vaser techniques may cause visible burns and skin changes if they are not applied correctly." Even skinny celebs like Tara Reid can suffer the consequences when lipo is performed incorrectly. The American Pie star's stomach was disfigured with irregular contours from a liposuction-gone-wrong in 2004.
3. Face Lift
"Plastic surgery should enhance a person's appearance, rather than completely transform it," says Houton Chaboki, M.D., a plastic surgeon in Washington D.C. "For example, with a face lift or neck lift, your friends and family should say. 'You look refreshed. Did you lose weight? New diet? New hairstyle?' rather than 'You look different.'"
Chaboki said he can tell when someone's had a face lift when they have that "wind-swept appearance." As in, they look like they've sat in front of an industrial fan for too long. Other dead give-aways: A "pulled" facial appearance, ear lobe deformity, hair loss and visible scars.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Bruce Jenner is the perfect example. "His skin is too smooth. An older gentleman that is handsome should still have some roughness or ruggedness," Chaboki says. "Also, his eyebrows are pulled up too much. For a man, the eyebrows should be lower as compared to a woman." Chaboki speculates that a bad face lift pulled Joan Rivers' lips out too much, giving her what he calls a "Joker's smile."
4. Nose Job
Celebs often use the excuse of a "deviated septum" as the reason for rhinoplasty, but Chaboki can call a nose job when he sees one. When it comes to rhinoplasty gone wrong, "often you'll notice the appearance of a pinched nose, what look like 'knuckles' or 'knobs' at the tip, a rounded nose tip or a scooped profile." He notes that difficulty breathing can also be an indicator.
Jennifer Grey may be the most famous celeb to get a nose job -- the surgery made her unrecognizable, halting her then-hot career. "She had a droopy nose and a nasal hump that most women want to improve," says Chaboki. "The rhinoplasty, while appropriate for her face, changed her appearance so much that she was a completely new person in the eyes of Hollywood, and therefore, had to rebuild her career. For non-celebrities, I believe many patients would want her results."
5. Brow Lift
A bad brow lift can give one a "startled" or "Dr. Spock-like" appearance, says Chaboki. "Sometimes a brow lift is combined with upper-eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty). Typically, too much skin may have been removed and the eyebrows may look uneven or pulled up too much." Sylvester Stallone, who has admitted to having plastic surgery, is a good example.
6. Botox
This injectable drug has the power to freeze time on your face. By weakening or paralyzing the muscles in your forehead, Botox temporarily smoothes out brow and forehead creases. Dana Delany claims that Botox injections damaged a nerve in her forehead, causing her eye to droop.
"You can tell bad Botox when someone has too many units injected into the face," says Michele Green, M.D., a New York City dermatologist. This is what gives some women that frozen, expressionless look. "Injecting Botox is an art. The wrong placement of the Botox also produces unnatural looking results," she says. And the patient can wind up with droopy looking eyes or brows that appear super arched.
7. Lip Injections
Plump, luscious lips can add sex appeal to a women's appearance, and the injections are relatively non-invasive compared to other forms of cosmetic surgery. But too much of a good thing can make you look downright ridiculous. "Lip injections can be overdone to the point that the patient looks like they got stung by a bee on their lips," says Green. "Generally it's a combination of the wrong product and too much of the product. For example, Juvederm is a very thick hyaluronic acid and if used on someone who has thin lips, the product may make them look bad. The same goes for Restylane. That's why it's important to go to an experienced injector."
Lisa Rinna, famous for her cosmetically-enhanced plump pout, had to undergo surgery to correct scar tissue caused by silicone lip injections.
8. Cheek/Chin Implants
Chin and cheek implants can correct a weak profile. "Most plastic surgeons use cheek and chin implants made of silicone, similar to breast implants. The facial implants are little more firm, as compared to breast implants, since these implants are enhancing facial bone structure" says Chaboki. Bristol Palin was rumored to have had a chin implant when she underwent surgery on her jaw to correct misaligned teeth. Other notable rejiggered jawlines include Courtney Love and Heidi Montag.
A bad cheek or chin implant can look like plastic surgery gone way wrong if the implant is not positioned correctly, says Chaboki. "If the implant is too big, it's also noticeable."
9. Tummy Tuck
When Kate Gosselin first came into our living rooms on Jon & Kate Plus 8, she was excited to get a free tummy tuck after giving birth to sextuplets. But not all women end up with such flat and figure-flattering results. "The usual give-away for a tummy tuck is a large, round belly button with scars from the stitches, as well as straight, barrel-shaped sides and a high-riding abdominal scar," says Donaldson. A good tummy tuck, would leave you with an hour glass figure and a scar near the pubic region.
10. Buttock Augmentation
Donaldson says there are two ways that the flat-butted can achieve a behind to rival J. Lo's or Kim Kardashian's -- with implants or with fat transfer. The fat can be harvested from the abdomen, flanks, back, arms or legs, but most of the time it's taken from all of the above in order to collect enough volume. "Implants look fake when they are too large or too small, too superficial under the skin, rotated out of correct position or distorted from complications, such as infection or fluid collection. I prefer fat transfer because it often looks more natural, but if it's done incorrectly, it may appear lumpy, uneven or asymmetric."
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