If you’re above a certain age, when you hear the words “rhinoplasty” or “nose job,” you may think of the actress Jennifer Grey’s infamous rhinoplasty. It changed her nose so drastically she was unrecognizable to most of her fans. Grey herself has even admitted she had trouble getting work and had to convince her friends she was the same person because the change was so dramatic. But cautionary tales like these may be becoming a thing of the past, because today’s millennial rhinoplasty patients are opting for a “less is more” philosophy when it comes to nose jobs.
“There is certainly a trend of millennials who want to keep some of the character their nose already has when they go in for a rhinoplasty,” says Dr. Bruce Chau, a plastic surgeon in Berkeley, Michigan. “They want less of a ‘cookie-cutter’ look.”
So, what’s motivating this trend bucking? Chau believes it has something to do with the changing face of beauty.
“Beautiful no longer just means fine, European features. It is more accepting of different ethnicities and cultures,” Chau says. “The Kardashian sisters are very popular plastic surgery role models, and they’re Armenian. Jennifer Lopez is Puerto Rican, and the Hadid sisters are Palestinian. You don’t need to be Christie Brinkley anymore to be considered beautiful.”
Because of this embracing of beauty from around the globe, Chau feels women aren’t as eager to bury their heritage – even if that heritage appears as a bump in their nose.
“They may still want to refine their nose a little, but there’s definitely a segment of the population that is proud of those little crooks and bumps that make their nose unique and wants to keep them there,” he says. “It’s not about changing your look, it’s about enhancing it.”