- Carla Papas, a podcast host and yoga teacher, spoke with Insider on why she regrets her nose job.
- Bella Hadid recently said she regrets her nose job, and surgeons said more people are asking for nose job reversals.
- Papas said the surgery left her nose swollen and sensitive, and she lost the physical connection to her Greek and Slovenian ancestors.
A nose job isn't the key to confidence — and some people with surgically-perfect noses wish they never went under the knife.
Bella Hadid recently told Vogue she regrets the nose job she got at 14-years-old, and wishes she kept the "nose of her ancestors."
"I think I would have grown into it," Hadid said of her slightly larger pre-surgery nose that she may of inherited from her Palestinian father.
Some nose job recipients who feel the same as Hadid went so far as to get surgery to reverse the look. According to Dazed, plastic surgeons are increasingly being asked to reverse old nose jobs.
Like Hadid, Carla Papas, a yoga teacher and podcast host, regrets the nose job she got at 21 years old. Similar to how Hadid felt removed from her Arab relatives, Papas said she lost her connection to her Mediterranean roots, being from Greek and Slovenian descent.
In an interview with Insider, Papas described how her initial nose job led to swelling, sensitivity, and a look that made her feel worse than before. She said she worries she will long for her "old nose" in the future when she has children who may inherit it.
Now in her 30s, Papas wants young women contemplating surgery to know a nose job does not promise instant confidence.
"When I see something unique about someone else's appearance I think wow how beautiful to be different," Papas told Insider.
"Your value and self worth does not lie within your looks. What you look like is the least interesting thing about you."
Papas insecurity stemmed from teasing in high school
Papas, the co-founder of a MerryBody Online Yoga, Pilates and Meditation Studio, began dreaming of a nose job when she was 13-years-old.
She began feeling self conscious after a boy in lunch line told her to get her "big nose out of here." When talking to her high school friend for support, she reluctantly said that Papas had a "big nose."
"From that day forward I felt so self conscious about my nose," Papas told Insider. "Even as I got older, when I would drive and stop at traffic lights I would turn my head so the other cars couldn't see my side profile."
Papas eventually got her wish at 21, after a girl at the gym she worked with gave her the name of her plastic surgeon. She went to a consultation without doing much research beyond the referral, and watched as the doctor photoshopped her nose. She booked the surgery date on the spot.
"I don't think I understood how serious of a surgery it was," Papas said."I didn't understand at the time that any surgery, any time you go under anesthetic, is a risk and actually quite serious."
The surgery left Papas swollen and in pain
Though she initially liked the result of the surgery, the healing process was so bad Papas wished she "had never gone through with it." Papas needed to wear a nose brace for a year, and struggled with persistent swelling that could only go down with monthly cortisone shots. She said the drive took her three hours to get to her surgeon just to calm the swelling.
Not only was her nose swollen, but Papas said she experienced sensitivity around her nose that turned painful if someone accidentally bumped into her. The scar tissue from the surgery created a large bump on the end of her nose that caused her nose to hang lower than she wanted.
The blogger went in for a revision surgery two years after her nose job to remove the scar tissue. Though she was more satisfied with her nose after the second surgery, Papas said her nose still swells up when she gets hot.
The surgery made Papas feel less confident than before
Papas said the experience resulted in a loss of confidence. Becoming a yoga teacher allowed her to think deeper about where her feelings of insecurity come from and allowed her to address those root causes.
The yoga teacher said young people contemplating the surgery should do their research, and remember their value and self worth does not come from looks.
"Once I actually accepted who I was and also what I looked like, I felt regret for going through with the surgery, I also felt sad for younger me who simply didn't understand that it's our differences that make us amazing," she said.