Successful facial cosmetic surgery involves a balance of surgical skill and aesthetic understanding. When a person consults a facial plastic surgeon for any cosmetic procedure, it is essential for the surgeon to take into account the person’s ethnicity, culture and expectations in order to achieve a natural look.

Working with Different Ethnic Features

Everyone’s face is unique. Skin can vary in color, thickness and texture, with certain ethnic groups more likely to exhibit uneven skin tone, such as melasma or other hyperpigmentation. Other skin types are more prone to heavy wrinkles.

These differences in skin also lead to a variety of responses to surgery, healing and scar formation. For instance, a facial plastic surgeon may recommend a specific approach for a patient who is likely to develop keloid scarring.

Likewise, shape and proportions of facial features differ among ethnic groups and standards of attractiveness vary from culture to culture. Certain ethnicities value facial proportions respective of gender; for example, a v-shaped jawline is considered desirable among females from certain ethnic groups while a squared, prominent jaw is considered attractive in some men.

A specialist in ethnic facial plastic surgery will understand these variations and create an appropriate plan for each person.

Balancing Expectations

There are many reasons for desiring facial plastic surgery. A person may want an overall younger, more refreshed look, or wish to address the shape or prominence of a particular facial feature.

Looking to other people for inspiration can create unrealistic expectations. A nose or eye shape that looks good on a celebrity, for instance, may not look natural on a person of different age, facial shape or ethnic background.

Initial consultation with a plastic surgeon is essential for any facial plastic surgery procedure. The doctor will strive for a clear, open and honest conversation about what the person wants, and advise the prospective patient on what surgical procedures can result in an aesthetic outcome.

Ideally, all facial plastic surgery procedures that address eye contours, jaw and chin shape, and characteristics of the nose and mouth should yield results that are congruous with other facial features.

In the most successful examples of plastic surgery of the face, the features of the face are in balance and the appearance is harmonious and attractive as a whole, without any particular feature calling attention to itself.