Iranians prefer nice Noses

Iranian woman in a hijab (Credit: Please don't smile)

Cosmetic surgery is popular with well-off Iranians who are keen to correct perceived flaws in their looks. Iraninans who do not follow the Islamic street dress codes may risk being hauled in by police for questioning, but the frequent sight of bandaged faces from cosmetic surgery raises not so much as an official eyebrow.

The number of young women - as well as some men - sporting post-surgery gauze on their faces is striking. Nose surgery is very popular as it makes people feel good about themselves.

Business is brisk for hundreds of doctors specializing in this highly visible trend in the conservative Islamic state, as nose and other facial surgery enhance the only features an Iranian woman is not obliged to conceal. Since all women have to wear the hijab, the face becomes the most prominent part of the body. Plastic surgeons say that reducing the size of the nose was the most common request because Iranian noses are on average larger than European and Asian noses.

Surgeons say that most of their patients were women between 20 and 30, but now several men were also opting to have cosmetic surgery.