When I returned home after my first semester in KAIST, “Did you have plastic surgery?” was among the most frequently asked questions by friends. Each time, the question was asked with a little chuckle, and was not meant to be taken seriously. Indeed, South Korea is famous for having the highest number of plastic surgeries per capita globally. I guess it’s only natural that curious friends who had never been to the country wanted to hear more about my personal experience with the topic. Even though I don’t live in Seoul, the plastic surgery capital of the world, the sight of plastic surgery clinics and billboards in Daejeon is already much more prevalent than in my hometown. While usually I just walk past them, I would be lying if I say that the “miraculous” transformations showcased didn’t tempt me to “fix” some “imperfections” on my face from time to time. But currently, I have neither the means nor the urgency to do so, and makeup is a much cheaper, safer, and easier temporary “fix”.

After COVID-19 hit, there was even less incentive for me to go under the knife, since now half of my face is hidden behind a mask everywhere I go. I thus expected the plastic surgery industry to be one of those most adversely affected by the pandemic, and I was not completely wrong — during the early days of COVID-19, at least. Now, however, public interest in plastic surgery is skyrocketing, especially after the world started to adjust to the new normal and expectations of an imminent return to a mask-free society became more widespread. The possibly last moments of having to wear a mask everywhere will be an advantage to those who opt to have a surgery these days, since masks will save them a lot of curious (and perhaps disparaging) questions and gazes. While eye and upper cheek makeup was all the rage during the onset of COVID-19, surgical procedures targeting the lower face parts, such as rhinoplasty, chin augmentation, and lip lifts are trending at the moment. The scars left by such procedures will be conveniently hidden behind masks. For people who manage to save while working from home, this is certainly the perfect time to get the surgery they might have been dreaming about for a long time.

While I won’t oppose anyone who wants to have plastic surgery, a part of me can’t help feeling concerned about this “trend”. At the risk of sounding like an obnoxious grandparent, I’m especially worried about how it will impact young teens of this generation, who have been exposed to social media from a very young age. I support influencers who share stories about their plastic surgery experiences, but I still find it unsettling that young children, who barely got a grip of their own identity and whose facial structures are still developing, can also be influenced by these posts. While the results of the surgery might look great now, no one can guarantee that they will still stay flawless after changes in bone structure, loss of muscle tone, and shrinkage of fat layers as one ages.

Another issue is that with the omnipresence of social media, it becomes progressively harder to discern whether one’s plastic surgery desires come from their own volition, or from the peer pressure of social media trends. A quick search of “TikTok beauty hacks”, for instance, will show us tons of viral clips about how to create “instant face lifts”, “rhinoplasty”, and “lip injection” using only make-up. Soon after, face filters with these effects are also guaranteed to be trending, saving the lives of stay-at-home people who can’t be bothered to put on meticulous make-up every day. Social media has made it all too easy for everyone to get caught up in beauty trend changes, and pandemic lockdowns only made it worse. Trends are never bad per se, but when trends start to dictate how one should look to be considered “stunning”, things get ugly very quickly. Because trends will always evolve; what’s “beautiful” now might be “ugly” later, and what’s “boring” now might be “gorgeous” later.

Right now, online classes and meetings allow us enough time to painstakingly put on surgery-like makeup, and even if we don’t, the built-in face filters in social media and conferencing apps cover the job for us. As we grow accustomed to this digital life, we are also lulled by the luxury of appearing camera-ready despite spending only a few minutes to get ready, and having the option to alter our digital face within seconds with just a few clicks. But with the return to offline life just around the corner, we will soon have to sacrifice some sleep to achieve this standard of picture-perfect look without being late to in-person meetings, and without masks or face filters to back us up. Combined with the aforementioned factors, plastic surgery seems to be a convenient solution to this transition. But while makeup and face filters allow us to experiment with different looks and remove them when we’re done, plastic surgery is pretty much permanent, and it’s virtually impossible to undo without catastrophic effects.

After almost two years of living with COVID, I, too, slightly dread having to bid farewell to masks, online meetings, and face filters. My face is far from “perfect”, but then, nobody is, and the definition of what’s “perfect” will keep changing. All the hours I’ve spent playing around with make-up and face filters have shown me a glimpse of what I would look like if I get plastic surgery, but looking back, there would always come a time when I grew tired of it and wished to see my natural face again, with all its imperfections. I would rather look naturally imperfect every day, than being momentarily perfect and regretting it for the rest of my life.