Hi Lovelies,
Okay so, this is something I don’t think that many people know about me, but its certainly not something I ever try to hide! In fact I pretty much tell people at any opportunity!
On 22nd February 2016 I got a non surgical nose job. It took around 10 mins, and it changed my life! By no surgical nose job, I mean filler. I made the decision to book the appointment as soon as I saw the first photo advertising it, messaged the company the same day I saw it, and I was in the chair getting injected just 13 days later!
Lets start from the beginning. I never used to have a problem with my nose, it was straight, something I never even thought about. Then, on a skiing school trip I banging it pretty hard on something, it was swollen for a day or so and then it went down, but left the tiniest little bump on the bridge of my nose. A few years later I was out in Manchester, this part is pretty embarrassing and makes me sound absolutely self obsessed but if anyone says they haven’t done this, they are lying (apart from the actual injury part)! I was out with my boyfriend *at the time* and his uni friends, feeling a little self conscious as I didn’t know anyone, and after visiting the ladies I was checking my makeup on the way out, and was still side glancing at myself in the mirror as I was walking out of the bathroom (cringe but I’m sure everyone has given themselves that last check over before leaving!), and when I faced forwards again I SLAMMED into a ceiling support. We are talking a big, hard, concrete pillar that was right in front of me.
Luckily I was the only one in the toilet but I literally staggered back holding my face because it felt like my bones were all about to crumble into my skin like a sack of sand! When I went out into the bar everyone I was with noticed immediately that my face was looking a little swollen and tender and by the next day it looked like I had done 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. And, you guessed it, it left a bigger bump than I had before!
BEFORE THE FILLER
Ever since this I was always very conscious of my profile. I hated it when I was tagged in photos where I was talking to someone from the side, or if I was laughing with my friends I would suddenly have this awful thought about how horrible I must look with my crooked nose from the side. Im honestly not a very self absorbed or looks orientated person, I’m absolutely fine with taking the piss out of myself and being silly but for some reason this just really bothered me. I think it was because I didn’t grow up being used to this appearance, it was something that happened and then got worse, I wasn’t used to it and I didn’t want it there anymore.
That isn’t to say that I think everyone with a bump on their nose should do what I did next, I absolutely don’t. In fact, when I talk about my nose filler to people and they go on to say that they think they need it I’m always taken aback and surprised to think that anyone could think they need it too, because it just isn’t something I would ever think about on someone else. I never look at anyone and think about something they could change, it just isn’t something that crosses my mind! Yet when it came to myself, it was something I was really conscious of. There are plenty of things about myself that I would change it I could with the click of my fingers, but nothing that I’m so hung up about that I would actually go out of my way to change. Apart from my nose.
BEFORE FILLER
I looked into the surgery option. But working in retail the thought of using my whole holiday allowance to get a nose job made me want to be sick (hahaha what a life I lead). And I was VERY dubious about the way it can turn out. Nearly every single website I went on said that you can never be 100% sure on how its going to turn out. It might settle smaller than you wanted, more sloped, more pinched up, sooo many things could happen and you don’t know how its going to look until its fully settles about a year or so later! I have also suffered with nose bleeds since I was little, and getting a nose job can effect breathing issues. Because I already suffer with nose bleeds I really didn’t want to mess with anything that could make that worse. For me, there were just a lot of factors that I wasn’t sure on, because I knew in myself that the bump I had wasn’t that bad, and realistically, the risks weren’t worth it. The thought of getting surgery and then not liking the final outcome really scared me.
I had known about fillers for a while, I knew people got their lips filled, and got botox, and that was about the extent of my knowledge on it at the time. Cheek, jaw and nose fillers were not a thing I knew existed! But the thing I did know, was that filler could be dissolved. I had seen loads of photos of botched lip filler where the clients had had the filler dissolved. So, when I saw a sponsored post pop up on my Instagram of a before and after of a NOSE filling procedure, I was absolutely stunned!
I had never, ever thought that by ADDING filler to the nose, it could have the appearance of a REDUCED bump. What the hell?!
The post that came up on my Instagram was by a company called Flawless Cosmetics, and when I had a look through their page they had hundreds of customers, thousands of followers and loads of comments on photos from people saying how happy they were with their new nose/lips/cheeks/botox… whatever it may be! They posted their dates for the next three months and I was so shocked to see that they actually travel around the country. It wasn’t like it was a little salon somewhere that everyone went to for convenience, people were waiting for Flawless Cosmetics to be in their city and going out of their way for an appointment. When I saw they were in Leeds in the next two weeks, on my day off, I knew I needed to book in!
The whole experience was super easy, I went onto their Facebook page and asked a little bit about what they do, and if I could book in with them. I have put the screenshots of my first messages with them below! I was put on the waiting list for the date I wanted for my first time, as it was fully booked, but they text me a few days before the date as someone had a canceled, and that was that!
I was SO nervous on the day of the appointment! I lived on the outskirts of Leeds city centre at the time, but my mum came over for lunch and then drove me into the centre for the appointment. She waited in the car and I very nervously went into the salon, said they I was there and filled out all of the legal info. And then I waited! There were 5 other people waiting at the time, a super smart looking lady (Holly) in white therapist clothing came down and asked who was here for lip filler, literally everybody there apart from me was getting their lips done! They all started applying numbing cream and when I told her what I was there for, she said I didn’t need to numb it. Everyone was looking at me a little weird, probably wondering what I was there for seeing as I wasn’t applying any cream. And then, Holly called my name and asked me to follow her up to the treatment room!
I told her it was the first time I was having the treatment and she asked me why I wanted it doing. I told her that I had considered a nose job but was nervous about the outcome, and so I wanted to try this, see what it looked like and then if I didn’t like it I knew it could be dissolved easily. Holly was fab, she asked exactly what I wanted my nose to look like, I suppose some people go to change the full shape and have more of a ski slope look etc, but mine was simply that I wanted it to be straight. She told me that the effect of the filler would be very different to a nose job, as we were building my nose up and, in effect, making it bigger so that it appeared straight, where as surgery would make everything smaller. She told me exactly where the filler would be injected and why, She said that the two injections at the top and middle of my nose would be to make it straight, and then she would also be putting some in the tip to pick it up a little, so it gives the nose a natural shape instead to it just going down in a slope.
And then it was time to sit down! It only took a few minutes to actually inject the filler. Holly told me when I would feel a scratch and said it would be a weird feeling as it was my first time. It did feel weird, but not uncomfortable, its strange because you can feel your skin getting lifted from the inside… okay maybe that does sound uncomfortable haha but its just a weird sensation to explain! Holly injected the filler in the locations necessary and then started rubbing the filler down my nose and moulding it into the straight shape that we wanted, it felt weird but good knowing that in just a few moments I would be able to see what she had created!
When I had a look in the mirror for the first time I could have started crying, I was absolutely blown away that in just a few moments my nose was exactly how I wanted it, and how I remembered it, bump free! It was absolutely the best money I ever spent and I wanted to just run out of the salon to show my mum (who was waiting in the car to see it and drop me off home!).
The effect is supposed to last between 6-12 months, depending on how you take to it really. I needed mine topped up 7 months later, and then the third time I went was my most recent, and between my 2nd and 3rd trip it was 1 year and 2 months!!!! I suppose because its now filler on filler its lasting a bit longer. The 1st and 2nd time I had about a ml in I think, and then the third time I just needed half a ml. Because of this I wasn’t charged the full amount.
The treatment itself used to be £250 as you can see in my messages, and that included a top up if necessary from 2-6 weeks after the initial treatment. As the filler settles and the swelling goes down you sometimes need a little more in, I have never needed this but its nice to have it there just incase!
Now, the treatment is £330, and you still get the top up if needs be. The last time I went (the third time) I only needed half a ml so was only charged £180, that didn’t include the top up if I needed it though.
Holly gave me a sheet of paper with some care information on it, such as how to control the swelling and what to do/not to do. I did use some of the information too! When I went the first time around I was still working at Victoria’s Secret, and we did some night shifts there for various reasons. The day of my first appointment I was off during the day but due to start work at 10pm to 7am, and same again the next day/night too! Erm, little tip for you, DONT DO A NIGHTSHIFT THE SAME DAY YOU HAVE FILLER IN YOUR NOSE FOR THE FIRST TIME! Of course, everyone reacts differently, some people will have no swelling at all, and every time since I have been fine! but the first time my nose did swell, and I looked like an Avatar! My nose was like a big throbbing sausage that went straight from from my eyebrows like a cats nose and it was tender AF! So I did as the sheet suggested and was taking antihistamine and ibuprofen. I also couldn’t wear my glasses but luckily I usually wear contact lenses anyway so that wasn’t too much of an issue. But yeah, If you have a job hat involves nightshifts just don’t get it done the same day as one! I feel like it really slowed down the recovery time, your body heels itself when you sleep, and when that goes out of the window and you’re sleeping during the day time your body genuinely doesn’t function as it should.
AFTER FILLER
When I left the treatment room it was so funny walking back through reception where everyone was waiting with their numbing cream still on, everyone was looking at me trying to figure out what I had done! I know by bump was hardly notable to everyone else, nobody had ever commented on it before in my life, so I bet they were thinking what the flipping hell has she had done? or, why is her nose all red? Either way, I walked out of there so happy and full of confidence I couldn’t wait to get back into mums car! My mum literally held my face and started screaming… and then proceeded to whip out her phone and take photos to send to her friends haha! I did the same! I remember sat in the car Snapchatting my friends my ‘new nose’. I was over the moon and I wasn’t afraid of telling anyone about it, its my body, my nose, and it was my decision. Its not like I used to cry every night or didn’t leave the house or get in any photos because of it, but it was something I was conscious of and seeing as there was a way to fix it, and easily, thats what I chose to do!
What you will find when you get filler, it very mixed responses from people you probably didn’t expect. Some people weren’t bothered or didn’t see the difference in the before and after, which is fine! Others were super happy for me and just as amazed that filler can change something so easily, and others were a little back handed about it. I had a few comments like ‘It makes me sad that you felt like you needed to change yourself’ and ‘what a waste of money when it wasn’t even bad anyway, you’re going to end up getting everything done now’. And I just feel like those comments are uncalled for. I wasn’t ‘so sad and unhappy about myself that I wanted to change it’ its not like that, and its not like I would ever think someone else needed to change themselves too. Those comments made me feel like I had to defend my decision to do this, and in reality. I don’t. Its my own decision and its made me very happy. It meant that when someone takes a photo I washy aware of from the side, I’m not thinking ‘oh god’ and zooming in on how bent my nose looks, I just think ‘oh I didn’t realize I was in the background there’. Its a very personal decision and at the end of the day, I was fixing something that got damaged though me being clumsy anyway!
Thats a little rant over, but just remember when you do something that makes you happy, you might get a few comments that you don’t expect.
I have probably missed tonnes out, but I cannot thank Holly and Flawless Cosmetics enough! I wouldn’t use anyone else. Just remember that if you ever choose to have any cosmetic procedure, it MUST be your own decision. You MUST feel comfortable and trust the person doing it. Look into the company, look at the reviews, don’t feel pressured. If you get there and freak out, its ok, go home and have a think about it and re-book. They will understand! Please don’t go for someone just because they are cheap, the chances are its because they A. Aren’t that good, or B. They are using cheap filler/tools/ingredients/whatever it may be. Using cheap things when it comes to any cosmetic procedure it dangerous and can effect your health so make sure you aren’t putting yourself in danger.
If you have any questions please feel free to message me, or comment below! Im no expert but I can always share my personal experiences with you! Have you had filler/botox? How was your experience? Would you recommend it? Do you feel pressured into getting any cosmetic procedure seeing as its now all around us and all over social media?
Love, Chelsea xxx
Read the full blog post here; https://chelseasguide.com/2018/04/08/i-had-a-non-surgical-nose-job-and-its-one-of-the-best-decisions-i-ever-made/