Topics: Barbie, Beauty, Health, Social Media, Women's Health, Advice, Gen Z, TikTok, Instagram
For many of us, the ever-evolving trend cycle can be stressful at the best of times and downright exhausting at the worst.
Whether it's fashion, food, beauty, or even body shape trends, it's clear that many of us feel nothing but fatigue and frustration at the pressure to constantly have to 'keep up' with the latest new fad.
And it's exactly the same with cosmetic and plastic surgeries, with a new Barbie 'ski slope' nose seemingly all the rage on social media at the moment, with experts and people alike rushing in to issue an urgent warning over the controversial craze.
Now, it's practically what it says on the tin. A 'ski slope' nose refers to a highly stylised, 'trending' nose shape from rhinoplasty, characterised by a narrow, smooth, slightly concave bridge (the 'ski slope') leading to a small, softly upturned, and defined tip, mimicking the idealised, doll-like features of a Barbie doll.
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One woman who fell victim to the trend, Abbi Dib, opened up about her experience in an interview with ABC.
She explained that she wanted a nose job from the age of 13, driven by pop culture pressure ahead of the rise of the 'ski-slope' nose trend.
It wasn't until 18 that she joined a public waitlist at 18, had surgery, and was disappointed that the cosmetic procedure was not more dramatic.
"I remember being upset it wasn’t sloped," Abbi recalled to the outlet, adding that she is still considering a second surgery but recognises it would clash with her features and culture.
She explained: "But if I’m having a bad week and I feel ugly, then the thought does cross my mind."
Many experts have weighed in on the trend, with Professor Gemma Sharp noting that influencers sharing before-and-afters are 'very, very powerful'.
Cosmetic surgeon Dr Namrata Anavekar also revealed that she's seen an almost 20 per cent rise in requests and warned: "As opposed to a fashion trend where you can throw out your skinny jeans and buy a pair of boot cuts, surgery is permanent.
"What’s a trend now may not be in about 10 years."
Sharp added that the look suits 'very few faces' and can trigger more procedures.
The surgery in question also weakens nasal structure, and recovery can be pretty brutal, as Abbi explained: "It feels like a bus has hit you in the face."
"I think the pressure to [not have] an ‘ethnic’ nose has always existed," Abbi continued, as Sharp noted: "They [patients] go, 'I don’t look like anyone in my family anymore.'"
While Abbi doesn't regret her surgery, she has urged caution: "Some things are irreversible."
Instead, she advises waiting and choosing a result that fits your face, not a trend.
"People want to act like plastic surgery is to enhance your natural features. But I think a lot of the time, people do it to turn into someone else," she resolved.
Taking to Instagram to explain a little more about the trend sweeping across Gen Z right now, Karan Dhir, M.D., was asked: "I know you say you won't do a ski slope nose, but can you just talk about what makes a ski slope nose?
"So typically when it comes to contouring of a side profile, we want to start where the nose starts," he began.
"In general, it could be at the eyelash line for males or a little bit lower, or for women, it could be at the pupil line or a little bit lower."
The Board Certified rhinoplasty expert continued: "Once you have a starting place of the bridge of the nose, then it comes down to how it develops into the tip.
"So a ski slope nose ends up being a little bit too low on the top, too contoured and then a nose that's too high at the end. So that would be a ski slope nose.
"Typically, we want a little contour or straight with a gentle super tip break, that little bit with the tip is a little higher and then around. That can be contoured straight, but typically, if you're too low and too scooped, then you get a ski slope.
"To make it easy and simple, if a nose starts way too low and the tip is either too high or too long, both factors together can make a ski slope, and that is something that we want to be balanced and not out of harmony."
