“It Looked Better Just Thick And Fat”: 30 Beauty Procedures People Regret Having Done

I had otoplasty.

(They removed a section of my ear cartilage in order to make them closer to my head).

Regret it so hard.

I had “spitting stitches” —permanent stitches that my body rejected and were pushing through my skin. Years later and I’ll still have a random stitch work it’s way through my skin. It’s like being stabbed in the ear with a needle constantly.

And there are ugly skin folds on the inside of my ears that the surgeon said was just swelling, and they are not. It’s been 7yrs, they are permanent.

They hurt to sleep on, they hurt to wear ear phones or sunglasses. They smell. It’s awful.

I’d trade them for my old crooked, “dumbo” ears in a heartbeat.

Edit: about the smell and those worried about infection...I have had many infections off and on because of these things. Right now the smell is more because there are more folds, nooks, and crannies because of scar tissue to hold onto sebum, etc. I have to stay on top of it and use alcohol to clean behind my ears, but I’m confident that they are not currently infected.

Japanese Head Spa. You are literally laying on a table with no padding with your head resting on a plastic block. That becomes very uncomfortable quickly.

The sink attached is plastic which means all the water hitting it echos and is jarringly LOUD.

As they do the washing and the treatments, your head starts to feel cold because your hair is drenched.

They will tangle your hair. Not fun.

Most of these places won’t even give you a rough blow dry just to get the heavy wet without charging you extra. So you either pay or walk out wet.

A day and a half later my scalp broke out in multiple areas. I’m pretty convinced the scrubbing gave me micro cuts and whatever they used after just irritated the hell out of my head.

I know what you are thinking. That it looks so relaxing on TikTok. It’s a lie. It was such a waste of money.

Cosmetic nosejob when I was 17. I can't breathe properly now.

I got my eyelashes permed right before the mask mandates kicked in. She over processed them and they curled back into my eyelid folds. I sent them photos and they offered to fix them and I hemmed and hawed because I didn’t want to go back to the same woman. Then the mask mandates kicked in and covid “peaked,” so I didn’t go back to get them fixed. I spent the first few months of the pandemic with messed up eyelashes, when they were the most prominent feature of my face.

Regret: eyebrow lamination, hydrafacial. After lamination eyebrows became like fake, difficult to manage. Hydrafacial - simply didn't notice the difference and disappointed that I spent money.

Glad: armpit laser (was enough only 6 sessions, and price even now is at least twice lower than in Bay area. Unfortunately, I moved out...), permanent makeup on eyebrows (powder) and thin eyeliner. Also, 11 wrinkle botox. It actually got even better after second visit.

Regret - Tear trough filler. I didn’t need it, wasn’t the best candidate, got it anyway. When my hayfever flares I get quite puffy under my eyes and it doesn’t look great. On the right person it can be transformative, I am not the right person.

Worth it - Lip filler. My natural upper lip is as skinny as a paper cut and I have a very full bottom lip. I adore how it evened out my lips and makes my face look more balanced. I’ve gotten it for over a decade and I’ll continue lip filler until my last day.

Under eye filler. Wish I never had it done.

Keratin treatment! I used to have gorgeus curly hair and now I have to wait for it to grow back in :( It's been a year and half of my hair is pin straight and half of my hair is REALLY curly. I'm also very unlucky to have very slow hair growth LOL.

Thread lift. Specifically Silhouette Instalift. 1.5 years later- not worth the money. I deeply regret being swayed into this by the provider. Sigh, such is life.

I don't have any regrets but I don't think I'd do my tummy tuck and lipo had I known how difficult recovery would be for me personally. It looks amazing now but it really took me out mentally for the better part of this year.

I don't regret my breast lift or botox!