This Is What 6 Faces Look Like After Being Photoshopped By South Korean Plastic Surgeons

South Korea is the world leader in cosmetic surgeries. South Korea has had the most cosmetics operations among its population compared to any other country since 2009. And last year, nearly 50,000 overseas visitors travelled to the country for cosmetic surgery. That's a 17 percent increase from the previous year!

Turns out, with that many foreigners traveling to South Korea to go under the knife, there are services that help them do it. One of those is My Seoul Secret, which works as a liaison for westerners trying to navigate the world of South Korean plastic surgery. And not only do they help you once you get to Seoul, they do consultations. So, in order to get a better idea of exactly what it’s like going under the knife there, and why so many people are flocking to the country, six brave members of the BuzzFeed London office sent photographs of themselves over for assessment. Here’s what two practicing surgeons said they would do to our faces.

Views on plastic surgery:

"So I'm really not into plastic surgery — even if I had all the money in the world I just don't think it's something I would do, mainly because the thought of someone cutting me open scares the life out of me, and also because I like my face. I mean, yeah, I could have clearer skin, but that can easily be 'fixed' with makeup."

"She has attractive eyes, but she could see a noticeable enhancement in her facial balance and harmony. Her hairline can be brought down through a hair transplant to make the upper third of her face more proportionate to the lower two thirds.

"A rhinoplasty to lengthen her nose and bring in her alar wings [the sides of the nose] can also improve the aesthetics of her mid-face. Careful concern should be placed to keep her natural ethnic beauty markers. Lower blepharoplasty [eyelid surgery] or fillers can help to treat her tear trough depression, and a brow lift can treat the puffiness of the upper eyelid.

"Facial contouring treatments and orthognathic [jaw] procedures such as anterior segmental osteotomy (ASO) of the mandible along with orthodontics may be an option. This can improve her facial skeletal balance and proportions."

Recommended treatments:

• Acne scar treatment (laser treatment is possible, but peels are safer)

• ASO orthognathic jaw surgery (protruded mouth surgery)

• Jaw reduction and facial contouring

• Jawline or submental facial liposuction

• Rhinoplasty (lateral osteotomy for narrowing the bridge, tip with septal cartilage, alar reduction), short nose correction

• Lower blepharoplasty, under-eye fat graft

• Brow lift

Views on plastic surgery:

"I think plastic surgery is good in small doses — it's kind of ridiculous when you see someone who's had it done frequently and badly, but I do think there are some circumstances where people do it as a way to help their self-esteem, and as a confidence builder.

"I've always wanted to have my nose done, and it's something that's bothered me for a long time. I wouldn't want anything crazy, just a small thing to fix something that's always bugged me."

"She has very nice eyes and a petite face. However, her appearance can be enhanced with rhinoplasty to lift her tip, reduce her columellar or nostril show from the side-profile view. She has hollow tear troughs, which can be corrected through fillers or lower-eyelid blepharoplasty (recommended when she ages more), but the discoloration might only be improved through makeup or ongoing skin treatments (depends on the cause of discoloration). A fat graft to the forehead can create a more rounder shape, and cheek implant or fat graft can create a more dimensional face."

Recommended treatments:

• Laser skin toning

• Rhinoplasty and tip correction

• Forehead fat graft

• Hairline correction and scalp pigmentation tattoo

• Filler treatment for tear troughs

• Mid-face cheek augmentation (implant or fat graft)

• Lip augmentation via fillers

Views on plastic surgery:

"On one hand, I think that anything that makes people feel better about themselves is good. And when you consider the role plastic surgeries play in the trans community or how they help people with physical deformities, I think it's pretty cool. On the other hand, I think the line between easing body dysmorphia and exacerbating it is very fine and you really need a responsible surgeon.

"Would I ever get plastic surgery myself? I'm not totally sure. There's plenty of stuff I hate about the way I look, but I know I'm too indecisive to ever get a tattoo and plastic surgery to me just feels like an even greater undertaking."

Views on plastic surgery:

"I had cosmetic surgery on my ears as a kid after developing keloids from piercing. Prior to surgery I spent years with my face covered up and scared of judgment, so since then I've always seen cosmetic surgery as something that can really benefit and change lives.

"As I've grown a bit older and developed body-image issues, I can't pretend like there haven't been times I've looked at aspects I don't like and thought 'there's a quick fix for this.'

"Saying that, my body has survived 23 years of me, and removing a lot of that in a two-hour invasive surgical procedure seems quite extreme."

Views on cosmetic surgery:

"At 29, I'd never describe myself as 'old,' but it's a weird age where you suddenly realise no one's ever going to call you a whippersnapper ever again, that your metabolism has drastically slowed, and you don't like all the cool things the young people like anymore. With all this happening, it does make you think things along the lines of, My jawline used to be a lot stronger, maybe if they pulled some skin back it would look more defined again, or Maybe someone could do something to the bit under my eyes to sort these bags out.

"As things stand, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't actually resort to surgery — possibly in part due to the different expectations placed on men and women by society — but I'm definitely more likely to be receptive to the idea than I was five years ago."

Views on cosmetic surgery:

"I've always felt with plastic surgery that it depends on the person and their situation. Sometimes it seems empowering and other times it feel self-destructive.

"At the moment I feel pretty indifferent about my own face — it's just a face. I love defining features on other people. I like acne scars and bony noses and random patches of facial hair. My own face is just kind of plain, but that doesn't mean I'd carve a knife into it to make it more special.

"When I was born I had a birthmark that spread out from under my upper lip to my cheek. The doctors removed it when I was an infant, so they couldn't ask me if it worried me or if it made me feel self-conscious. I often think about that. If I still had it now instead of the little scar that's neatly tucked away, would I have had it removed? I like to think I wouldn't, but then I guess you never know."

Many thanks to Dr. Choi of TL Plastic Surgery, Dr. Ko of Naturalism Plastic Surgery, and My Seoul Secret for their time and help with this article.