Become a beauty… or a beast?

14 Feb, 2009 06:10 / Updated 15 years ago

Many women go under the knife seeking perfection, though they are not often successful. Plastic surgery is booming in Russia – but too many operations are going wrong.

‘Change your face and it will change your life’… Elina Danilina trusted the slogan of a plastic surgery TV show which promised to make her dreams come true.

For weeks under the eyes of cameras, doctors created her new image, but her hopes of a magical transformation turned into a nightmare.

“I went to see my doctor and he assured me everything would be ok. Several months later my eye went dry. It was red and burning. It was painful,” Elina says.

Elina now has to go under the plastic surgeon’s knife again, but this time she knows the dangers. Another mistake may leave her blind.

It is said that in Russia only one out of four plastic surgery procedures is successful, and one woman in a hundred will die as a result of a face lift.

Unfortunately, the world of the rich and glamourous is seductive, and too many are charmed with the motto of ‘a new face is a new life’.