KEY POINTS:
Roslyn Lusty has a refreshing take on rhinoplasty - why hide it, when you can throw a new nose party instead?
Rather than covering telltale post-op bruises with giant sunglasses, the 22-year-old arranged the gathering so she wouldn't have to keep explaining why she looked different.
"I was kind of over telling the same story," she said. "I thought this way everyone could have a look, and get over it."
Lusty invited about 30 guests to her Auckland flat, cut and dyed her hair for good makeover measure, and had guests drink out of novelty cups with noses on the side.
Her openness reflects how comfortable Kiwis have become with the idea of going under the knife.
The president of the New Zealand Foundation for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, Tristan de Chalain, said the number of procedures was growing fast and the subject was no longer taboo.
He said programmes such as Nip/Tuck and Extreme Makeover had helped "drag" cosmetic surgery into the mainstream.
Lusty's gathering was the first new nose party he had heard of here, but a similar phenomenon was developing in the United States.
Surgeons and surgical centres hosted "coming out" parties where patients showed off their new look in front of prospective patients.
While Lusty's surgery was the result of major sinus problems, she said that she had always wanted to change her nose, and the $10,000 feature was about the most expensive thing she owned.
But the party trendsetter has a warning for anyone considering a similar procedure.
"People aren't aware of how invasive it is. They had to cut through my septum and pull my nose off my face. The recovery is so, so bad."
She wasn't allowed to drive, exercise or "do anything" for at least two weeks and said she could hardly look in the mirror for the first few days.
"My face was so swollen my cheek- bones were gone. My eyes looked like they were popping out. It was really bad.
"I don't think people hear enough stories of how traumatising it can be - to your mind as well. You have got people who assume it's going to change everything about them. It's not going to make you rich or anything."
