Known for her skin-care prowess, witty humor and in-office intel, Jillian Gottlieb is the beauty influencer to follow for honest feedback on top products and procedures. We appreciate her candor, which is refreshing, as she shares the good, the bad and the ugly (versus just the retouched, and unrealistic, results we see with so many others). Here, the content creator and actress shares the details of her rhinoplasty surgery (aka a nose job), and her incredible before-and-after images.
What concerns prompted you to seek a rhinoplasty?
“It was a mix of cosmetic and functional, as my breathing has never been at 100 percent. Cosmetically, I really wanted to address the droop of my nose at the tip, and my nose was also quite crooked.”
How did you choose the plastic surgeon for your nose job?
“I went to Dr. Ben Paul in New York City. He’s a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon. I had consultations with two other surgeons before going to Dr. Paul, and I had a bad gut feeling with them. They never smiled, I felt rushed and I didn’t feel heard. I just knew I didn’t want them to operate on me. My partner had been to Dr. Paul for a different procedure and suggested maybe I meet with him since we already knew, loved and trusted him. I read all of his reviews and looked at every one of his before-and-after photos—nose job, facelift, everything. I couldn’t tell that anything had been done. That’s what I wanted: a completely natural-looking nose job. And, knowing that I already knew him and felt safe with him was a big deal for me, too.”
What was the surgery like?
“The procedure was pretty straightforward. I had an initial meeting with Dr. Paul to discuss my goals and look at 3-D imaging of what my nose would look like after. He was very honest with me that it wouldn’t be ‘perfect,’ but the 3-D imaging looked pretty perfect to me! I then met with him once more a week before my surgery so we could go over what we had discussed months prior at my initial meeting. The morning of the surgery I had a lot of jitters, but I was feeling extremely excited and optimistic. My surgery ended up taking a few hours longer than expected [five total]. My doctor said the inside of my nose was like a maze. It went extremely well though.”
How was your recovery?
“Though the surgery went well, 48 hours later I did experience a really tough complication. I had a very severe irritation to Mastisol, which is the glue that was used to glue my nose cast to my nose. My cast was leaking pus and I was in extreme pain, which were things I knew could happen from watching TikTok nose job recoveries, but should NOT be happening. I went to Dr. Paul’s office about 48 hours after the surgery and he removed my cast and consulted with my dermatologist to figure out what was happening. I was immediately put on topical and oral steroids, and within 10 days, my nose was totally back to normal. It was incredibly scary though! Dr. Paul said that if I hadn’t trusted my gut, and waited any longer to come in, we could have been looking at a reconstruction. If you have sensitive skin like me, I’d advise getting patch-tested for Mastisol!”
What advice would you give to anyone considering a nose job right now?
“I also advise to ALWAYS trust your gut. If you meet with a doctor and you don’t feel safe, then that’s not the doctor for you. You absolutely do not have to pick the first person you have a consultation with. Trust your gut, do your research and reach out to other patients if you can! I get about three or four DMs each week from people looking into Dr. Paul to ask if I can recommend him. And I do, wholeheartedly. Five years later, I could not be happier with my nose. I think it’s the nose I was always meant to have. He also took such amazing care of me after the Mastisol issue. He cleared his schedule every morning to see me every single day as I healed. And that’s exactly what you’re picking when you look for a surgeon. You’re picking the person that if, god forbid, a complication arises, you know they will take care of you. If I ever opt for more plastic surgery in the future, there is no other doctor that will touch me.”
