Earlier this spring, Living Beauty Inc.’s Founder and CEO Mariam White underwent a rhinoplasty procedure. Here, Mariam and her surgeon, Dr. Mike Roskies, share the emotional journey and the science behind getting a nose job.

Mariam’s Surgery Care Routine

How do you get ready for a life-changing surgical procedure? Here’s everything Mariam did to get her head in the game.

LAC+Co. Blow Out

“Two days before my surgery, I visited LAC+Co to have my hair coloured and blown out so I wouldn’t look totally atrocious during recovery. It just made me feel better.” 

Gel Manicure Removal

“Normally, I have a gel manicure from One 2 One. I had to remove it because the anesthesiologist needs to see your fingernails.”

Biologique Recherche Facial

“I had a Biologique Recherche facial with MC 110 focusing on exfoliation to help get my skin in its best condition. You don’t want this too close to the surgery, so I did this about two weeks out. Then, one week before my surgery, I did the Soin Restructurant et Lissant treatment to lift and hydrate.”

Diet and Detox

“You have to stop drinking alcohol two weeks before your surgery. I’ve had one glass of wine since. After the surgery, I slept for two days straight. You forget how much surgery can affect you. Just make sure you have chicken soup! So grateful to my friend Ora for dropping off a few containers the day of my surgery.”

Post-Op Products

“You can’t really use skincare for the first week after your surgery. I used Biokiss on my lips and, when my skin was dry, I would put Serum Amniotique VG on my cheeks, forehead and chin. I’ve started using Serum Biosensible on my nose, because it’s a bit red, and then of course Collagene Originel.”

 

Mariam White

“When I was 14, my brother accidentally kicked me in the nose and I haven’t been able to breathe properly since. So, in 2010, I started visiting several plastic surgeons to inquire about a septoplasty to improve my breathing, but they insisted that I had a collapsed nostril and that my whole nose needed to be redone. The only way to preserve my ‘natural’ nose was to have a septoplasty with an ENT, but that procedure failed to make a difference in my quality of life and I gave the whole idea a rest. However, when the pandemic began, I had some more time to think about myself and how I wanted to move forward now that I've passed 40. Living with constant sinus pressure and a runny nose just seemed like something that I could try to fix instead of giving up on the dream to finally sleep properly.

But with the decision to improve my physical health came accepting that I would be changing the appearance of my nose, the body part that I had a love-hate relationship with and that inconveniently sits in the middle of my face. The shape of my nose started to emerge when I was 14 — it’s familial; my mother inherited hers from her beloved father, and had a nose job when she was 30 (on Halloween and, yes, she did answer the door to trick-or-treaters in her bandages). It used to be a joke that a Jewish girl’s right of passage was rhinoplasty, but I think that my mother had regrets about her own choice and always told me that I should leave mine alone.

In high school, I was bullied about my nose and even my wedding photographer asked me if I liked my profile. I was actually comfortable with the way it looked, which is what I feared most about getting this change. I knew physiologically that I couldn’t live like this, waking up in pain in the middle of the night, but my nose is a link to the past and I felt conflicted about changing it. My nose also didn’t stop me from getting married, building a great business and making so many of my dreams come true. In fact, I think it played a part in my life journey so far. Getting bullied for something you can’t control sucks, but in the '90s, you just moved on and built resilience, a quality that has helped me in my life. In 2020, I started visiting different plastic surgeons in Toronto who would show me a rendering of my ‘new’ nose, and I left each appointment feeling ‘meh.’ They looked nice — read: basic — but they just weren’t what I wanted — when something is too perfect, it loses that character and sex appeal and these surgeons couldn’t understand that a bump and nod to my ethnicity was something that I really liked. My celebrity references were Rachel Weisz, Hailey Bieber for her cute bump, the Kates (Winslet and Blanchett) and the goddess Isabella Rossellini, most of whom definitely have more prominent noses.

The truth is that each time I visited a plastic surgeon I was looking for a reason to say no. Was their bathroom clean? Did their staff look too ‘done?’ Was their schedule too open? When I found Dr. Roskies on Instagram, I noticed that his ‘after’ noses looked very natural. He performs preservation rhinoplasty, which is best suited for a patient like me because I wanted to reduce or lower the hump rather than change my entire look. But I still walked into his office with every excuse not to, wondering if he could even operate based on the fact that I had a previous surgery. After a lengthy one hour consult, Dr. Roskies determined that I had enough material to work with (turns out the previous surgeon removed zero septum), explained the process and drew out a nose on an iPad in front of me. To my surprise I put down the deposit right then and there. It just felt right.

Now, a few weeks after the surgery, there have definitely been some psychological ups and downs because I’m in that adjustment period where I am still getting used to my face. The pain was actually minimal, although my face swelled up pretty badly during the first week of recovery. I am very happy with my choice of doctor. Dr. Roskies truly listened to me and was conservative with the change, leaving a little bump and explaining everything clearly throughout this whole process. Most importantly, my septum is perfectly straight — I felt that rush of cold air through my nostrils when I woke up from surgery. What’s been really nice is that people keep telling me I look like myself and I can’t stop staring at my profile in the bathroom mirror. After 30 years, I’m not letting my bullies win, but doing this for myself and on my own terms.

My mother told me a funny story before my surgery to make me feel better about changing my nose’s character. My Bubby — grandmother — saw her for the first time after her rhinoplasty and asked, ‘Why didn’t you make it smaller?’”

 

Dr. Mike Roskies

“There are three major camps of rhinoplasty. The first is subtractive or reductive rhinoplasty. The problem with that technique is that when you remove tissues from a nose that not only have form but also function, it loses both. When you disrupt those valves, patients can’t breathe afterwards and the nose collapses over time. To counteract that, in the late 1980s surgeons developed a technique called structural rhinoplasty, which is what most surgeons are using today. This is taking cartilage from elsewhere in the body and using it to actually reinforce and strengthen the nose so that it doesn’t fall apart after you reduce some aspects of it.

Preservation rhinoplasty, which is the technique I use, has gained a lot of popularity in the last five years. The concept is, instead of rebuilding and reconstructing the nose, it should always feel the same and, most importantly, you should not have any long-term complications. It feels more natural, and it looks more natural. There isn’t too much you need to do by way of preparation. You have to be fit both physically and mentally and in the best possible shape you can be in. You also have to be mentally prepared for the long haul, as you’re going to have good days and bad days.

In recovery, there’s the rule of twos. It takes two weeks after surgery to look socially presentable, where you can walk on the street without major bruising or swelling and being noticed by a passerby. Then it takes two months for you to feel comfortable with your nose, when the changes are most substantial. Over the next two years is when the waiting game begins. It takes a very long time for swelling to go down, and the earliest you’ll see the final result is in eight to 10 months, but it often takes 12 months to two full years. It is an absolute journey.

Dr. Mike Roskies, MD, MSC, FRCSC, is a facial plastic surgeon and the owner of Yorkville Plastic Surgery in Toronto.

 

Mariams Post-Op Products