(edit: sorry if the following is not quite coherent - it's been a very long day, and I can barely see straight! I will re-read and clean this up tomorrow. Good night, ladies!)
I am of Italian descent, and I had a nose job when I was 16 years old. I got the large bumpy Roman nose - the one that added character to my grandfather and his father, and the Italian men, (and even on my brother), but completely overpowered my face. All they really did was take the bump of bone off, that was giving me an real 'eagle's beak' sort of look. Otherwise, my nose is still the same width and structure that it was before, with strong 'lines' down the sides.
The surgery wasn't bad - I went under completely, and while I was told to rest for at least a week after, with no music, I was pounding on the piano a day and a half later. I didn't have any pain, but it was super-weird when they took out the packing!
The one thing is that my nose healed slightly crooked. I may, someday, go get that fixed. But I can live with it I was surprised to go into the Louvre and see my nose on a Tuscan Madonna from the 5th or 6th century! The same lines down the sides of her nose. I have to say, it made me feel somehow great, because my nose isn't the sort of nose you see in film, or television, or 'pretty' art.
I have never, ever regretted having it done, it completely changed my life - at 16 years old.
(I do, however, feel that botox isn't a great idea, as there are no long-term (25+ years) studies of the population of people who have been injected. At this point, my vanity has not yet outweighed my willingess to take that risk)
