When I think of Gore-Tex I think of hiking boots and waterproof jackets. Until my recent trip to the Philippines I was unaware that the brand is also associated with implants used in rhinoplasty and other cosmetic surgery procedures.
There are a lot of good looking people in the Philippines but some feel dissatisfied with their cute, God-given flat noses, wishing instead to have long, pointed noses. For this reason, plastic surgeons seem to be doing a good business in Manila although lagging far behind Thailand and even further behind South Korea, said to be the plastic surgery capital of the world.
According to Dr. Shimmian’s website, a primary Gore-Tex noselift with septal cartilage graft will cost you Peso 100,000, or around US$2,000. That’s quite a lot of money in a country where the average family income is only Peso 22,000 per month*. It seems a Gore-Tex nose is only affordable to the better off. Perhaps I could sell a bit of my nose, which seems to get longer every year!
*2015 figures: Philippines Statistics Authority
Yes, it’s a shame that many Filipinos and other SE Asians aspire to more European looks and whiter skins, hence the prevalence of skin whitening products in the supermarkets where ever you go. I’m sure you’ve noticed. And you can be sure that nearly all successful beauty pageant candidates in the Philippines are mestizo, half Filipino/half Western. The paradox is, that in my experience, Westerners find Asians attractive just the way they are.