Feminizing the Asian Face
We often often tell our patients that performing facial feminization surgery on a person of Asian ethnicity is very different than other types of FFS.
If you are of Asian background, either Korean, Japanese or Chinese, and you’re seeking facial feminization surgery (FFS) it’s critical to understand that what constitutes a typically female Asian face may be vastly different — aesthetically and structurally — than a typical European, African American, or Polynesian face. For this reason it’s very important to ensure that your plastic and craniofacial surgeon understands these sometimes very subtle, and sometimes very dramatic differences, and that they have had extensive experience in feminizing Asian faces.
The forehead is the key to feminizing an Asian face.
First and foremost, the shape and size of the forehead and the brow should be the main focus of facial feminization for those of Asian background. Forehead feminization typically includes reduction and contouring to create a smoother, rounder, more feminine forehead. Also, a feminizing brow lift and/or brow shaping procedure works to reduce the distinctly ‘heavy’ Asian male brow bossing and “opens up” the eyes to create a more feminine and rejuvenated appearance.
There are several key differences that we take into consideration when we feminize an Asian forehead. For example, a Chinese female forehead will typically project significantly less than a caucasian female, however, a Japanese forehead may even be different than a Chinese one, wherein sometimes the forehead is even positioned ‘behind’ the eyeball, with no overhang above the eye.
The hairline position on the forehead will also be a little different depending on which Asian background you come from. When undertaking feminizing hairline lowering on Chinese and Koreans we make allowance for the fact that they have slightly higher hairlines to begin with, so we may not lower the hairline as significantly as we might for a person of European background.
Feminizing the Asian nose and jawline.
When it comes to feminizing the lower face the most common procedure we recommend for those of Asian background is “Asian V-line” jaw reduction surgery. This is because Korean, Japanese, and Chinese males (and females) will typically have much heavier and wider-set jaws. Asian V-line surgery is very popular all throughout Asia for both men and women.
Feminization of the nose is also quite different for those of Asian ethnicity. In our experience, most Asian FFS patients will seek to in fact augment their nose to make it larger. This may seem counterintuitive in terms of feminization because typically we make the male nose smaller to feminize it. However, in some cases a feminizing rhinoplasty will include augmentation to ensure it the nose maintains a natural aesthetic balance with other newly feminized facial features.
Dr. Deschamps-Braly is a board-certified plastic and craniofacial surgeon specializing in facial plastic surgery, orthognathic (jaw) surgery, and craniofacial surgery for adults and children. He is also one of the world’s foremost leaders and innovators in facial gender confirmation surgery.
