Chinese actress and singer Gao Liu has shared pictures of her botched nose job to warn about the dangers of cosmetic surgery. According to the BBC, Ms Liu had been something of a rising star in China before she fell out of the public eye a few months ago.
In a post shared on Chinese social media platform Weibo this Tuesday, she explained her absence, attributing it to a "cosmetic surgical incident".
Ms Liu wrote that in October, a friend introduced her to a plastic surgeon in Guangzhou, where she underwent a nose surgery that left her with necrosis of the nose, meaning the tissue at its tip has died. She said she thought a "slight trim" to her nose would help boost her career.
"I later found out that the plastic surgery hospital was not qualified to carry out the nose surgery," she wrote, according to Global Times.
Photos Gao Liu shared with her five million followers show that the tip of her nose has turned black.
The shocking pics have gone viral on Chinese social media, sparking a viral hashtag of support and drawing sympathy from netizens. Many people have also raised calls for tighter regulation of the cosmetic surgery industry.
In her post on Weibo, Ms Liu wrote that the nose surgery, which lasted four hours, became the beginning of a nightmare for her.
She said she suffered repeated infections after the procedure. "The skin on the tip of my nose... became darker and darker, and my nose became necrotic," she said.
Ms Liu also said that she lost a contract she had signed to film two dramas. Reconstructive surgery, she claims, is not possible for another year at least, thanks to the extent of the damage.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
