I have wanted a nose job for most of my life. Not that there is anything wrong with my nose it looks perfectly in keeping with my African origins – flat, wide nostrils and bulbous which goes with my high cheek bones and kissable lips.

I remember as a kid waking my catty sister up and her saying “bloody hell, thought you had a double barrelled shot gun pointed at me but it was just your nose.”  Not that hers was small and up turned like the ‘perfect nose’

Remember Michael Jackson’s obsession with his nose? Just like him I grew up believing I would look better if my nose was less African and more European.

There are increasing number of African or black people opting for cosmetic surgery on their nose. This has now led to the phrase ‘ethnic cosmetic surgery’ and people wondering why young independent ethnic women are erasing their ethnicity to look more western.

Frankly I find this insulting

I don’t speak for everyone when I say wanting a nose job has nothing to do with wanting to erase my ethnicity. In fact there is not one day that goes by when I don’t wake up look in the mirror and think I ‘m young, gifted and black…can I get an amen!

Yes I have hair extensions to make my hair look impossibly long and straight – only after trying the afro look and keeping it in a perfect circle in damned hard.

When Caucasian women have lip filler or lip augmentations no one accuses them of wanting to erase their ethnicity or trying to be ‘black’

what about when the sun comes out and Caucasians are literally frying in the hopes tanning, but end up looking like a good bit of steak – before its cooked.

The same can be said for the rise in butt augmentations; I personally would never want one because you could rest your pint glass on my ass. But if a Caucasian person had butt implants would you say they are trying to erase their ethnicity?

There are arguments for and against the imagery of perfect beauty seen in the media, but that has never really had anything to do with it.

Just like the girl who has curly hair only wanting straight hair. Or the child with the over concerned parent thinking their friends absent parents are ‘cool’

We all want what we haven’t got. Simples

And that is where a good cosmetic surgeon or cosmetic nurse earns their money and upholds their profession, saving us the vain from making stupid decisions

Wanting cosmetic surgery is a personal choice, so long as you do it for all the right reasons which ultimately should be to enhance what is already there. Not to erase who you are and always will be.