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A small matter of dimension

DIMENSION. That was the problem according to May Wong of the Maggie Beauty Centre in Causeway Bay, who said my face was lacking it completely, writes Luisa Tam.

''But we can correct that by giving you a new nose,'' said Ms Wong, who is in charge of the beauty centre and one of the consultants.

She claimed if I wanted that extra dimension I had come to the right place as sex symbol and movie star Veronica Yip Yuk-hing had used their services to have her own nose fine-tuned.

Ms Wong also claimed that I could have Yip's well-chiselled nose that afternoon if I agreed to part with $28,000.

Maggie Beauty Centre is one of many beauty parlours which hook customers through glossy magazine advertisements promising cosmetic miracles.

The visit was part of a South China Morning Post investigation into how some beauty parlour operators break the law by offering illegal cosmetic surgery and using unethical sales techniques to get business.

Once Ms Wong was sure I was interested, she pulled out two pictures of Yip in a bid to close the deal.

''Look at these before and after pictures. There is a big difference and your nose will look just like hers after the nose job,'' she said.

The pictures were obviously prints reproduced from magazines and the ''pre-operation'' shot of the star was so poorly processed that it had a very grainy finish.

When I still appeared indecisive, Ms Wong said: ''What is your problem? I can give you a discount. Say $21,000 altogether and we will also give your nose a nice tip as a bonus, okay?'' She claimed the operation would take an hour as it would only involve inserting an artificial soft bone into my nose, and possibly a small cut to widen the opening for the insertion.

Contacted by the Post, Yip's agent said they would look into the allegations made by Maggie Beauty Centre and might consider legal action.

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