Musician Ian Starr has spoken out about how he managed to attain his "fantasy face" without a "bank balance the size of Kim Kardashian’s."
Ian, who hails from Brisbane in Austrasia, was left disillusioned after leaving the boy band Boystar back in 2009. Inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketches of ideal male facial proportions, he completely revamped his own look. Now, after going through multiple surgeries, he looks so different that his ex-boyfriend once failed to recognise him - asking who he thought was a handsome stranger out on a date.
Ian then spent three years designing his ideal visage, with help from the world-famous cosmetic surgeon Dr Farshid Mahboubirad. Dr Mahboubirad is best known for performing procedures on The Human Ken Doll - aka Rodrigo Alves. In 2015 Ian flew to Iran to undergo a chin implant, fat transfers from his mouth into his cheeks, a brow lift, and Botox – paying just over $4,000 for the various procedures.
Commenting on his life after going under the knife in a recent interview, Ian stated: "I don’t hate the person I was before. I think he was happy enough, but somewhere along the way I lost myself – I can’t say why or when, but it just happened. I had to get out of it and change. Now my career and confidence are back, I’m finally happy again."
He added: "You don’t have to have the same bank balance as a celebrity to look like the rich and famous ... I had rhinoplasty and cheek implants done in Los Angeles, USA, which cost me £3,858. I wasn’t entirely happy with my results and wanted something more extreme, so I researched various cosmetic surgeons and eventually found a doctor in Iran, who promised he could make me look like a prince."
"People who say plastic surgery isn’t going to change anything are liars. We all manipulate ourselves somehow – whether it’s contouring with make-up, shaving or dyeing our hair. The only difference with me is that I make my changes permanent. I’ll admit - the surgery was pretty brutal and the recovery was painful, so I spent two weeks in care in Iran and another few months at home just resting."
Ian’s songwriting career has taken off since his surgery, and his song have been used in the Netflix movie The Kissing Booth. He's also been shortlisted for the Eurovision song contest for Australia, and he puts at least some of his success down to how well he has cared for himself since the procedures. However, despite the happiness that surgery has brought him, Ian says that you should choose your procedures responsibly and carefully, and give yourself significant recovery time afterwards.
