"Unhappy but beautiful": Stars who removed Bichat's fat pads and deeply regretted it

A couple of hundred years ago, rosy red cheeks were the height of desire. To look young and childishly chubby, people would rouge their cheeks, rub their skin, and eat a lot. However, in recent years, fashion has dictated different rules, and childlike features are being massively discarded in favor of sharp, chiseled cheekbones. Some limit themselves to diets and contouring, but others take extreme measures and remove their Bichat«s fat pads.

Bichat«s fat pads are fatty accumulations in the cheeks. They are located between the buccal and masseter muscles. They are especially necessary for infants to facilitate sucking during feeding. With age, the need for them practically disappears, and they decrease naturally, but they don»t completely disappear.

It is believed that removing Bichat«s fat pads is the same as removing the appendix: there»s no need for them, so it won«t affect the body»s functioning, which is why queues of stars line up for this procedure. But after the surgery, not everyone gets the face of their dreams.

Bianka

Singer Tatiana Lipnitskaya went under the surgeon«s knife relatively recently, in 2025. She had been quite content with her figure and facial features her whole life until she experienced a hormonal imbalance.

As Bianka admitted in 2023, her health suffered due to a busy schedule and high workload. This was compounded by a long vacation where the singer denied herself nothing. As a result, she gained up to 90 kilograms (about 198 lbs) in just a couple of months.

Bianka did not want to remain in her new body for long. She started working on her diet, began training regularly, and to speed up the process, she went under the surgeon«s knife. In just a month, he made her more beautiful than she was before.

The singer doesn«t hide that she reduced her breast size, and after that switched to her face and deflated her cheeks.

«I»m working on my beauty at the moment. The other day I had an endoscopic facelift and had some Bichat«s fat removed,» Bianka said.

The recovery period was not easy for Lipnitskaya. She complained of pain and that she couldn«t live her former life yet.

«I»ll be honest with you, I«ll try to avoid content where everyone is dancing, stretching, performing as much as possible. I can»t anymore… It«s only been a week, I can»t dance for at least another two weeks at all. You don«t understand how hard it is for me. Tatyana is just suffering. Unhappy Tatyana, but at least she»s beautiful,« the singer said.

All the difficulties were only temporary; now Bianka regrets nothing and only manages to attend popular shows to show off her new look.

Bella Hadid

If Bianka came to the surgery seeing a decent number of stars who had already done it, Bella Hadid was at the very forefront. Looking at archival photos of the model, fans notice a strong difference between shots from 2014, when Hadid had just signed a contract with a modeling agency, and 2017, when she was widely considered a fashion icon.

In just three years of popularity, Bella developed a «fox-eye» look and perfectly chiseled cheekbones. At first, the model herself harshly dismissed any thought that her beauty might be unnatural.

«I»m even afraid of lip fillers. I wouldn«t want to disfigure my appearance like that,» Hadid answered questions about plastic surgery.

However, in 2022, Bella finally admitted to Vogue magazine that she had lied a little and had gone under the surgeon«s knife. The model said that at 14 she corrected her family nose, which seemed big to her, and now regrets it.

«I was the ugly younger sister. Brunette, gloomy, not as cool and sociable, in general, the complete opposite of Gigi,» Hadid confessed. «I wish I had kept my ancestors» nose. I think I would have grown into it organically.«

Hadid«s confessions ended there, but the model»s fans don«t believe the matter was limited to just the nose, and now await the next story about several more operations.

Anna Sedokova

At the end of 2024, Anna Sedokova radically changed her image after divorcing basketball player Janis Timma. The star, who used to wear blonde hair, returned to her natural fiery red color and significantly altered her facial features.

Subscribers noticed that at one match after breaking up with her husband, she arrived completely transformed: a different nose shape, a tightened facial oval, fuller lips.

«It»s just that kind of makeup,« the singer»s assistant briefly explained.

Few believed in the miraculous power of highlighter and contouring, and Sedokova admitted that she was entering a new phase of her life with a new appearance.

«They say a woman becomes more beautiful after a divorce. Well then, we»ll see. I know you see changes in me, both external and internal. Yes, they are there,« Sedokova wrote.

Sedokova did not become candid and go into details about what exactly she did to her face. She strictly answered subscribers that everything concerning her appearance and procedures was exclusively her personal business.

«I gently remind you that this is my life, my body, and my business. And also my mistakes, which only I will correct. There will be no dirt. So don»t even try to spread it on my page,« the singer stated.

After Janis«s death, Sedokova wavered several times between wanting to be blonde or redhead. She did not dare to make big changes and only maintains what has already been done to her.

Jenna Ortega

Jenna Ortega became famous in 2022 after the release of the series Wednesday (18+). Since then, she has been associated with the image of the goth girl from the Addams Family. But she wasn«t worried about potentially being typecast. According to her, before this she was too often rejected and not wanted for roles due to her appearance, and she even considered going blonde to save the situation. Fortunately, Tim Burton noticed her before she had time to go to the store for hair dye.

«I wasn»t cast in many films I wanted to be in at the time because my appearance didn«t fit certain criteria. It was very hard to hear rejections and understand: something about yourself that you can»t change is hindering your success,« Ortega shared in one interview.

Jenna added that she was completely satisfied with her appearance. The only thing she would change was her height of 155 centimeters (5«1»). But nothing can be done about that, one can only wear heels.

«I don»t know if it«s a complex about my height or if because of it my body seems to say I should be able to run in heels. That»s why I can. That«s my talent. I guess it»s what I can do best,« Ortega said with a laugh.

During the premiere of the second season of Wednesday, it turned out that there was still something else Ortega didn«t like about herself: her facial oval. On the red carpet, the actress appeared with a new look: gaunt, with sunken cheeks and bleached eyebrows.

«Whoever invented Bichat fat removal should be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity,» was the most-liked tweet after the series premiere.

Some fans hoped it was just dark makeup in the style of the series, but it soon turned out that Ortega intended to look like that always.

Polina Gagarina

Polina Gagarina first appeared on stage in 2003 on Star Factory (12+). But it«s almost impossible to recognize the current Gagarina in that chubby 16-year-old girl with chestnut hair.

In 2009, the singer completely changed her image. To her status as a popular artist and wife was added another—young mother. Everything would have been wonderful if not for one «but»: during pregnancy, Gagarina gained weight and began to weigh about 90 kilograms (about 198 lbs). She didn«t like it at all and decided to lose weight.

The singer not only acquired a perfect figure but also refined cheekbones, which she emphasized with a new haircut—a bob. For over 15 years, she has remained faithful to this image and constantly perfects it. In 2018, the artist expressed dissatisfaction with her facial features, admitting that there was still work to be done on them.

«Now I weigh 54 kilograms (about 119 lbs) and I can»t lose my last kilogram. My ideal weight is 53 kilograms (about 117 lbs), when the desired sharpness appears in my face, because the main focus is always on it,« the singer poured her heart out to Regina Todorenko.

After this confession, fans began to notice that Gagarina had lost even more weight, and her cheeks had become completely sunken. The singer assures that she does not go to surgeons, but only loses weight and watches her diet.

«Society is obsessed with youth and doesn»t notice the beauty of other ages. Aging is inevitable, and it«s important for people to accept themselves adequately and harmoniously at any age,» Gagarina argues.

However, doctors believe that after weight loss, fat disappears, but sagging skin and a round face shape do not, and behind a tightened oval there may still be the experienced hand of a specialist.

«Once the singer was distinguished by cute cheeks, now in their place are sharp cheekbones. So, most likely, Gagarina had the popular operation to remove Bichat»s fat pads,« plastic surgeon Amina Gazimagomedova shared with the publication Strasti (Passions).

Ekaterina Varnava

Ekaterina Varnava began her career playing in KVN (a Russian humor show), but became famous only with the release of the show Comedy Woman (18+). A specific image was attached to the girl—that of a bitchy, sexy beauty. On stage, she steadfastly adhered to it, and many fans couldn«t even think that in real life Ekaterina was not so brash and self-confident.

As soon as Varnava had money—she poured it all into surgeries. She enlarged her lips, changed her eye color, reduced her large breasts several times, because of which she thought she looked plump. Ekaterina admitted that her desire to earn as much as possible as early as possible was directly related to the fact that she needed quite a few operations.

«There were many of them! I started earning early because surgeries cost money. But I understand that no matter how hard I try, no matter how many plastic surgeries I have, sooner or later age will take its toll,» Varnava said in one interview.

Followers are especially struck by the comedian«s excessive thinness and pronounced cheekbones. Some suspect they appeared due to eating problems and stress, others are sure that Bichat fat removal and facial contouring procedures with fillers were involved.

«Thanks to this procedure, the celebrity got high cheekbones, her chin became more expressive, and her facial proportions became harmonious,» cosmetologist Oksana Balanova shared with the publication Strasti (Passions).

Varnava herself takes questions about surgeries sharply and hardly talks about it. The comedian believes the public should be interested in her work, not her personal life.

«People are more interested in discussing how many plastic surgeries I»ve had and how many men I«ve changed in my life than my role, which I might have truly succeeded in,» Varnava admitted regretfully.