Celebrity blogger and model Peggy Heng went shopping on her first trip to Seoul in South Korea on Sunday - just a day after she had cosmetic surgery.

And she is blithely unconcerned that her face was covered in bandages.

Hours before she flew to Seoul just after midnight last Friday, she had told The New Paper: "It's quite common to see people with surgical bandages on their eyes or nose in the shopping streets of Seoul."

Which is to say that cosmetic surgery is so common over there that people hardly bat an eyelid, or perhaps a double eyelid, at passers-by swathed in bandages.

Beneath the bandages is one happy Singaporean - Miss Heng has just fulfilled both her dreams at one go.

The first is the trip to Seoul - a birthday present from a friend. Miss Heng turned 23 in May. The second is a fully-sponsored procedure on her face by Item Clinic, a top cosmetic surgery clinic in Seoul.

Among its clients are aspiring Korean stars and popular girl bands, but Item Clinic's regional marketing manager, Miss Elaine Teo, declined to name them because of doctor-patient confidentiality.

For Miss Heng, having the cosmetic surgery is a boost to her confidence.

She said: "Knowing their track record and given that this surgery is sponsored, I'm sure they'd do a good job since I am going to be their ambassador."

Miss Teo, 37, who handles marketing and consultation for the clinic in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, said Miss Heng had clinched the deal after she approached the Singapore office. She added: "We wanted a virgin face, someone who is natural.

"Peggy is a very good candidate because except for fillers done on her nose, which is an aesthetic procedure, she has not gone under the knife."

The estimated cost of sponsorship for the operation is about 16 million won (S$17,500). (See report below.)

As Item Clinic's ambassador, Miss Heng is expected to blog about her experience and share any updates for the next five years.

But why go public?

She said: "Plastic surgery is really very common these days even though not everyone will be happy to announce it.

"Many tend to pretend that they went off for a holiday and suddenly they come back looking good and refreshed.

"It's human nature to constantly seek perfection. I have one life only.

"Most importantly, I want to live for myself - to do this for my own happiness. And that means I will not be affected by what others think, or say, of me."

The six-hour procedure took place last Saturday, hours after she touched down in Seoul.

By 8pm, she had sent this reporter a message: "Hello hello. I power. Done."

And she was already making plans to have dinner and go shopping.

When contacted, Miss Heng gamely agreed to share some photos.

"Sure, no problem," she said. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's every woman's desire to look more beautiful."

She is unfazed by possible criticism, reiterating what she told this newspaper last October: "To heck with the critics... Life's a choice; leave it simple or spice it up. I prefer the latter and so I live each day like there is no tomorrow."

Supportive parents

Ms Heng's parents are also supportive of her action. Her housewife mother, Madam Jesline Ong, 46, said: "Peggy has never let us down or given us any reason to worry about her.

"We trust that she knows what she's doing and therefore, she has our blessings. If this makes her happy, of course we'd support her."

Miss Heng, who will start writing about the whole process and her recovery progress on her blog, http://thy-dowager.blogspot.sg, said: "Since I'm doing it, I don't see why I should hide myself or the truth."

And to prove her own worth, she had put off this trip to join the recent Miss Singapore International 2012, organised by the Singapore Women's Association (SWA), where she was the third runner-up.

Miss Heng said: "I've always wanted to take part in a national-level beauty pageant just to prove my worth. But I felt that I should gain some experience and exposure by doing small pageants.

"Another reason I took part in this year's Miss Singapore International is that it was for a good cause."

Nett proceeds from the beauty pageants are donated to charity for SWA's beneficiaries.

She added: "It also gave me an opportunity to be exposed to community services through the events organised.

"And now that I've proven my natural beauty can make it, I decided it's time to go for enhanced beauty."

What she had done

Miss Elaine Teo, regional marketing manager of Item Clinic, took us through Miss Peggy Heng's cosmetic surgery.

Singaporeans make up 15-20 per cent, an average of 10 cases each month, of Item Clinic's clients, she said.

She added: "Peggy's face will look more perfect after the surgery. Think the Barbie doll look, or the Japanese anime comic character."

FACE: T-osteotomy for V-line mandible contouring and fat transplant. Gathers the bones of the tip of chin and trims the chin line to adjust the ratio of the tip of the chin.

This process also trims the chin line smoothly for people with wide or long chins.

EYES: Full incision double eyelids surgery with magic medial epicanthoplasty. This creates large and distinctly vivid eyes.

It also improves the narrow gap between the eyes and the inclination angle of the inner corner of the eyes.

EYES: Lateral canthoplasty. Helps people have larger and distinctly vivid eyes by extending the length of the outer corner of the eyes.

NOSE: Open rhinoplasty. Corrects Miss Heng's slightly upturned nose so it will now slant between 95 and 105 degrees.

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This article was first published in The New Paper.