Women go overseas for plastic surgery, get stuck when faces no longer match passports

THREE women have been detained at an airport in South Korea and their post-plastic-surgery faces have become a traveller’s cautionary tale.

TRAVEL didn’t go “swell” for three Chinese women — who were detained at an airport in South Korea because their puffy post-plastic-surgery faces looked nothing like their passport photos.

The unidentified women flew last week to the nip-and-tuck mecca during China’s Golden Week, a national holiday in which residents are encouraged to take paid vacations, Asia Wire reported.

The three pals, who appear to be in their 20s, went under the knife and emerged with mugs so badly swollen, they looked like completely different people, according to the report.

The women — wrapped chin-to-dome in bandages — were barred from boarding a flight home at an airport in South Korea, detained and questioned by immigration officers at passport control.

They showed officials their tickets and travel documents but still could not prove they were the same people in their passport photos, the outlet reported.

The women — wrapped chin-to-dome in bandages — were barred from boarding a flight home at an airport in South Korea. Picture: Asiawire/Australscope

An image of the travellers — which shows them pouting, passports in hand — went viral on Monday. It was liked more than 51,000 times and shared more than 23,000 times.

It was unclear whether the women had returned to their home country on Monday.

South Korea has a booming and inexpensive plastic-surgery industry complete with travel packages that include cosmetic treatments followed by safari trips in Africa, where people can heal — if they can make it past airport officials.

But when they arrived at the unnamed airport for the return trip — seen in the photo with severely swollen faces and bandages around their heads — immigration officers at passport control didn’t believe them when they tried to prove their identity, despite displaying their tickets and various documents, according to the report.

It wasn’t clear how long they remained at the airport — and if they were able to return to China as of Monday morning.

The photo racked up 51,000 likes and 23,000 shares on social media, according to the report.

South Korea has become a popular destination for Chinese women looking to go under the knife — even offering cosmetic package treatments followed by safari trips in Africa.