Miss Plastic Hungary

Winners of the Miss Plastic Hungary beauty pageant, queen Reka Urban (centre), first runner-up Edina Kulcsar (right), and second-runner up Alexandra Horvath (left), smile together after the contest in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, October 9, 2009. -- PHOTO: AP

BUDAPEST - IT WAS a night for unnatural beauties.

Contestants showed off breast implants, nose jobs and face lifts as Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 strove to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where artificial enhancements are viewed mostly with a wary eye.

'I think this competition is long overdue,' said photographer Marton Szipal, one of the pageant judges. 'Hungarians used to laugh about plastic surgery but it's time for Hungarian women to care more about their appearance. They are the most beautiful in Europe.'

Plastic surgeon Dr Tamas Rozsos said the pageant also meant to show that cosmetic corrections did not necessarily have to be about oversized breasts, bulbous lips and skin stretched to near tearing point. 'This about restoring harmony ... eliminating asymmetries and giving women the opportunity to have normal features,' Dr Rozsos said.

'Plastic surgery has a bad reputation in Hungary but its mostly due to the exaggerations.' Despite Hungary having been hit hard by the global economic crisis with the government forced to scale back spending on health services, Dr Rozsos said that the number of surgeries had been rising year by year.

'People for whom this is important always find the money,' Dr Rozsos said. -- AP