After years of speculation over her ever-changing face, Khloé Kardashian has finally fessed up to both plastic surgery and injectable fillers.

That makes her an anomaly among celebrities, who usually keep their (plumped-up) lips тιԍнтly sealed. But the 38-year-old Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has one of the most popular Instagram accounts in the world—so she’s been under intense scrutiny by her 300 million followers, who have called her “unrecognizable” and “obsessed” with plastic surgery.

Khloé came clean in 2021 during an interview with Andy Cohen: “I’ve had one nose job—Dr. Raj Kanodia—and everyone gets so upset, like, why don’t I talk about it? No one’s ever asked me… I’ve done, sure, injections, but not really Botox. I’ve responded horribly to Botox.”1

However, not everyone is convinced that she is telling the whole truth.

We’re all too familiar with celebs who lie about cosmetic procedures only to later admit to them (Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid, anyone?). Plus, as far back as 2015, Khloé was reported to have spent $3 million on transforming her appearance, including her nose.2

From 2008 to 2011: Reality Stardom
At Perez Hilton’s 30th Birthday Celebration in 2008

RE/Westcom/Star Max
The first season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered in fall 2007, and by the following spring, Khloé was already rubbing shoulders with the likes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga at Perez Hilton’s birthday party. She was 23 here, and we can see that she always did have a slightly crooked nose—unless there was an earlier rhinoplasty that happened even before this, that she isn’t talking about?
At the 2008 Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival

Michael Germana/Star Max
Later that same year, she rocked a lighter brown hair colour. “I am naturally dirty blonde, and I always was light and then went dark before we started filming, and I was kind of identified with always being dark like my sisters were,” she explained in 2016.3 She struggled with acne at the time, too. “I didn’t get acne until I was in my 20s, which sucks and I was so insecure. And my sisters have had the most beautiful skin their entire lives, like not even a pore.”4
At Barbie’s 50th Birthday Party in 2009

S. Bukley/ImageCollect
As the sisters’ fame grew, Khloé started wearing her hair long, dark and straight, which of course was the signature Kardashian look of the era. (ɴuᴅᴇ lips and contouring would come later!) Not only is her natural hair colour lighter (as you can see from her eyebrows), it’s also quite curly. “I rarely wear my natural hair texture,” she explained more recently.5
At the 2010 Skechers Global Partnership Announcement

S. Bukley/ImageCollect
After tying the knot with Lamar Odom in 2009, she stepped out the next year looking a little fuller in the face. Rather than fillers, I’m guessing this is just the “newlywed 15”—the weight gain couples commonly experience after getting married. Also notice her big smile. I miss when celebs used to actually smile on the red carpet instead of trying to strike the perfect pose!
At the 2011 People’s Choice Awards

Star Max
For a moment, I thought I was looking at Isla Fisher here, but nope. This is still Khloé! In 2011, she briefly experimented with red hair. She only kept it for about a month, but according to her colourist, it was the real deal—not part of the extensive wig collection she has now.
From 2012 to 2015: Red Carpet Regular
At the 2012 Finalists Party for ‘The X Factor’

ACE Pictures
It was back to brunette in 2012, along with a slick of bold red lipstick that we wouldn’t expect to see now. (This was before the Instagram aesthetic really took hold.) Even though she’s wearing a lot of makeup, I still find this quite fresh compared to the looks she serves up these days!
At the 2013 Kids’ Choice Awards

KGC-11/Star Max
Here, we can see our first inkling of the exaggerated lips that would soon become a Kardashian trademark. Clearly, Kylie taught Khloé a thing or two about lip liner, as there is an obvious darker line around the circumference of her mouth. But to me, it looks like her upper lip has been plumped up as well—which shouldn’t be surprising, since we know that Kylie was also getting lip fillers at the time.
At the 2014 American Music Awards

Byron Purvis/AdMedia
It’s been a decade since the Ombré hair trend peaked, and doesn’t it look so dated now?! Khloé really leaned into it with this two-toned colour job, and then paired it with extreme contouring, purple and gold smoky eyes, Instagram brows and false lashes. All in all, it’s one of the most “mid-2010s” beauty looks I’ve ever seen.
At the 2015 Cosmopolitan 50th Birthday Celebration

Byron Purvis/AdMedia
Slicked-back hair was the next big thing, and Khloé—who often used to cover the sides of her face with her hair—was quick to adopt the style. Wondering why? I think it has to do with the dramatic transformation of her jawline. Although she did lose weight (“about 35 pounds”6), she also became the spokesperson for Kybella fat-dissolving injections in 2016. Kybella is commonly used for double chins, so she probably had the treatment done at some point in 2014.
From 2016: Fillers Gone Wrong
At Malika and Khadijah Haqq’s 2016 Birthday Celebration

MJT/AdMedia
By now, Khloé was 31, and going through a drama-filled divorce. Maybe that’s why she decided to boost her confidence by getting fillers. Initially, she denied them when questioned by her sisters on KUWTK. But later that year, on an episode of Kocktails with Khloé, she came clean. “I looked crazy, and I still think the effects are in there. I went to have it all dissolved like three times. My face was so f—ked… I’m almost afraid to do it again—I swear, I think things are still in my face.”7
From 2017 to 2018: Blonde Ambition
At the 2017 NBCUniversal Upfront

Dennis Van Tine/Star Max
She definitely had a more natural appearance the following year—along with newly blonde hair—but it’s hard to tell whether all the fillers were truly gone or if she just had her makeup applied with a lighter hand. She actually poked fun of herself for looking like a wax figure here, tweeting: “Can you guess….. Madame Tussaud’s? Or the real deal??”8
At the 2018 Fashion Nova x Cardi B Collaboration Launch Event

Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency
But if you thought Khloé would keep the natural look (natural for a Kardashian, that is!), think again. By 2018, her lips appeared just like they did in 2016—even though she had denounced the fillers for looking “crazy.” To add to the vibe, she also took the contouring, lip lining and false lashes to a new level.
From 2019 to 2023: Under the Knife
At the 2019 PrettyLittleThing LA Office Opening Party

Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency
Khloé confirmed on Twitter that she got her rhinoplasty surgery “a couple weeks before True’s first birthday”9—so this would have been our last look at her old nose before she went under the knife. Meanwhile, the rest of this look is certainly a choice. I feel like what she needs is not a nose job but a makeup wipe!
At the 2019 People’s Choice Awards

Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency
And now for the big reveal! At the end of 2019, Khloé showed off a smaller, straighter nose on the red carpet. Call me crazy, but I thought she might ease up on the contouring after addressing her biggest insecurity. (“I’ve always wanted my nose done, forever,” she said in 2022.10) Alas, the shading is more extreme than ever—not just around her nose, but her entire face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a discrepancy in light and dark tones!
On Instagram in 2023

@khloekardashian
That brings us to 2023, and if Instagram is any indication, she’s getting more lip filler done than ever before. Well, maybe it’s filler, maybe it’s Facetune. “Facetune is the best thing to bring to the table,” she said in 2016. “It’s life-changing. It’s the only way to live.”11 If you were to time travel back to 2008 and be shown this picture of future Khloé, you would never believe it!
Khloé Kardashian Before and After
Khloé in 2008 vs 2019

RE/Westcom/Star Max, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency
Khloé’s transformation is one of the most dramatic we’ve seen—and it was no doubt inspired by her desire to shed her idenтιтy as the supposed ‘ugly duckling’ of the family.

“Being compared to my sisters was something I was used to. But being compared in such a harsh way I just thought, ‘Okay, that’s my role. I’m the fat, funny sister. Who cares?’ I almost let that take ownership of me.”12

While she has been vocal about her weight loss, and more recently the nose job and fillers, it’s hard to believe that she hasn’t been undergoing more extensive procedures all along.

“I wonder if there was more than one nose job to get there,” says Dr. Anthony Youn. “She said that there hasn’t been… [but] I don’t know that one nose job would be enough to do this. I think she may have had one more recently over the past few years to create the more narrow nose that she has. I also think she may have had a brow lift at one point, to lift her brows up. Her brows appear elevated. I think they look good; they help her look more alert and refreshed.

“It appears she may have had a buccal fat removal. Her face overall looks more narrow. That could be due to the buccal fat removal and injections of Botox into her jaw muscles. That basically can help to narrow the jawline. Is she telling the truth that she’s only had one thing done? It doesn’t appear to be the case, but… I’m not her doctor.”13

“Her appearance probably changed dramatically the most out of all the Kardashians,” says Dr. Daniel Barrett. “The nose is first and foremost. The bridge of the nose is much more prominent and the tip is definitely much more bulbous [before]. In other pH๏τos you can see that she’s had some volume in her cheeks and her lips.”14

“I think she’s had a procedure on her forehead [a forehead graft],” says Dr. Charles Lee. “She’s had a fox eye surgery including a temple lift and an eyelid corner lift. Buccal fat removal. Liposuction of her neck and chin area. Bone surgery along her mandible and chin. Veneers, lip fillers and multiple rhinoplasties. That’s a fair amount of surgical procedures, but most of her improvement really came from her 50-pound weight loss, some of which was injected [in her ʙuтт].”15

Is anyone surprised? When asked about her atтιтude towards surgery, this was her response in 2016:

“We’re all putting on a f—king mask basically every day anyway. When you dye your hair, you’re changing who you are, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think people should get plastic surgery or fillers or lasers or whatever if they want it—that should be your own personal decision.”16

Leave it to a Kardashian to equate major surgery to hair dye!