Although beauty is only skin-deep, our beauty obsession is embedded deep in the psyche. As women, we are charged with looking beautiful, but no two people see beauty in the same way.

Iranian men and women favor rhinoplasty (nose reshaping); Koreans undergo eyelid surgery; Chinese women seek to increase height with leg lengthening and, in the United States, we embrace Botox, breast implants, buttock implants, dieting and hair extensions. One country’s beauty is another country’s ugly.

Author and surgeon, Robert Tornambe, tells the Huffington Post that since “beauty is the most overused, misunderstood, poorly defined word in the English language,” we rely on Hollywood, fashion designers and style experts to tell us what do to. They, in turn, promote post-adolescent beauty icons, usually starlets and models whose photographs have been orchestrated, airbrushed, photo shopped and otherwise altered. How can the non-celebrity woman compete? She can’t.

Over a 25-year period, he has negotiated beauty issues with thousands of women. Frequently, women ask him to perform a procedure that he thinks will diminish their natural good looks. He handles this issue in a unique way.

He tells women that true attractiveness is based largely on confidence, charisma, personality, and a solid beauty routine. To clarify his viewpoint he devised the “Beauty Quotient Formula.” Your beauty quotient encompasses three categories: physical health, psychological health and personal appearance, which involves habits regarding skin care, hair, makeup, wardrobe, posture and style. Tweak any element in one of these categories and you can raise your beauty quotient.

But, consider the old question: “What comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Basically, each part of the quotient influences the whole. You can improve your psychological health by improving your physical appearance. What’s more, improved psychological health yields improved physical health.

If you decide to improve your appearance through cosmetic plastic surgery or non-invasive procedures, including skin resurfacing and soft tissue fillers, contact a board-certified plastic surgeon at the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.