Priyanka Chopra, Before and After

When you've been in the public eye for as long as Priyanka Chopra, your beauty look is bound to change—and in her case, rather dramatically.

The 34-year-old actress is best-known in North America as the star of 'Quantico,' but she has been famous in her native India since 2000, when she won the Miss World pageant at just 18 years old. 

That led to numerous film roles in Bollywood, a singing career, newspaper column and multiple brand endorsements. Priyanka is considered one of the highest paid and most popular celebrities in India, and now, her sights are set on international fame.

It was her unusually full lips that first got me thinking about doing this Before & After. Then, I noticed her penchant for wearing coloured contacts (as a few of you eagle-eyed readers have pointed out!).

And THEN, I found out that Priyanka's mother, a doctor, is the owner of a cosmetic surgery clinic, called Studio Aesthetique, in Mumbai. VERY interesting, wouldn't you agree?

Let's take a closer look at Priyanka's transformation over the years:

Our first pic dates back to 1999, when Priyanka was 17. Gorgeous girl, but I would not have recognized her AT ALL. Here, we can see her natural eye colour, and that she always had full lips—although the top one is thinner than the bottom one, which isn't the case now.

Priyanka in 2000

Here's Priyanka after being crowned Miss World. Again, if I didn't know this was her, I'd think it was a completely different person. A big part of that is the darker eye colour and super-skinny brows—and perhaps even a narrower face shape. Her upper lip does look bigger here than in the first photo, although still not as full as it does today. We should keep in mind that up to 80 percent of beauty pageant contestants undergo plastic surgery in order to increase their chances of winning, and that these events are a very serious business in India.

Priyanka in 2004

By 2004, Priyanka was 22 and on her way to becoming a Bollywood sensation. Her eye colour is still natural, but growing out her brows made a huge difference. Her upper lip remains full, so I have to wonder if an implant was inserted there. Notice her nose—I think it's wider here, with a longer tip. Her hair has been lightened with reddish tones, but it lacks the healthy shine that celebrities always have these days. Besides the tinted lenses she wears now, I can't put my finger on why her eyes look so different here! Is it the makeup or something else?!

Priyanka in 2008

In 2008, at age 26, Priyanka started her love affair with tinted lenses. These ones are a greenish hue, for a striking, unique look that reminds me of Aishwarya Rai. (Now I don't know if her eye colour is natural either?!) Meanwhile, her hair has returned to glossy black, and her skin looks incredibly even and flawless. These subtle smoky eyes are seriously gorgeous.

Priyanka in 2009

Just a year later, it was back to dry, colour-treated hair and aggressively threaded eyebrows. Priyanka continued to wear the green contacts, with minimal, natural makeup. Of course, since she is smiling so widely, what is most noticeable in this shot is the bumpy lower edge of her upper lip. I don't think natural lips would EVER do that! To me, it clearly looks like something has been injected or implanted in there.

Priyanka in 2010

By age 28 in 2010, Priyanka seemed to have found her signature beauty style. She looks super-glam in a smooth blowout, subtly enhanced eyes and a soft, “your lips, only better” lipstick hue. However, I still wouldn't recognize her with these green lenses—and I'm also observing that her face seems narrower here compared to the present. Her nose seems to be more prominent in scale, compared to her other features.

Priyanka in 2012

Then, suddenly, Priyanka had that Hollywood je ne sais quoi! She was already a star, but you can see how the glamorousness moved up a notch for this 2012 appearance. Her hair is much more voluminous and lustrous, perhaps with the help of some extensions. The makeup is heavier, but polished, and her brows are thicker, straighter and stronger. Her light green contacts are now a more believable, darker hue. As for any cosmetic tinkering… I'm still suspicious of her lips, nose and face shape. A rounder face could be achieved via injections of filler around the temples.

Priyanka in 2013

In 2013, Priyanka experimented with her red carpet style for the premiere of one of her first stateside films. These vintage waves, heavily gelled at the roots, didn't quite do her beauty justice, but I do like the bold, matte red lipstick and soft lashes. One thing you'll observe with her upper lip is that there is no Cupid's bow to speak of, which wasn't the case in her first photo, age 17.

Priyanka in 2015

In this 2015 shot (when Priyanka was 33), what stands out are her sparkly eyes. I actually think this may be another pair of contacts, if you look closely at her pupils, but the effect is far more natural than the green. Her hair is darker to match, but strangely, her eyebrows are several shades lighter, a distracting medium brown. I love the intense eye makeup on her, with that gorgeous rosy lipstick texture. As you can see, her top lip is now significantly larger than the lower one.

Priyanka in 2016

On this red carpet, Priyanka played with a teal liner in her lower waterlines, and a textured side braid. So fun! She paired them with a peachy-pink matte lipstick and smoky charcoal eyes. Her brows got a little darker, and her eye colour a little lighter. To me, the tip of her nose looks shorter than it was in the first few photos, and the nostrils seem whittled down.

Priyanka in 2023

And now we're in 2023, with Priyanka beginning to head in the other direction—wearing even softer makeup (as stars often do once they get really famous). She is still loving the brown tinted lenses, which now match her new, brown-toned hair colour. Brows are thankfully more ashy instead of warm, and her lashes are nice and fluffy. By this time, she may have started with Botox, as the skin between her brows and on her forehead is very, very smooth. I'm still not convinced that her lips, nose and even face shape are all-natural!

Update: Priyanka in 2023

And the colourful makeup is back! The difference this time around is that the execution is more sophisticated. No more false lashes, for example, and she's grown out her brows. Priyanka paired her '80s-inspired textured hair with shades of pink and purple on her lips and lids. I think her lips look more “normal” when she wears a darker colour there!

Conclusion

Priyanka has been asked point-blank about whether she has had plastic surgery. 

“So far, I have never felt the need for any enhancement surgery,” she told the Times of India in 2012. “What I have is what I have been blessed with. I have looked different at different ages because I have worked on my look. I love myself the way I am.”

“I should've waited for my mom's clinic; I'd have got a discount,” she also joked. “But seriously, if I had gone through cosmetic surgery, I'd happily admit it. There's nothing wrong with it. But the fact is, what has happened to me is not surgery. It's polishing. When I came in I was raw and inexperienced about diet, workouts, makeup. Over a period of time I've understood my body face and mind. That shows in my appearance and performances.”

The thing is, coloured contacts, hair extensions and injections (whether hyaluronic acid fillers or Botox), are NOT surgical procedures. So she can be completely truthful about that, while also implying that she hasn't made use of many other enhancements.

I do still think her nose looks surgically altered (which is incredibly common in Hollywood!), but she has explicitly denied having work there. 

“Yes, this is my original nose,” she stated on The View. “Before I became an actor, I met a producer about the possibility of acting. I was a beauty pageant winner at that time; Miss World. And he said that everything was wrong about me. He said my nose was not proportionate, the shape of my body was not proportionate. There is such a false perception about what women should look like and what our bodies should look like. Especially when you are in the business, you put on a couple of pounds and people are like… body shaming you.”

Funny she'd say that, because in an Us Weekly interview, Priyanka ALSO said that she didn't have to work out because of her “genetically blessed Indian genes.” 

So do you believe her about not having gone under the knife? I think her quotes are very telling—she is fully aware that many people place a higher value upon “God-given” good looks than those arrived at by a surgeon's hand. There's a superiority in claiming to be “naturally beautiful,” instead of having to work for it like regular people!

Frankly, in her line of work, and with access to a surgical clinic run by an immediate family member, I'd be surprised if Priyanka DIDN'T make use of all types of cosmetic enhancements. What do you think?

How do you feel about Priyanka's beauty evolution? 
Which of these looks is your favourite? 
What “beauty work” do you think she's had done?