edgepedia

Arts and culture / Screen and stage / Film and television / Series and fictional screen worlds / Unscripted, reality, and web-native series / Celebrity, family, lifestyle, and court reality series / Lifestyle, dating, and docusoaps / Wealth, real estate, and lifestyle series

General · Edgepedia4 min read

Skin Decision: Before and After

Skin Decision: Before and After is an American reality television series that premiered on Netflix on July 15, 2020, in which skin-care expert Nurse Jamie (Jamie Sherrill) and plastic surgeon Dr. Sheila Nazarian use surgical and nonsurgical procedures to help clients address skin and appearance concerns.1 • 2 The show ran for one season of eight 40-minute episodes, all released on the same day.1

Key factDetail
PremiereJuly 15, 2020, on Netflix; all 8 episodes of season 1 released that day1
FormatEach episode follows two subjects who consult both experts, who debate whether surgery or nonsurgical treatment suits them2
HostsDr. Sheila Nazarian, a board-certified Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, and Nurse Jamie (Jamie Sherrill), a registered nurse and celebrity skin-care expert2 • 3
Episode length40 minutes1
Genre and ratingReality TV; rated TV-MA4
Audience scoresIMDb 6.0 from 508 votes; JustWatch user rating 7%5
StatusEnded, with one season1

Spoilers

Format and premise

Each episode introduces two people with a specific concern they want to change about their appearance. Once each participant's story has been shown, Nazarian and Sherrill sit down with them to weigh the case together, determining if surgery carried out by Nazarian would serve them best, or if a course of noninvasive options like laser work and fillers given by Nurse Jamie would be the more suitable route.2

The subjects' reasons vary widely. Several had survived traumatic incidents that left major scarring: Katrina, shot by her ex-husband, wanted scars including a bullet wound addressed; Marla had been slashed in the face during an attack; Nicholas sought to reduce facial scarring from a car crash. Sanaz had dealt with severe acne for half her life, and Atticus sought gender-affirming top surgery. Others came after major life events such as giving birth to quadruplets or turning 50.2 • 6

The eight episodes were titled "These Scars Do Not Define Me", "Car Crash & Quad Mom", "Beauty Isn't Dangerous", "Feeling Like Myself", "I Always Look Pregnant", "I Want My Smile Back", "Fixing My Face", and "Implant Removal & Excess Skin".7

Reception

Professional response was positive. A Glamour review by beauty editor Bella Cacciatore called it the first show she had seen handle plastic surgery with care and nuance rather than as a joke, praising its emphasis on education and empathy and describing it as closer to "beauty as therapy" than a makeover show.2 The American Society of Plastic Surgeons highlighted the series as challenging misconceptions about plastic surgery; Nazarian, an ASPS member, said her favorite aspect of the show was its "class and integrity" and that it treats patients with respect.8

Viewer criticism focused on the reveals. Audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where the season's Popcornmeter stood at 53% with fewer than 50 ratings, repeatedly objected that the "after" shots showed subjects in full glam makeup with heavy filters, making the results hard to evaluate in a show about skin.6 On the aggregate scores, the show held an IMDb rating of 6.0 and a 7% JustWatch user rating.5

Place in the makeover-show genre

The series arrived after two decades of cosmetic-surgery reality television that began with ABC's Extreme Makeover in 2002 and included Fox's The Swan (2004) and E!'s Botched. Earlier shows drew criticism for extreme makeovers, pageant-style competition, and unrealistic patient expectations, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons had engaged with the genre as early as 2003, consulting on Extreme Makeover to press for informed consent and proper patient selection.9 • 10 Skin Decision positioned itself against that tradition: the ASPS described it as not a typical makeover show, and reviewers noted its focus on consultation, patient stories, and less extreme procedures rather than total physical transformation.8 • 2

Availability

The series streams on Netflix and Netflix Standard with Ads in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Brazil, and other markets, with no free streaming options listed as of late 2026.5 It was added to Netflix USA on July 15, 2020, with audio tracks in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.11 In Germany it is titled Hautentscheidung: Vorher – Nachher, and in Hungary A bőrödre megy: Előtte és utána.12 • 1

References

  1. Skin Decision: Before and After, TVmaze
  2. Netflix's 'Skin Decision: Before & After' Review, Glamour (Bella Cacciatore, July 15, 2020)
  3. Skin Decision: Before and After, Common Sense Media
  4. Skin Decision: Before and After, Plex
  5. Skin Decision: Before and After, JustWatch (UK)
  6. Skin Decision: Before and After: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes
  7. Skin Decision: Before and After Season 1, JustWatch
  8. New Netflix reality series transforming lives through plastic surgery, ASPS (Kendra Y. Mims, August 7, 2020)
  9. Plastic Surgery is Real, Not Reality TV, AMA Journal of Ethics (Richard D'Amico, 2007)
  10. Plastic Surgery on Reality Television: How Real Is It?, ISAPS
  11. Where to watch 'Skin Decision: Before and After (2020)' on Netflix, Flixboss
  12. Hautentscheidung: Vorher – Nachher, Prisma

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.

Report an error

Skin Decision: Before and After

Pick at least one reason.