Vinny Ohh, a makeup artist and part-time male model from Los Angeles, California, has so far invested over $50,000 into 110 cosmetic procedures in an effort to turn himself into an asexual alien.
People have many reasons for turning to plastic surgery, but becoming an alien is definitely not the most common one. Vinny Ohh claims that he doesn't identify as either male or female and this ongoing process of transforming into an alien being is meant to mirror how he feels inside.
He began his unusual project at age 17, when he got his first lip fillers, followed by two rhinoplasties, several cheeks and brow bone fillers, and many more after that. But the most extreme procedures are yet to come, as Vinny plans to spend $160,000 having his genitalia, nipples and bellybutton removed and his forehead realigned.
"The overall image I want to do is an alien. I want to be a hybrid, not male or female," the 22-year-old told Caters News. "I've wanted to be sexless and genderless since I was 17, I've been going to doctors to see if it's possible but had no luck. I don't want people to think I'm trying to change into a woman. I could live without sexual organs so why should I have a penis or a vagina."
Ohh, who describes himself as "extra-terrestrial, hot mess, self-obsessed," often wears large blackened contact lenses, long talons, and dyes his hair in unusual colors. He has recently shaved his eyebrows completely, which he believes adds to his alien look. "I do kind of look like a Martian, I have a really big head, no eyebrows and I've just been connecting with that," he said.
Vinny claims that he grew up feeling like an outcast, and is undertaking this extreme transformation to express his belief that people should not be labeled. "I'm trying to wake people up to show them that gender roles in society do not matter and show them that we need to be better human beings and nicer to one another," he said. "I do it to inspire the world in a certain way, I want people to stop labeling others or putting them in boxes."
The young makeup artist says that his unusual look draws different reactions from people. While some just think he looks weird, or even have violent reactions like chucking shopping carts at him, others love that he's different and consider him an inspiration.
"I don't look real and people love it. Some people have said they want their kids to be like me and that I'm an inspiration for children who don't feel like they belong, he said.
Vinny Ohh is set to appear in a new reality TV show alongside other plastic surgery addicts. A talent agency will try to help them make it in Hollywood without relying on their looks. Marcela Iglesias, the show's producer and presenter, believes Ohh represents a look into the near future.
"Vinny is an alien new generation of new people who want to look different, in 15 years, hundreds of people will want to look like him," Iglesias said. "We're in an era where there's people who want to look like lizards, those who implant horns into their skulls and people with full-face tattoos like the guy in Suicide Squad who are working."