Brazil's Plastic Surgery Turns Toxic

This time last year, Brazilian beauty contestant Andressa Urach was on a tear. Wherever bright lights shone, the fair, flaxen and preternaturally curved Urach was near, wearing little more than a smile or body paint (as she did during the World Cup), winning the runner-up slot to Brazil's vaunted Miss Bum Bum contest, 228,000 followers on Twitter (and nearly 500,000 on Instagram) and drawing throngs of "Urachettes" every time she flew into an airport.

Last month, however, the 27-year-old beauty icon entered a hospital isolation ward, battling a massive infection. In her climb to glory, Urach had undergone serial cosmetic surgery, cantilevering her torso into shapes that Jeff Koons never imagined. In the process, however, she pumped her body with toxins that have made her a cautionary tale about the pursuit of accessorized posterity in a culture where you are what you implant.