Barbra Streisand Explains Why She Never Got A Nose Job - & It's A Damn Good Reason!

Barbra Streisand is getting candid about her appearance.

Ahead of the release of the her memoir, My Name is Barbra, the Grammy-winning songstress is giving fans a sneak peak of what we can expect to hear more about when it drops on Tuesday.

In an excerpt obtained by People on Monday, the Funny Girl actress opened up about her iconic look, revealing she was told many times throughout her career to get a nose job and to consider dental work in order to become more marketable — but she wasn’t ever sold. She writes:

“I thought, ‘Isn’t my talent enough?’ A nose job would hurt and be expensive. Besides, how could I trust anyone to do exactly what I wanted and no more?”

It is an issue with any cosmetic surgery — it’s not always the look of your dreams. Beyond that, she says she’s actually always liked the shape of her nose!

“Besides, I liked long noses … the Italian actress Silvana Mangano had one, and everyone seemed to think she was beautiful.”

Good for her! But most importantly Babs feared how surgery could potentially affect her musical sound! She says:

“It was too much of a risk. And who knew what it might do to my voice? Once a doctor told me I had a deviated septum … maybe that’s why I sound the way I do.”

It’s a really good point! She wouldn’t be the first person to get surgery in the nasal area and find it changed how they sounded! She’s absolutely beautiful, anyway — so why risk that once-in-a-lifetime voice?

But she has clearly been aware of criticism of her looks. In another excerpt, Barbra remembers a 1964 Time magazine story in which her nose was referred to as a “shrine” that gave her the “essence of hound.”

Ouch… You know that one stung if she’s held onto it for 60 years now! But she reflects now:

“I guess when you become famous, you become public property. You’re an object to be examined, photographed, analyzed, dissected … and half the time I don’t recognize the person they portray. I’ve never gotten used to it, and I try to avoid reading anything about myself.”

After all this time, she says she’s “still hurt by the insults” that she “can’t quite believe the praise.” Aw! Well, the insults are B.S. and the praise is well deserved!