The tip of the Asian nose may appear flatter and less projected than in the non-Asian.The tip may be upturned, allowing the nostril to appear overly visible.

The preferred implant material for building up the nasal tip is cartilage harvested from the patient's own body. Typical donor sites include the ear or the nasal septum separating the two nostrils. Placed from an incision made just inside the nose (endonasal), common problems after cartilage tip-plasty include rotation of the graft upward or to the side.

Newer techniques employ medical-grade "super-glue" to assemble small pieces of nasal septal cartilage into a more stable and easily implantable three-dimensional graft that can both elongate the tip and enhance its definition and projection. The implant may be placed more directly from an incision along the margin of the nostril.

Simultaneous augmentation of the dorsum, or nasal spine, may be undertaken with silicone, other synthetic bio-compatible implants, or rib cartilage. While older one-piece preformed or custom-carved silicone implants designed to build up the dorsum and tip do exist, results are less natural and more prone to complications such as chronic inflammation, redness, infection, or exposure through the skin.

Patients who have a wide flare at the nostrils may be pleased by the improved appearance that can be achieved with tip enhancement alone, making alar base reduction unnecessary in many cases.