Search TikTok star Natali Mulakandov’s home thoroughly and there is little chance of finding many photographs of her from before her extensive plastic surgeries. Mulakandov, better known online as “Plastic Mom,” who holds the unofficial title of ‘Israel’s plastic surgery record-holder, destroyed almost all of them herself. “I don’t want to remember that girl,” she said. “That wasn’t a girl I loved.”
One photograph survived: her wedding picture, taken when she was just 16, alongside her former husband and the father of her three children. “The girl in that picture is miserable,” she said. “She didn’t love herself or the way she looked. She had no confidence.”
Today, Plastic Mom and her eldest daughter Or, whom she gave birth to while still in 11th grade, have become an online phenomenon. Together, they run a TikTok account with more than 220,000 followers and over 7 million likes on videos documenting Natali’s many plastic surgeries and dental procedures over the years.
The nickname “Plastic Mom” came from their followers, and Natali embraced it. “I used to just call her Mom,” Or joked. “One day someone commented ‘Plastic Mom’ on one of our videos, and the rest is history.”
Doesn’t being called plastic offend you?
“I wish I were plastic,” Natali replied. “Plastic doesn’t decompose.”
A quarter of a million shekels on surgery
Natali describes her relationship with plastic surgery as an addiction. “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink alcohol. I’m as straight-laced as they come,” she said. “This is my pleasure in life. When I wake up from anesthesia after surgery, I feel like I’ve fulfilled another dream.”
Can you explain where it comes from?
“I suffered from an inferiority complex when I was young. I remember looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw, even though everyone at home kept telling me I was beautiful. I always loved looking at models, and I used to collect Bratz dolls.”
Her long list of procedures includes two breast surgeries, a breast lift, nipple reduction, cheekbone work, eye-color alteration and double-chin liposuction.
Natali estimates that she has spent about 250,000 shekels (about $84,600) on procedures so far, including 39,000 shekels (about $13,200) for an eye-color procedure in France.
Maintaining the look also comes at a price. “I spend several thousand shekels a month on it,” she said. “My nails cost 1,500 shekels (about $508) and need maintenance every three weeks. I have 400 grams of hair extensions that cost me 10,000 shekels (about $3,384), and I replace them every four months.”
For Natali, almost nothing is off limits. “I dream of having a Brazilian butt lift,” she said. “I have no red lines. I can do anything, except change my sex because I do not need to.”
Natali and Or began creating content together in 2021. “I suggested we do some viral trend together,” Or recalled. “She agreed, but warned me that we’d get comments because she isn’t a conventional mother.”
They uploaded a TikTok video, and the attention came almost immediately. “It took off very quickly,” Or said. “I got huge numbers of comments, and we started building a routine of filming content for social media.”
What kind of mother is she?
“Whenever she came to my school, everyone would say, ‘Or’s mom is so beautiful,’” Or said. “People thought she was my sister. They couldn’t believe she was my mother. Back then she hadn’t started having all the surgeries yet. She was natural and beautiful.”
'Whenever she came to my school, everyone would say, "Or’s mom is so beautiful"'
(Photo: Ryan Frois)
How did you feel when your mother started having plastic surgery?
“At first, I was worried. I remember that toward the end of high school, Mom started changing her appearance quite dramatically. I was afraid of how people around us would react. They remembered her as a beautiful, natural-looking woman, and suddenly she had very full lips and eyelash implants. At first, I was embarrassed.”
Natali: “I didn’t go to parent-teacher meetings like everyone else. My son’s teacher knew she had to schedule me at a separate time and date from the other parents because my son was embarrassed that I would attract all the attention. Before I go out of the house, I have to take a deep breath.”
Or: “We’re afraid to go to the beach with Mom. We know a crowd will form around her and people will swarm her, and we don’t want to take that risk.”
Has anything like that ever happened to you?
“Once, at the mall, where suddenly there were around 50 kids crowded around us.”
Natali: “Women come up to me and ask whether my lips make it difficult for me to eat. I get asked some very strange questions.”
Or: “People have written to me asking how I’m not embarrassed to walk down the street with my mother.”
Some encounters have been more frightening. One man once showed up outside their home and threatened to kill himself if Natali refused to have a relationship with him. “I started talking to him and explained that I didn’t actually know him,” she recalled.
Since then, the family has installed CCTV cameras at the entrance to the home.
Plastic Mom Natali Mulakandov
(Photo: Ryan Frois)
Or, when you feel your mother is going too far with the surgeries, do you feel comfortable telling her?
“Of course. With the butt lift she wants to have now, I tell her that’s a red line, especially because it’s a more complicated procedure and can be life-threatening.”
Natali, what does your ex-husband say about the changes you’ve made?
“He says this isn’t the woman he married. I remember when I wanted to have my first breast surgery, he told me that only prostitutes did things like that. Once I started changing my appearance, a lot of people around us talked about me.”
Who do you think is the most beautiful woman in the world?
“Kim Kardashian. She’s my role model. I think she’s stunning.”
But Kim doesn’t have lips like yours.
“True, but she’s had work done, and a lot of it isn’t visible. Mine are visible because I’ve always loved big lips and light-colored eyes.”
Harsh comments on social media
Alongside the mother-daughter TikTok account, Or is beginning a music career. She recently released her debut single, "Milchamot" (wars). “I wrote it about Mom’s ex,” she said. “It was a very toxic relationship. He didn’t support our relationship and tried to separate us.”
Do you think people will take you seriously as a singer? Will they be able to separate you from your mother?
“It depends. Some people can see me for who I am, while others have already formed an opinion of me because of the videos I make with my mother.”
Maybe it’s time to cut the cord?
“Absolutely not. TikTok is our quality time together. We film content for social media, travel and have fun. I’m not going to be the one who stops my mother. I’ll always support her. I can tell her when I think something she’s doing is excessive, but ultimately those are her decisions. She’s a grown woman.”
'TikTok is our quality time together'
(Photo: Ryan Frois)
The two recently returned from a trip together to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, not to explore the local culture but to check out the city’s clinics. While there, Plastic Mom underwent neck liposuction, jawline contouring and, to top it off, a plasma treatment.
Although Or regularly accompanies her mother to operating rooms, she has no interest in going under the knife herself. “She hasn’t done anything! Not even a Botox injection,” Natali said.
Or: “Mom scheduled surgery for me because I have a deviated septum that I want to fix, but I got cold feet at the last minute.”
I went through the comments on your TikTok videos, and I have to admit, they weren’t easy to read.
Natali: “There are quite a few harsh comments, almost all of them about my appearance and sexuality. I get sexual offers from men willing to pay me 100,000 shekels just so I can be their queen and they can be my slaves. Men write to me saying their dream is to kiss someone with lips like mine.
“I’m aware that quite a few men see me as some kind of fantasy. I notice it when I’m driving and men stare at me so intensely they look like they’re about to crash. I’ve also overheard women arguing with their partners in the street because they dared to look at me: ‘Why are you looking at her? You think that’s attractive?’”
Or: “It’s gotten to the point where men send me private messages asking me to introduce them to my mother.”
Unlike many social media stars, Natali and Or have not yet managed to turn their large TikTok following into a source of income.
“We’re not there,” Natali said. “Everything we do on social media comes from wanting to do what we enjoy, not from a desire to become famous or make money. I was offered a campaign promoting pills to boost sexual desire, but I don’t see myself marketing something like that as Plastic Mom. What I want is simply to do what I love. I’ve been drawn to the spotlight since I was young, and I took voice lessons.”
Kim Kardashian, her role model
(Photo: Wagner Meier/Getty Images for Disney+)
So did we miss out on Plastic Mom as a singer?
“I sang opera. I even auditioned for the Israeli Opera for ‘The Phantom of the Opera.’ That was my dream. I was supposed to travel and perform around the world, but my mother stopped it because I’m an only child.”
When she is not busy on social media or planning her next procedure, Natali works as a nursing aide. She previously worked at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) and now works for a private company.
Can a nursing salary really support the surgeries and travel?
“Absolutely not. I have priorities in life, and I’ve worked to put myself in a position where I can live comfortably and fulfill my dreams. I was fortunate to receive an inheritance from my grandfather, whom I cared for for 12 years while he had Alzheimer’s. He left me a substantial amount, more than 1 million shekels. I invested the money in different ways so it could generate additional income.”
I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of speculation about where the money comes from.
“I’ve heard everything. People think I have a sponsor behind me who finances my lifestyle. I’ve been called every name you can imagine, including ‘escort’ and ‘prostitute.’ None of it gets to me.”
Do you read the comments?
Or: “I read them and move on. I’ve been dealing with nasty comments for more than five years. People don’t really know us.”
Is there one comment that stayed with you?
“That I’m exploiting my mother, that I don’t really love her and that I’m using her to promote myself.”
Natali: “There are people who hate us just because of the way I look. They wish us dead. One guy posted a TikTok video spreading a rumor that I had died.”
Or: “I remember going live on TikTok and people started writing that they were sorry for my loss because my mother had died. I had to push back against the rumor and prove to everyone that she was alive.”
Natali, would you consider an offer from Playboy?
“I like seeing the women who pose for Playboy. They look like dolls. I would consider doing a ‘soft nude’ shoot, something that combines elegance and sexuality, nothing vulgar.”
'People don't really know us'
(Photo: Courtesy)
And today, when you look in the mirror, do you like what you see?
“Very much!”
So have you finally reached the point where you’re satisfied?
“Not at all! Satisfied with what? I still want abdominal liposuction, skin tightening and body contouring.”
What, in your eyes, defines a well-groomed woman?
“First of all, the face. Some women buy and wear Gucci and Chanel, but their faces are wrinkled and they have a double chin. For a woman, aesthetics starts with the nails, eyelashes, eyebrows and facial skin.”
What do you think of Avivit Bar Zohar? She’s also a fan of cosmetic procedures and gets plenty of criticism for it.
“I really like her. She doesn’t care what people think. I also really like Pnina Rosenblum. She’s a role model for me. I’m proud of her and the way she has lived her life. She made it to the top against all odds.”
Another goal Plastic Mom has set for herself is launching her own beauty line. “There are several products I want to release under my own name, and I also want to launch cakes under my name. I used to be a pastry chef.”
Do you think there’s a market for that? Would Israelis buy products branded “Plastic Mom”?
“We want to believe so. People here can indeed be judgmental, but the audience that has followed us for a long time and has gotten to know us is really with us.”
Avivit Bar Zohar. 'She doesn’t care what people think'
(Photo: Yair Sagi)
Even before this interview, their social media fame had already brought the mother and daughter considerable media attention, including an appearance on the Israeli TV program “Moria and Berko.”
“Berkowitz was shocked at first, but he was really sweet,” Natali said. “That’s fine, I’m a character. In public, I’m a character. People decided to portray me that way, and that’s okay. They know ‘Plastic Mom,’ the one with the big breasts and the long nails. Nobody really knows anything about me.”
Is there any chance someone could approach you on the street?
“Dating is difficult for me. I tried meeting someone through Instagram for the first time in my life at 42. There was one man whose advances I responded to, but it didn’t work out. He became obsessed with me.”
And when you walk down the street abroad, how do people react?
“People really like me abroad. They stop me and ask to take pictures with me.”
Over the past two years, Natali has decided to invest not only in her appearance but also in her emotional well-being. “I see a psychologist once a week, mainly to get to know myself better. I felt confused because I haven’t been able to find a relationship.”
Did you hope changing your appearance would bring love?
“Maybe deep down, that was something I hoped would happen.”
Is reality TV something you’d consider?
“We were offered the chance to go on ‘Big Brother’ together, but it didn’t work out. We were also approached about ‘Survivor’ when they did the couples season, but that fell through too.”
'Don’t judge a book by its cover'
(Photo: Ryan Frois)
Why?
Or: “I told Mom I couldn’t see myself being on television in a swimsuit with her. That was the only reason we turned it down. We knew it would lead to sexual comments, and my younger brother has a hard time seeing the reactions people have to our mother. He asked us to respect that, and we did.”
What would you like people to take away from your story?
Or: “Not to judge a book by its cover, but to look at what’s inside. I think that’s especially true in our case.”
Is that possible in your case?
Or: “I think people who watch us will understand that there’s a lot of depth and personality beyond the way we look.”
Natali: “Behind Plastic Mom, the character, there’s a person with a lot of knowledge, emotion and generosity. And beyond that, I’m a mother who does everything for her children, with the nails and the lips.”