Three aesthetic parameters, based entirely on nasal surface soft tissue morphology, can be used to formulate a practical rhinoplasty strategy. They are, in order of ascending importance (1) skin thickness and distribution, (2) tip lobular configuration, and (3) the balance between nasal base size and bridge height. These three parameters, chosen because of their broad ramifications for a successful rhinoplasty result, help determine the need and method for dorsal and tip reduction or augmentation, and recognize the constancy of preoperative skin sleeve distribution, particularly at the nasal base. The strategy is equally useful in primary and secondary rhinoplasty. Because their effects are regional, all other decisions (e.g., osteotomies, alar wedge resection, nasal shortening, valvular reconstruction) are secondary and can be made independently.