The number of Brits who have plastic surgery doubles in one year
Forget boob jobs or Brazilian bum lifts — it’s officially yesteryear.
Industry figures show that a brow lift is now the fastest growing cosmetic procedure in Britain.
Kylie, Kendall Jenner, Katie Price, Ariana Grande, Madonna and Bella Hadid are rumored to have had the procedure, which could cost £5,100.
A brow lift involves cutting tissue from the top of the face to lift the brows resulting in a reduction in forehead lines that further expose the eyes, banishing the “tired” or “angry” look and simulating the much desired “faux-eyes”.
Experts say patients’ avoidance of the aging effects of Botox around the eye area in favor of surgery, as well as social media trends, may be behind the uptick.
Plastic surgery has been on the decline in the UK according to the British Association of Plastic Surgeons annual review, peaking in 2015 with more than 51,000 operations, but the recent post-pandemic boom has seen the number of operations performed in 2022 rise to more than 31,000.
Cosmetic procedures that were on the rise for women in 2022 included brow lifts (up 140 percent) and liposuction (up 134 percent). But men saw the greatest growth in certain surgeries such as fat transfers (336%) and brow lifts (up 310%). (stock photo)
Britain’s newfound love for a brow lift was discovered in an annual report by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
It showed how plastic surgery is thriving again, after plummeting over the past few years.
More than 31,000 procedures were performed in 2022 – double the number in 2021.
The jump was the biggest year-on-year increase since enrollments began, which were put in place to shut down demand caused by the Covid disruption.
Plastic surgery has been largely canceled during 2020 as part of measures to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, resulting in a steady backlog of procedures.
Some have also attributed the rise of Zoom during the pandemic, and thus Brits noticing aspects of their faces they were not happy with, as another possible factor.
But the true number of surgeries performed in 2022 will be much higher because the BAAPS audit only includes surgery in the UK.
Thousands of Britons travel abroad, to places like Turkey, to go under the knife, for a fraction of the price they would pay in the UK, despite warnings about what could happen abroad.
The audit only includes BAAPS members with not every plastic surgeon or clinic in the UK participating in the audit.
Mark Pacifico, president of BAAPS, said the findings showed the cost-of-living crisis had not stopped Britons from seeking surgery.
“Economic uncertainty and lower overall consumer spending do not seem to deter patients from having plastic surgery,” he said.
“People choose to spend on treatments that have a proven track record of safety and that deliver reliable, long-lasting, and natural results.”
The increase in measures is partly due to pent-up demand, said Rajeev Grover, former president of BAAPS, who is responsible for compiling the audit.
We are seeing the effects of the pandemic causing pent-up demand which partly explains the uptick.
Katie Price, 44, showed off the results of her brow and eye lift in February of last year (left). Celebrities have changed their looks dramatically since 1999 (right)
Some surgeons suspect Kylie Jenner, of Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame, has brightened her temples via a brow-lift procedure
Some doctors believe that a very subtle change in the shape of Kendall Jenner’s eyes could be the result of a brow lift. The reality star is pictured here in 2012 (left) and 2019 (right)
However, 2022 saw the largest annual increase in measures since the audit began in 2004 with numbers exceeding pre-pandemic levels and with the first ever triple increase of 102% recorded.
He added that the increase in eyebrow lifts could be due to patients turning away from Botox injections and sharing their success with the surgery on social media.
“The traditional way to achieve a micro-brow lift is Botox,” he said.
However, as people get older, Botox can make the eyebrow look heavy and tired which means that more people are looking for a surgical solution to counteract the effect of gravity around the eye.
The public can now see testimonials from real people on social media, especially Instagram, and this has highlighted both the physical and psychological benefits of the surgical approach.
Pop star Ariana Grande is another celebrity that some surgeons suspect may have had a brow lift after comparing her look in 2008 (left) with her look in 2018 (right)
Model Bella Hadid’s raised eyebrows have sparked speculation that she’s had a brow lift. Bella on the left in 2013 vs. 2020 on the right
Madonna’s dramatically altered features at the Grammys (left) led some surgeries to conclude she had a brow lift. The singer was also photographed in 2002 (right)
In terms of overall surgery, breast reduction and tummy tuck were the three most popular procedures.
They accounted for about half of all operations completed in 2022.
However, the fastest growing procedure was the brow lift, which increased by 163 percent in 2022, with 400 procedures performed.
Arm lifts and thigh lifts, which are surgeries that remove excess skin from the arms and thighs respectively, saw a boom, with a 139 percent increase in such procedures.
Women continued to dominate in terms of total plastic surgery, accounting for 93 percent of all procedures.
Fat grafting is used in procedures such as the Brazilian butt lift (BBL). An explosion in BBL popularity was caused by the appearance of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, pictured here in 2017
For men specifically, rhinoplasty was the most popular procedure, with 388 procedures performed, up 45 percent.
This was followed by breast reduction surgery at 343 (up 158 percent) and eyelid surgery at 339 (up 105 percent).
But fat transfers were the fastest growing procedure for men with a 336 percent increase over the previous year (96 procedures).
Fat transfers are popular in procedures such as the Brazilian butt lift, in which fat taken from areas such as the stomach is re-injected in the back to give it a curvier appearance.
For men, these fat transfers can also include fat injections into the chest muscles to give them a more muscular appearance.
Eyebrow lifts for men also rose, with a growth rate of 310 percent (86 procedures).
BAAPS, a membership organization for British plastic surgeons that champions good practice in the industry, has been conducting annual audits on the number and types of surgeries performed in the UK since 2004.