Number of Brits getting cosmetic surgery doubles in a year
Forget boob jobs or Brazilian Bum Lifts – they’re officially last year.
Industry figures show that brow lift is now the fastest growing cosmetic surgery in the UK.
Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Katie Price, Ariana Grande, Madonna and Bella Hadid were all reported to have had the procedure, which can cost £5,100.
A brow lift removes tissue from the top of the face to raise the brows, resulting in fewer forehead lines exposing the eyes more, banishing a ‘tired’ or ‘angry’ look and mimicking the much sought-after ‘foxy eyes’.
Experts say patients eschewing the aging effects of Botox around the eyes in favor of surgery, as well as social media trends, may be to blame for the rise.
Cosmetic surgery is on the decline in the UK according to the annual audit of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, peaking in 2015 with over 51,000 procedures, but a recent post-pandemic boom has seen the number of surgeries performed rise to over 2022 by 2022 31,000
Cosmetic procedures 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 percent) and brow lifts (310 percent). (stock image)
Britain’s newfound love for the brow lift was unearthed in an annual report from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
It showed how cosmetic surgery is booming again, after a nosedive in recent years.
More than 31,000 procedures were performed in 2022, a doubling compared to 2021.
The jump was the biggest annual increase since records began, which was attributed to pent-up demand due to the Covid disruption.
Cosmetic surgery was largely canceled in 2020 as part of measures to reduce the risk of the virus spreading, leading to a continued backlog of procedures.
Some have also credited the emergence of Zoom during the pandemic, and Britons noticing aspects of their faces they weren’t happy with as a result, as another possible factor.
But the actual figure for operations held in 2022 will be much higher because the BAAPS audit only covers operations in the UK.
Thousands of Britons are flying abroad, to places like Turkey, to go under the knife, at a fraction of the price they would pay in the UK, although there are warnings about what could go wrong abroad.
The audit also only includes BAAPS members and not every cosmetic surgeon or clinic in the UK signs off on the audit.
BAAPS president Marc Pacifico said the results showed that the cost-of-living crisis was not deterring Britons from undergoing surgery.
“Economic uncertainty and a decline in overall consumer spending do not appear to deter patients from undergoing cosmetic 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.”
Former BAAPS president Rajiv Grover, who is responsible for compiling the audit, said the surge in procedures was partly due to pent-up demand.
“We are seeing the effects of the pandemic causing pent up demand, which partly explains the increase.
Katie Price, 44, showed off the results of her eye and brow lift last February (left). The celebrity has drastically changed her appearance since 1999 (right)
Some surgeons suspect Kylie Jenner of Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame has lightened her temples via a brow lift procedure
Some doctors think a very subtle change in Kendall Jenner’s eye shape 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 the number of proceedings since the audit began in 2004, with numbers surpassing pre-pandemic levels and the first triple-digit 102 percent increase on record.”
He added that the increase in brow lifts may be due to patients turning away from Botox injections and sharing their success with surgery on social media.
“The traditional method of achieving a subtle brow lift is with Botox,” he said.
‘However, as people age, Botox can make brows look heavy and tired, meaning a greater number of people are looking for a surgical solution to counteract the effect of gravity around the eye.
“The public can now see real people’s testimonials on social media, especially Instagram, and this has highlighted the physical and psychological benefits of a surgical approach.”
Pop star Ariana Grande is another celebrity believed by some surgeons to have had a brow lift after comparing her 2008 (left) appearance to 2018 (right)
Model Bella Hadid’s raised eyebrows have sparked speculation that she “potentially” had a brow lift. Bella on the left in 2013 vs. in 2020 on the right
Madonna’s dramatically altered facial features at the Grammys (left) led some surgos to conclude she had a brow lift. Also in 2002, the singer is in the photo (right)
In terms of general surgery, breast reduction and abdominoplasty were the top three most popular procedures.
They accounted for about half of the total number of surgeries performed in 2022.
However, the fastest growing procedure was brow lifts, which increased by 163 percent by 2022, with 400 surgeries performed.
Brachioplasty and thigh lifts, surgeries that remove excess skin from the arms and inner thighs respectively, also experienced a boom, with a 139 percent increase in such surgeries performed.
Women continued to dominate in terms of total cosmetic surgery, accounting for 93 percent of all procedures.
Fat transfer is used in procedures such as a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). An explosion in BBL’s popularity has been credited to the appearance of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, pictured here in 2017
For men’s surgery specifically, rhinoplasties were the most popular procedure, with 388 surgeries performed, an increase of 45 percent.
This was followed by breast reduction in 343 procedures (an increase of 158 percent) and blepharoplasty in 339 (an increase of 105 percent).
But fat transfers were the fastest growing procedure for men, increasing 336 percent compared to the previous year (96 surgeries).
Fat transfers are famously used for procedures such as Brazilian Butt Lifts, where flab from areas such as the stomach is re-injected into the buttocks to give them a fuller appearance.
For men, this fat transfer can also include injecting fat into the chest muscles to give them a more muscular appearance.
Brow lifts for men also peaked with a growth of 310 percent (86 operations).
BAAPS, a membership organization for UK cosmetic surgeons advocating good industry practice, has been conducting annual audits since 2004 of the number and types of surgery performed in the UK.