Today, a trend for cartoonish curves has prompted an increasing number of women to seek to enlarge their nails, and so-called “Brazilian Butt Lifts” have made headlines.
So what are they – and where did they come from?
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Who invented BBL?
Renowned Brazilian plastic surgeon Ivo Pitanguy, who died aged 90 in 2016, is widely credited with inventing the Brazilian butt lift (BBL).
It was first described in 1964 in a paper he published in the medical journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, as a surgical technique to correct sagging buttocks.
In the 1970s and 1980s he published further research on cosmetic surgery for the gluteal region, publicizing the fat grafting technique used in modern BBLs.
Other surgeons, including Argentina’s José Robles, also experimented with placing silicone implants in muscle tissue to create a more rounded rear.
Why did they become popular?
Until the 2000s, BBLs remained relatively uncommon in cosmetic surgery. After 2010, there was a rise in demand.
According to the International Society of Aesthetic and Cosmetic Surgery, the number of BBLs – or “buttock augmentations” – performed worldwide between 2014 and 2015 increased by 30%, to 320,000.
By 2022, this had soared to more than 820,000.
The rising prominence of reality star Kim Kardashian and rappers like Nicki Minaj are credited with shifting beauty norms in favor of exaggerated hourglass figures with tiny waists and big bottoms.
Types of BBL
Surgical BBLs usually involve removing fat from a patient’s hips, thighs, or abdomen and injecting it into the buttocks to increase its volume.
Alternatively, silicone implants can be placed in the buttocks.
Non-surgical BBLs have also emerged as a less invasive and cheaper ‘high street’ alternative, where dermal filler is injected into the buttocks to increase their size.
However, this also carries risks with some cases of patients being hospitalized with life-threatening infections after undergoing the procedure with unregulated, non-medical practitioners.
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Is it allowed in UK?
In 2018, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) declared a voluntary moratorium on BBLs and advised its members not to perform them
This followed the death in August 2018 of 29-year-old Leah Cambridge, who had traveled to Turkey to undergo £3,000 BBL surgery, where fat was harvested via liposuction from her stomach and transferred via a tube to her buttocks.
He died as a result of complications during surgery. An autopsy in England revealed that fat had entered her veins, causing a fatal fat embolism.
In 2022, BAAPS issued new guidelines recommending that surgeons perform only one procedure called superficial gluteal lipofilling (SGL).
This uses fat harvested from other parts of the body, but injects it just under the skin, instead of deep into the muscles as in a full BBL.
BAAPS also advises that surgeons performing SGL should use ultrasound to guide the procedure.