Miami, FL- It’s no secret that celebrities have tough standards of beauty to meet and they often turn to plastic surgeons to help them meet and maintain that standard. A facelift here, some Botox there, liposuction and breast augmentations abound in Hollywood, but surprisingly enough the celebrity elite isn’t the driving the cosmetic surgery industry, it’s actually middle class women who help keep the nation’s plastic surgeons busy.
Although men are a growing demographic for plastic surgeons, women still make up the largest group of patients for plastic surgeons, especially women over the age of forty and those who are new mothers. One of the increasingly common cosmetic surgery procedures is the mommy makeover, which is actually a combination of different cosmetic enhancements which includes breast augmentations, tummy tucks and liposuction.
In 2012, liposuction and breast augmentations ranked as the top two cosmetic surgeries in the U.S., according to the ASPS.
More and more women are focusing on their arms and have helped upper arm lifts grow 4,000 percent over the past decade. Liposuction can help refine and tone the arms.
Moms may be driving the body contouring industry, but women over forty are keeping facial plastic surgeons across the country busy. Defying the signs of age is very important to both men and women. Three out of the top five cosmetic surgery procedures in 2012 were facial procedures; they included nose reshaping, facelift and eyelid surgery, according to the ASPS.
Once a woman turns forty a number of signs of age begin to appear. The area under the chin begins to sag. Lines begin to appear around the eyes, and mouth. Deeper lines may begin to set in on the forehead, around the lips and nose
Facial fillers such as Botox may help minimize some of these lines, but they cannot completely eliminate them. Deeper lines and folds on the eyelids, around the nose and on the forehead cannot be corrected with fillers alone; it often takes more comprehensive procedures like a facelift or eyelift to erase wrinkles.
The neck and jaw line are also two areas that can quickly give away a person’s age. Excess fat along the jawline and sagging skin on the neck can make an older woman very insecure about her appearance; the chin line can be refined through liposuction by removing excess fat along the jawline.
Last summer, Men’s Health magazine mapped out which cities were the vainest by analyzing check-ins at salons and spas, along with data from cosmetic surgeons and dentists. Three cities in Texas, which included Dallas, Houston and Plano, landed in the top ten vainest cities. Two cities in Florida, including Miami and Tampa were also listed as vain cities with Tampa coming in at number one. Surprisingly, Los Angeles home to the Hollywood elite didn’t even make the top ten.
Celebrities have helped lift the societal taboos associated with defying the signs age through cosmetic enhancements, but they aren’t driving the industry. Middle class women are actually keeping the cosmetic surgery industry busy and allowing it to grow year after year.
