2023 has seen the emergence of many new trends. So far, we’ve had bleached brows, which made us look like 90s grunge icons, and, of course, the sleek and glossy clean girl look. And now, after years and years of deliberation, men are finally jumping on the beauty trend bandwagon, by gaining insight into one of beauty’s biggest secrets: lip fillers.

Daily Mail called this development “the rise of the macho mouth,” as the Harley Street clinic in London documented a 74 per cent increase in male patients requesting lip fillers from 2015 to 2016.

While the majority of people receiving this procedure are still overwhelmingly female, it seems like men are slowly but surely catching on to dermal fillers and giving their lips that little extra bit of plumpness. And honestly, I stan.

@keeleysmithhx

I think he needs them dissolved :( #fyp #foryoupage #lipfiller

♬ wasted potential - chillytunees

@jfam.ily

he took it too far 💉😔

♬ wasted potential - chillytunees

Lip fillers are a minimally invasive procedure using filler injections. Also called dermal fillers, the goal of this procedure is to modify the shape, or enhance the size of lips. It is a fairly simple procedure that can take as little as 30 minutes. Fillers belong to the ‘tweakment’ category of cosmetic procedures, which describe tiny non-surgical tweaks used to enhance the overall appearance.

Tweakments are currently considered the holy grail of beauty treatments. A study by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found that non-surgical procedures increased by 57.8 per cent in the last four years.

Interestingly, it seems to be a mixture of diverse ideals of beauty, more acceptance around cosmetic procedures and the increased visibility of androgyny and male grooming. Cheers Instagram and TikTok, I guess. Men are getting lippy and it’s all thanks to you!

Furthermore, there is the pandemic effect and what has been called ’Zoom doom’ or ‘Zoom face’. Seeing ourselves reflected in these tiny, little laptop windows, often from an unflattering angle, inspired many to get some cosmetic procedures done (especially, because you were able to heal in the safety and comfort of your own home). Popular procedures included jaw fillers, the all-time classic Botox to smooth out the face, and, of course, lip fillers for more noticeable lips.

Lastly, people are also citing social media and their dating profiles as reasons for wanting to get a subtle enhancement done.

While some have critiqued the normalisation of cosmetic surgery, likening it to a Barbie world where everything is fake, others, like myself, argue that if all parties are well-informed, safe, and have realistic expectations, life in plastic actually sounds kind of fantastic.

However, lips are not the only thing that some men are getting injected with. Because this is the internet and men are still for the large part, well, men, there is another controversial appendage of their body they are trying to enhance with injections. Get ready for penis fillers.

As we all know, a lot of men have a crisis of confidence when it comes to their nether regions. Maybe it’s the locker room talk, the literal pissing contests, or all the time they spent sizing each other up in gym showers or while wearing cycling shorts. Who really knows? However, what we can track is a noticeable increase in people requesting dermal fillers for their penises. Multiple cosmetic surgeons say it’s currently their most popular procedure.

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Penile injections are a form of non-surgical penis enlargement that involves the injection of a filler into the penile shaft and glans to increase the volume and girth of the penis. According to GQ, injectable fillers have become the biggest new thing in penis enlargement. Men are reportedly spending more than $6,000 and up to $15,000 on fillers to increase girth by around two inches.

I am not sure about you, but I am feeling a bit disappointed by this. While the embrace of androgyny and grooming seems to underpin the rise of male lip fillers, penile injections seem to be connected to an outdated ‘bigger is better’ mindset.

The desire for a larger penis is actually more of a current phenomenon. The world-famous statue of David, which Michelangelo designed between 1501 and 1504 to be the ideal of male beauty, has a muscular body, luscious locks, notably full lips, and a small penis.

It all started with the ancient Greeks who believed that big penises were vulgar, depraved, and outside the cultural norm. Smaller penises, however, were associated with good citizenry and intellectual pursuits. It’s basically the answer to why all the Greek sculptures in galleries have small pee-pees.

Altogether, it’s probably a great thing that men are starting to discover the benefits of cosmetic procedures. Women have been arguing for years that cosmetic surgeries improve their self-confidence and allow them to feel more at home within their bodies. Men jumping on the trend points towards the destigmatisation and normalisation of these procedures. And while some of their preferences highlight more interesting cultural advancements than others, it’s definitely a cause for celebration.