Once upon a time, cosmetic and aesthetic procedures were seen as being ‘only for women’, with breast augmentations, tummy tucks and Botox some of the first treatments to enjoy huge popularity amongst those looking to tweak their appearances in a bid to achieve the ever-changing and illusive societal standards of beauty.
But according to a recent report from The Uvence clinic, an increasing number of men are now jumping on the bandwagon, with a dramatic 70 percent increase in requests for video consultations in 2020 and many more appointments booked in over the course of 2021.
In the early 2000s, when the term ‘metrosexual’ was first coined to describe a new breed of men who were comfortable with being more open about wanting to look their best, we began to see the first hint of a shift – and as a society, we’ve continued to shed the taboos surrounding the topic ever since. Fast forward to today, and it couldn’t be more normal for men to have their eyebrows plucked or their chests waxed, and now, it seems men are just about ready to go all in.
Med-spas across the country are seeing more and more men coming through their doors as they continue to embrace cosmetic and aesthetic procedures to look and feel their best and stigmas continue to melt away.
Esquire magazine recently reported that the need to look ‘Zoom ready’, driven by home working throughout the pandemic, was behind the surge, and it seems that they might not be far wrong. 11 per cent of men are thought to feel as if they now look five years older than their biological age due to the stress of the pandemic, fuelling a particular spike in popularity for dermal fillers and injectables. Others, it seems, are showing the stress in other ways, with male hair loss also on the rise.
From Brotox to hair transplants, it seems the male makeover is officially going mainstream – and these are the treatments experiencing renewed demand in 2021 and into the new year.
‘Brotox’
Botox certainly isn’t anything new, and women have been turning to this quick and easy treatment to prevent the formation of premature lines and wrinkles for some years now – but this year, we’ve seen an increasing number of men booking appointments in a bid to roll back the years.
It seems that the endless lockdowns and restrictions have taken their toll on just about everyone, and now ‘Brotox’, as it’s playfully been referred to, is becoming an essential part of a growing number of men’s self care regimes. In fact, Botox – which is most commonly used to reduce the appearance of frown lines on the forehead – is now the number one cosmetic procedure requested by men and is no longer viewed as the taboo it once was, with more open to discussing their treatments than ever before.
Hair transplants
Back in 2011, celebrities such as former England footballer Wayne Rooney became the butt of endless jokes after undergoing some of the earlier hair transplant procedures, but science has come a long way since then and the results achievable today are impressive. As a result, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of many booking themselves in for surgery, with every 13th man now estimated to undergo the procedure at some point in their lives.
According to the Hair Society, 35 million men suffer from early onset hair loss, male pattern balding or alopecia, with many of them noticing the onset as early as in their twenties and thirties. And now, it seems there is a solution that actually works. Hair transplant doctor Yetkin Bayer says that thanks to advancing techniques and an increasingly open-minded society, men are feeling more comfortable to seek help for their hair loss, rather than continuing to suffer in silence.
Liposuction
Body contouring treatments, too, have advanced significantly in recent years, with some forms of lipo requiring far less downtime – so it’s perhaps little wonder that they are becoming increasingly popular amongst men with busy lifestyles.
No longer about removing vast amounts of fat, the focus is now on shaping and adding definition, with love handles, the lower abdomen and the upper arms the most common treatment areas statistically.
Whilst the main focus when it comes to male ‘tweakments’ is undoubtedly on the face, the excessive eating and drinking and enforced lack of activity that came with the lockdowns have meant that men are more conscious about their bodies than ever before, and from head to toe, it’s all change.
