What is a BBL? It’s the short term for a Brazilian butt lift, which is a surgery in which a doctor transfers fat from your belly, hips, lower back, or thighs to your buttocks to make it more voluptuous. It’s not an actual “lift” because it doesn’t try to raise your buttocks, but instead tries to give the person a more hourglass-shaped figure with more prominent buttocks by increasing its volume. Plus, a BBL can provide a person with a smaller-looking waist if the fat comes from their stomach or back flanks.

According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the BBL is the fastest-growing cosmetic surgery, and most people who undergo the procedure are between 20 years old and 40 years old.

The number of BBLs performed globally increased by 77.6 per cent from 2015 to 2021. In 2020, it is estimated 396,105 people had buttock augmentation surgery. They can cost between US$4,000 to US$10,000 depending on the jurisdiction.

Basically, the surgeon sucks the fat with liposuction from those areas and injects it into the buttocks area. Other names for he operation may include “gluteal fat grafting”, “buttock augmentation with fat grafting”, or a “safe subcutaneous buttock augmentation” (SSBA).

Sometimes, if a person does not have enough fat on their bodies, the doctor will tell them to gain weight before the procedure.

In recent years, surgeons have revamped the way they do the BBLs to make them safer with multiple non-surgical options for their patients to consider. One of these newer options includes hydrogen silicone injections that can increase both the size and shape of the buttocks.

Based on a forecast by Future Market Insights, the buttock augmentation market is on track to reach a US$26.9 billion valuation by 2032, with buttock implants expected to be the highest revenue-generating segment, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 29.5 per cent from 2022 to 2032.

If you want to buy stock, you may consider looking at the companies producing these buttock fillers and implants to see how they are doing. But before you take the plunge, consider scrolling social media.

Why? Because you may notice a new slimming trend.

President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons Dr Gregory Greco says that: “In past years, many celebrities took a bigger is better approach to plastic surgery, with large breasts and buttocks setting the desired aesthetic, but that [began] changing in 2023. We’re seeing the more subtle, understated aesthetic in many celebrities.”

If you’ve scrolled social media lately you may have noticed several influencers looking slimmer, leading people to speculate whether they’ve reversed their BBL in favour of smaller hips and buttocks.

“I sense that the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way a little bit; I think you are starting to see that shift. They may still be interested in a BBL, but we’ve been starting to get requests for a more natural look.” — Joe Hadeed, MD, FACS)

Today, many celebrities are trying to lose weight to have a more fit, muscular look, and slimness is coming back in.

Recently, the Vogue Business Spring/Sumer 2025 menswear size inclusivity report shows that size inclusivity on the runway is “backsliding this year… Across the season, just three out of 65 brands (4.6 per cent) included at least one plus-size model. Four seasons ago, during the AW23 season in February 2023, eight shows out of 69 (11.5 per cent) featured at least one plus-size model.”

Furthermore, many US-based retailers and fashion companies, including Rent the Runway, are seeing boosted demand for smaller clothing sizes and falling demand for larger sizes. According to
The Wall Street Journal, retailers have been investing in fewer products that offer larger sizing, according to EDITED data. In the US, dress options that are a US size 14 and above have decreased by 15 per cent year-on-year, and Reformation’s extended sizing line has shrunk by 46 per cent year-on-year.

Global spending on obesity medications totalled US$24 billion last year.

Now, weight loss injections are the new wave. Not withstanding that some of them cost US$1,000 monthly. Ozempic and Wegovy seem to be the most popular at the moment and now command 55 per cent of the global market share.

Ozempic was approved in 2017 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a semaglutide for use in adults with type 2 diabetes. It is a weekly injection that helps lower blood sugar by helping the pancreas make more insulin.

However, it has blown up in popularity over the past two years as a weight loss champion of celebrities and the wealthy, with physicians prescribing it for their patients.

Ozempic alone accounted for 41 per cent of Novo’s total sales in 2023, equivalent to more than US$14 billion, with two-thirds of the drug’s sales coming from the United States.

Now, the overwhelming demand for anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has lifted Novo Nordisk’s market value past US$500 billion, which positions the Danish drugmaker’s status as Europe’s biggest company by market capitalisation.

This figure is mind-blowing, considering that the company’s value is more than US$100 billion above Denmark’s entire gross domestic product (GDP), and the Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs could help its sales grow by 26 per cent this year. (anxious.com)

According to calculations from Goldman Sachs, GLP-1 agonist drugs (the medication group targeting weight loss and diabetes) could be used by up to 70 million consumers worldwide by 2028 as Ozempic and similar drugs become cheaper and more easily accessible.

A recent poll released by Gallup says that 6 per cent of all US adults, or 15.5 million, have used or are using an injectable diabetes medication, with 3 per cent using it specifically to lose weight.

Bank of America expects 48 million Americans (about a seventh of that population) will be on GLP-1s by 2030.

Still, we do not know the long-term effects of these drugs on the body for people who do not have diabetes yet take them to treat other issues. What is proven is that if you come off the drug, the weight is likely to return. In the same way, if a person undergoes a BBL procedure and does not diet or exercise, the fat will come back, too.

I have no judgement on anyone who wants to enhance or improve their physical appearance using cosmetic surgery or “weight loss” prescribed by a certified doctor.

What I will say is, whatever the option, adopt a lifestyle of sustained self-discipline, that voice in your head that mentally checks you, the commitment to physically develop healthy daily routines, and the emotional barometer that keeps you in line when no one else is watching.

Over time, practising your self-discipline is your greatest superpower as you navigate life.

Have a great week.

Lisa Hanna is Member of Parliament for St Ann South Eastern, People’s National Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and foreign trade, and a former Cabinet member.