No Surprise, Men Turn to Cosmetic Surgery

Until not long ago, in your classic family, cosmetic surgery was completely out of the question. For the last twenty years, though, cosmetic surgery started to move from the "stars-only" area to the regular families and now it really is something regular - for women. It's time for that to change, and according to reports it's changing already: cosmetic surgery for men is now a blooming industry, despite the recession. The most popular thing? Removing manbags!

Dragon's Den Millionaire Duncan Bannatyne is the latest in a growing list of high profile men admitting to going under the knife to remove tired looking eye bags (Manbags) during a recent interview with Hello magazine, others have included the Apprentice's Sir Alan Sugar, heartthrob George Clooney and lead singer in U2, Bono.

Latest figures from Transform, the UK's largest cosmetic surgery provider indicates a staggering 102% increase, year-on-year, for the procedure among its male customers.

Cosmetic Surgery in the Credit Crunch

Transform surgeon, Dr Lorraine Ishak comments: "Job losses have already begun and more men are realising that they need to smarten up and look alert to stand out from the crowd. Today this goes beyond just wearing a smart suit." A tired looking man will still look tired even with a sharp haircut and clean shave. It's important to project a positive can do attitude at all times.

The group, which performs over 800 surgical procedures a month is also reporting a 15% year-on-year increase in male customers for its non-surgical procedures as Botox, dermal fillers and vitamin boosting Meso therapy become more popular.

Blepharopastry for Eye Bag Removal Procedure

Eye Bag Removal, or blepharoplasty, which reshapes the upper and lower eyelids costs around 4k and is the third most popular cosmetic procedure for men after Rhinoplasty (nose job) and Liposuction. To correct lower eye bags, a fine incision is made just below the eyelash line and the excess fat and skin is removed. Upper eyelids are corrected by the removal of a strip of skin in the natural crease of the eyelid.

Growing Male Cosmetics Market

As extreme as this may sound, it is simply endemic of wider trends within the Male beauty and grooming market. Recent data from TNS indicates that key categories in the GBP617m male toiletries market are in strong growth. 855,000 more shoppers were attracted into the male skincare category in the past year, which equates to a 20% growth year-on-year.

A lucrative market, it seems everyone is targeting the male cosmetic market. Boots recently developed a No7 For Men range which includes an anti fatigue eye stick and Superdrug has developed a mew male make-up range.