The Plastic Surgery Trends Set To Be Huge In 2023

Receiving plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons has increased in popularity over time, with plastic surgery fads seemingly changing from one day to the next. Cosmetic plastic surgery procedures have also lost much of their previous stigma, with many celebrities opening up about their plastic surgery and the procedures that they have had done to achieve the looks they have.

With 2023 quickly approaching, there are a few procedures that are expected to be the most commonly requested by patients in the new year, as mentioned by sources including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Although it should be noted that many of these predictions are geared toward those in North America — and especially the United States.

In other regions of the world, where beauty standards may differ from those in North America, plastic surgeons could see more or less of certain procedures, as discussed by the Singaporean website ExpatChoice in reference to that context.

According to The Toronto Plastic Surgeons, a plastic surgery practice, breast augmentations overtook rhinoplasties (nose jobs) as the most requested plastic surgery procedure in North America in 2022. Meanwhile, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons ranks breast augmentation procedures as the third most popular in the 2021-2022 period. (In the data in its report, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons lists breast lifts separately, and it does not provide data for 2022-2023, which could potentially explain this discrepancy.)

Plastic surgeon Steven Williams, MD, similarly told Allure that worsening economic conditions are likely to make more people seek out breast augmentation procedures as well as liposuction procedures into 2023, explaining, "Breast augmentation and liposuction will be incredibly popular, partly because they are relatively long-lasting procedures [an implant typically lasts for 10 years, while liposuction's contouring is usually permanent], but also because they are gateway procedures in some ways."

Per the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, liposuction — defined as the surgical suctioning of fat from the body by Mayo Clinic – was its members' top procedure performed in the 2021-2022 period. This follows with what Dr. Williams mentioned to Allure and what The Toronto Plastic Surgeons said about the procedure too, although it should be noted that the latter also discussed non-surgical alternatives to liposuction.

Meanwhile, Dr. Marco Faria Correa, a plastic surgeon practicing in Singapore, shared with ExpatChoice that he has seen more male patients who are seeking liposuction and related procedures, suggesting that people of all gender identities are choosing to go under the knife for cosmetic reasons.

Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic also appears to have been a motivating factor for many plastic surgery patients, with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons finding largely pandemic-related reasonings among its top five reasons for patients' surgical procedures given in its report.

The Face reported that many women were dissolving their dermal fillers, such as Juvederm, in 2021, and outlets, including Vice, have followed that up with more discussions around dissolving fillers in 2022.

Based on the latest trends, the desire to say goodbye to fillers seems to be poised to continue into 2023. Plastic surgeon Steven Teitelbaum, MD, explained to Allure that patients are likely to want results that last longer or appear more natural, saying, "We've always done blepharoplasty [conventionally called eyelid lifts] and brow lifts, and the numbers are slowly growing. But what you see more and more is people who have become used to going in for injections recognizing the limitations of those injections."

Unlike an eyebrow lift, blepharoplasty, per Mayo Clinic, is a surgical procedure to remove skin around the eyelids. Radiance by WebMD writes that it is sometimes referred to as an "eye lift" procedure and is often performed in combination with related procedures.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons listed facelifts as the second most common procedure performed by its members in the 2021-2022 period. Although we've already seen some attention paid to the ponytail facelift, as trademarked by the Santa Monica, California practice Kao Plastic Surgery, this isn't the only facelift likely to increase in popularity in 2023.

Dr. Teitelbaum mentioned to Allure that younger patients are opting to undergo facelifts and that changes in the procedure have affected the results they'll receive from it, "Evolutions in fat injections play a big role in [making facelifts more natural]." With economic considerations to be had, Teitelbaum additionally commented, "Facelifts have [historically] been pretty recession-proof."

One non-surgical alternative to a facelift, called Emface, has been endorsed by celebrities including Jessica Simpson (via Page Six Style), so that procedure, and similar ones, could also prove popular among those looking to achieve a similar look for themselves in the new year.

Per The Toronto Plastic Surgeons, cosmetic procedures performed on patients' genitalia have also increased in popularity, at least in that specific practice. A surgeon in the United Kingdom was also described by the New York Post as having seen many more patients for labiaplasties in 2022, suggesting that the desire for the procedure is on the rise. (The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported seeing an increase in the procedure in 2017 as compared to the previous year, though it is not clear if the organization has more recent data on the procedure readily available.)

Another practice, North Raleigh Plastic Surgery in North Carolina, predicts that both labiaplasty and penile enlargement will become more popular among plastic surgery patients in 2023. At the same time, however, it should be noted that Mayo Clinic has expressed some skepticism about the effectiveness of penile enlargement techniques, including other surgical procedures that are performed without medical necessity.