I’m all over social media so much so that I have to talk to my therapist about it. It’s becoming slightly problematic. But, because I can’t keep my grubby little fingers off of my iPhone, I’m at least really in the know when it comes to pop culture and drama surrounding it. And right now, nobody will shut up about buccal fat removal. Just type “buccal fat removal” into the TikTok search bar and you’ll see what I mean.
As explained by PlasticSurgery.org, buccal fat removal surgery is done to remove the buccal fat pad, a naturally-occurring pad of fat that exists in our cheeks. Essentially, the surgery exists to morph otherwise fuller faces into sculpted, sunken, high-fashion-esque mugs you might see on the cover of a magazine. Since it has gained popularity on socials, it has amassed controversy all over the place with most commenters online stating not only does it look bad to them, but that it’s also quite dangerous.
I’m not here to make any negative or positive comments about the surgery because I don’t care what you do. If you want it done, go off, babes. I’m not going to sway your opinion. I just want to make a point that I blatantly stole from one of our freelance writer’s tweets, as follows:
That’s it. That’s the tweet. Sorry, William, you just made a solid point that I needed to benefit from. It’s nothing personal.
This is a thought I’ve had many times since I started growing my beard. Not necessarily in terms of buccal fat removal because I didn’t know what that was until last week, but in a way that I’ve seen beards as a version of male makeup that… just… comes with being a man. In the same light that buccal fat removal has the ability to contour the face in a non-reversible format, some men have the ability to grow a beard to contour their face in a reversible format. Is it fair to women? Not really. But is it an absolute slay for men? I’d say so.
Here’s the tea: surgery fucking sucks. While most surgery is corrective and when it comes to buccal fat removal, chosen, it still sucks. You don’t know what you’re going to look like after, the recovery process is always a mess and you’ll likely have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to get the deed done. Meanwhile, men are like, “I grow beard” and boom. Face changed. Fat-Faced Frank from high school is hot now. It really is a trait I don’t think we deserve. Selfies below for proof.
As someone who constantly covers content regarding men’s grooming, I have so many of the best men’s razors, beard trimmers, body groomers — you name it. Every once in a blue moon when I do fully shave my face with these products out of curiosity, I look in the mirror and see Humpty Dumpty staring back at me. I am a beard guy and I always will be.
What I’m saying is this: if you’re a man, can grow facial hair and you’re unhappy with your face shape, nothing’s stopping you from rocking a beard.
And, every man with a beard? You’re taking it for granted. I’m talking to me, too. Take care of it. Clean it. Moisturize it. And ultimately, respect folks who decide to get buccal fat removal even if it’s something you don’t agree with. The choice was theirs and it made them happy. Not everyone can be as blessed as us walking Chia Pets.