Made In Chelsea Reza plastic surgery nose job

From botox to filler: Inside the rise in demand for men’s plastic surgery

Tweakments aren’t just for the girlies

9 months ago

When Made In Chelsea returned on Sunday for its Corsica spin off series an unexpected aspect of the show grabbed audience’s attention: Reza Amiri-Garroussi and Sam Prince’s appearances. “What has Reza done to his face? He needs to sue whoever did the work for negligence,” wrote one person on Twitter. “Ok so episode two and still trying to work out what Rez has done to his face,” another added the following day. “Why has Rez done that to his face?” demanded a third.

Reza Made In Chelsea plastic surgery Reza Made In Chelsea nose job

Credit: Channel 4 / Made In Chelsea

Male tweakments are not abnormal. In fact, the number of men having cosmetic procedures is drastically on the rise. The amount of money men spend on Botox has risen 400 per cent since 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In 2020 alone, an estimated 265,000 men had botox. By 2022, the British College of Aesthetic Medicine found men made up 16 per cent of patients— up by 10 per cent from 2021. Yet, it’s still (for some reason) shocking us to see.

When Joe Jonas became the face of anti-aging injectables Xeomin last year the reactions were mixed. This summer as James Arthur and Liam Payne debuted “unrecognisable” (seemingly) altered faces they were – to put it bluntly – bullied. And, although it’s fundamentally none of our business what celebrities do to their faces, it’s worth examining where this ferocious appetite for ridicule, analysis and trolling of alleged cosmetic procedures comes from.

Credit: Channel 4 / Made In Chelsea

For aesthetics specialist Dr Jonny Betteridge, the continually judgemental reaction to men’s cosmetic procedures is twofold: we never hear about male tweakments— unless they’re a hot mess. “What we see in the media is a very overdone unnatural aesthetic,” he says. “People can get work done and it still look like their normal face but we don’t see that representation.

“I think – with women – it’s very much more accepted people want to look their best,” he adds. “Beauty enhancements, whether makeup, surgery, or non surgical procedures are more normalised. For men— you don’t hear much about them enhancing their features in any way. People want to do it on the low down.”

This tracks when we ask MIC’s Reza and Sam to comment on the speculation swirling about their faces: Reza first agreed to chat about his procedures before getting cold feet. Sam simply said he was “ok” — as is their prerogative. Yet, while female celebrities from Love Island to TOWIE are routinely detailing their procedures, men still seemingly carry surgery shame.

Credit: ITV / This Morning

“Men who come to me are from a wide demographic of ages,” says Dr Jonny of his clients. “But predominantly they’re between say 25 to 35. The most popular treatments would be in the upper face. So, botox and then mid-face filler. Particularly guys who’ve lost volume in the mid-section of their face – that’s a really common area of treatment. And male sculpting: contouring their features, cheeks, jawline, chin, and profile balancing.

“Looking at Sam and Reza’s faces, they’ve both definitely had work done,” he says. “Reza’s cheeks, jawline, chin and lips appear to have some degree of enhancement. His lip shape and volume has increased and his cheekbones, jawline and chin structure appear much more contoured in nature.

“Sam’s jawline and cheek structure is definitely more enhanced than what I may expect from someone who’s not had any treatment,” he continues. “The projection of the cheek is probably out of the realms of his normal cheekbone.”

Credit: James Veysey/ Shutterstock

Fundamentally, whether men are admitting it or not— cosmetic procedures are becoming more common for everyone – an effect Dr Jonny attributes to the Kardashians. When the results aren’t natural, trolls unstoppably rush to Twitter. And there’ll always be those whose opinion is firmly humans should “grow old gracefully” rather than fighting our steady decay.

“I’m very much of the opinion the way we look impacts the way we feel,” says Dr Jonny. “Hair cuts, make up, fashion, the gym— physical appearance is such a big influence in our daily lives, whether in a work setting or your dating life and how people perceive you. As long as someones done their research carefully and don’t go down the path of a poorly skilled practitioner who’ll overfill them with botox, it’s just people wanting to look their best.”