By Kalhan Rosenblatt -
NBC News
Numerous images of celebrities with sunken cheeks, sky-high cheekbones, and sharp jaws have surfaced on TikTok over the past two weeks.
The videos all suggest the same thing: the people in the photos have undergone buccal fat removal, a type of
cosmetic procedure that removes fat filler from the midface
.
The clips also hint that the operation has improved people's appearance, because it can give the face a more defined and chiseled look.
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Interest in the surgery has skyrocketed on social media.
The hashtag #BuccalFatRemoval has garnered over 135.5 million views on TikTok;
#BuccalFat has amassed over 48.4 million;
and #BuccalFatPadRemoval has another 5.1 million.
However, a growing number of TikTok users are using hashtags to oppose this trend, which they see as one of the unattainable beauty standards often amplified on social media.
They are encouraging users to accept their fuller faces, rather than alter them.
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“In the age of Instagram faces, if you can find a way to love what makes you different from others, I think it's a very powerful thing,” said Sari Oister, a user who recorded a video celebrating her round face.
The surgery itself is not new.
New York-based plastic surgeon Steven M. Levine told People magazine that the procedure, which takes about 30 minutes, is at least 50 years old.
Some celebrities, such as model and businesswoman Chrissy Teigen, have openly stated that they have undergone the procedure.
But the term mouth fat, and the process itself, went viral after actress Lea Michele posted a selfie on Instagram last week, sparking speculation that she had undergone the operation.
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Michele, star of the Broadway play
Funny Girl
, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some people who spoke to NBC News, sister network to Noticias Telemundo, and posted that they loved their round faces expressed concern about the rapidity of plastic surgery trends.
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Among them the Brazilian butt lift, commonly known as the BBL, which rose to notoriety on social media after celebrities like the Kardashians underwent it.
Oister, who considers her face to be "full" and "round", declared that she could not stand idly by while others on social media denigrated plump cheeks.
He posted a video with photos of his face, glorifying a feature that, for some, had suddenly become a flaw.
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“If we don't spread positive messages about fuller faces, all you'll see is negativity
and [defat] removal,” Oister said.
“If I can post something that shows plump faces and big cheeks in a pretty way, in pictures where I feel pretty, then I hope other people see it and feel better about themselves.”
Growing up, she said, she rarely looked at her round face, portrayed as the standard of beauty.
It wasn't until she got older and she became interested in her heritage that she finally found pretty faces that looked just like her own.
Knowing that story helped him appreciate her natural beauty.
“My full cheeks and round face look exactly like those of my Eastern European and Jewish ancestors, and for me that is a source of pride,” he explained.
“That gives me power,” she added.
Rachel OCool, makeup artist and TikTok content creator, said she once considered having the procedure — long before it went viral — but decided against it after going to makeup school, which showed her the beauty of her face. own face.
She is relieved that she did not have surgery because she has learned that a round face is as beautiful as any other.
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“When you use makeup, or any other situation, to adapt to what you have and support it, you see it in a more positive way,” said OCool, 23.
"It really changes how you see yourself when you're not trying to hide those traits."
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After the surgery started trending last week, OCool said he wanted to share that lesson with his followers.
His video, in which he teaches how to use makeup to accentuate the beauty of round faces, has been viewed more than 5.3 million times.
Content like that of OCool and Oister is becoming more common on the app.
"If having oral fat is wrong, I don't want to be right," said a TikTok user.
"Round-faced girls, stand up."
The movement has also spread to Twitter.
"My mouth fat is a friend, not a foe," writer-artist John Paul Brammer tweeted.
“Bucal fat removal… no I like my round face thanks,” another user wrote.
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Those who posted videos said they hope to empower others to realize that they don't need surgery to be beautiful.
“Sometimes it just takes seeing what makes you feel insecure being held by another person to realize, 'Oh wow, she looks great in that,' or 'She looks beautiful in that, maybe what I have isn't so bad," OCool said.