Don’t blame Love Island! This is the REAL (X-rated) reason women are getting lip fillers
IT'S easy to point the finger of blame firmly in the direction of celebs and reality TV stars.
But, is the national obsession with Love Island really to blame for a surge in lip fillers, and the quest for the fuller pout?
There's no denying the likes of islanders Olivia and Chloe might make you long for a more luscious lips.
But, the reality is a lot more X-rated.
It turns out that when it comes to the science behind a plumper pout, sex is one of the key driving factors.
It's no surprise that one of the main reasons to go under the knife (or needle) is to make yourself more attractive to the opposite sex.
But you might be surprised to learn that our lips "mirror" our vaginas - and they can tell a prospective partner a lot about your sexual availability.
Louise Mazanti, a , told The Sun Online the rising in popularity of lip fillers is down to our perception of beauty changing.
She said: "We are putting more importance on the sexualised look.
"Bigger lips is kind of a mirror of our vagina, you could say it's our 'second vagina'.
"We have so many nerve endings in the lips, apart from our genitals and our fingertips they are one of the most incredibly sensitive areas.
"They are very sensual and sexual."
Louise added that the appearance of one's lips is a giveaway about whether they are sexually available.
“What the lips tell us is ‘is the other person sexually awake’ and ‘is the other person sexually available’,” she said.
“When we have big, full lips it shows we are.
“If we paint our lips or make them bigger it’s because we want to send out the message that we are sexually available.”
And what is the colour of lust?
Red, of course - all that blood coursing round your body when you're excited makes you flushed.... and crucially, your lips red.
Meanwhile, sex aside, how attractive a person is can have an important impact on other aspects of their lives.
"The list of consequences of being attractive or unattractive is long and shocking," experts writing for
"Attractive people are more likely to be selected for all sorts of positions and less likely to be deselected or punished than attractive people."
So, what about the science?
A whole host of scientific studies back up the idea that vanity is to blame for our obsession with a nip and tuck to the face and bod.
In 2011, one piece of research showed the more attractive a person's face is thought to be, the more likely they are to find a partner.
Symmetry, skin colour and shape were all found to play an important role in what a person deems attractive.
The study, published in Philosophical Transactions, concluded: "Being more or less attractive has important social consequences and people do generally agree on who is and who is not attractive.
"While some aspects of face perception might be innate, other aspects are clearly influenced by experience; it seems unlikely that individuals are born with a representation of what a perfect partner looks like."
And in 2015 a study from Georgetown University School of Medicine discovered that plastic surgery actually makes a person more likeable.
The researchers compared volunteers' perceptions after a woman had had a face lift, upper and lower eye lifts, a brow lift, neck lift and chin implant - or several procedures.
SEXERCISE The horrifying thing that can happen to your vagina if you don't get enough SEX
Almost 200 volunteers were asked to look at photos of women who either had or hadn't had surgery.
And they were asked to rate them on attractiveness and femininity; and personality traits such as extroversion, likeability, social skills, risk-taking behaviour, aggressiveness, and trustworthiness.
People who had undergone plastic surgery were general perceived as more attractive, the findings showed.
Thinking of getting fillers? This might make you think again
FILLER injected anywhere in your face could leave you blind.
There's been a sharp rise in the number of patients suffering complications after having botched fillers, prompting calls for better regulation, Professor Ash Mosahebi told The Sun Online.
The consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said: "A filler is like injecting a paste.
"And if that paste somehow goes into the blood vessel that connects to the retina at the back of the eye - which is where you see the world through - it can lead to blindness."
Prof Mosahebi, who has 20 years of experience in his field, admitted he prefers not to inject fillers around the eye due to the potential risks involved.
And he warned fillers can be bought over the counter and injected by unqualified practitioners or even people at home.
He added: "I have seen horrendous infections in the face where patients have ended up in [intensive care] with a life-threatening infection.
"If it is not done in a proper way, in a clean environment, it causes infection."
Dermal fillers are injections used to fill out wrinkles and to plump up the volume of the lips and cheeks.
They contain a variety of ingredients such as collagen and hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in humans to help keep certain body parts such as they eyes and skin hydrated.
These fillers can have a temporary or permanent effect.
...But it's not all about sex (honest!)
While sex is key, another driving factor is self-esteem.
In 2012 Brit researchers looked at a sample of 204 people to determine why they felt the need to have plastic surgery.
The study, published in the journal Pulsus Plastic Surgery, found women with low self-esteem, and low life satisfaction were more likely to have cosmetic surgery.
And another study by a team of experts in Iran in 2012 found similar results.
Researchers quizzed 81 women and 20 men who underwent plastic surgery to determine their motivations.
Most reported having poor self-esteem and had embarked on the route of cosmetic surgery to improve how they looked.
How popular are fillers really?
With an explosion of plump pouts all over our TV screens, are the general public really following blindly where their reality TV idols go?
According to the British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), the number of Brits undergoing cosmetic surgery actually dropped in 2016 but that doesn't mean the numbers aren't still high.
Around 30,750 people went under the knife last year and boob jobs were the most popular surgery with 7,732 women opting for a bigger chest.
Other popular surgeries included liposuction, nose jobs and fat transfers which is often used to make bums bigger.
But these statistics don't include lip fillers because they are classified as a non-surgical procedure.
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Dermal fillers are injections used to fill out wrinkles and to plump up the volume of the lips and also the cheeks.
They contain a variety of ingredients such as collagen and hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in humans to help keep certain body parts such as they eyes and skin hydrated.
These fillers can have a temporary or permanent effect.
Worryingly, they can be performed by untrained practitioners - which means countless women are risking infection, nerve damage and even blindness.
BAAPS President Rajiv Grover attributed the drop in people seeking cosmetic surgery to the availability of non-surgical options.
But he warned: "It’s worth however to remember that the non-surgical sector is rife with lax regulation, maverick behaviour and unethical promotional gimmicks, so the public must remain vigilant.
"Non-surgical does not, and never has, meant non-medical."
Louise Mazanti has just released a book called , which can be bought online for £12.
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