Brazilian butt lift surgery—also referred to as a “BBL” or gluteal fat grafting—does not involve or require either implants or plastic.
No implants or plastic of any kind are used in a BBL.
The only thing used in a BBL is the patient’s own healthy fat.
(Solid silicone implants [which aren’t plastic] are used in a fairly uncommon butt enhancement surgery, usually called “butt implant surgery,” butt that procedure is very different than BBL surgery.)
The fat used in a BBL or Brazilian butt lift is liposuctioned out of areas of the patient’s body where there is too much of it (or, in skinnier BBL patients, just enough of it), and is then re-injected into the buttocks.
No implants or plastic of any kind are used in a BBL. The only thing used in a BBL is the patient’s own healthy fat.
Does a BBL Have Implants?
Plastic isn’t used in any plastic surgery procedure.
Meaning, while your surgeon may have and use plastic in his or her office of operating room, it’s never left inside of the patient’s body after any plastic surgery procedure.
When implants are used in a plastic surgery procedure (such as breast augmentation or butt implant surgery), they are only made of saline wrapped in a silicone shell, or entirely of silicone.
Stainless steel metal implants can also be safely used inside of the body—knee and hip replacement surgeries for example—but metal implants aren’t used in any mainstream cosmetic surgery / plastic surgery procedures.
BBL Surgery vs Butt Implant Surgery
No implants of any kind are used in BBL surgery.
Butt implants are used only in butt implant surgery—not a butt lift, and not a BBL.
BBLs are a very different procedure than butt implants, and a Brazilian butt lift does not require implants.
A Brazilian butt lift (BBL), which you’ll also hear referred to as “gluteal fat grafting” uses only your own healthy fat in order to increase the size and improve the shape of your butt.
- BBL surgery uses your own healthy fat, injected into your butt.
- Butt implants—used in a different procedure—are specially made “devices” that are placed inside your butt in order to make it look larger and/or more shapely.
- Brazilian butt lift surgery doesn’t use implants of any kind, but instead depends upon your own healthy fat being carefully injected into your butt.
- Butt Implants are much less common than BBL surgery
- While BBLs can be very dangerous (or deadly) if not done right, butt implants are considered less safe and more problematic in the long term.
- Butt implants typically have to be replaced every 10 years, and they are much more prone to infection than BBL surgery is.
Summary
In short, if you don’t want butt implants, BBL surgery might be just what you’re after.
When it comes to whether a BBL involves plastic or implants of any kind, here are the keynotes:
- Butt implants and the Brazilian butt lift (BBL) are two very different procedures.
- Patients won’t need implants or anything plastic as part of their BBL procedure.
- Patients who lack sufficient healthy fat for harvesting through liposuction can consider silicone butt implants, but they should be aware of the long-term complications.
Contrary to popular belief, no plastic surgery procedure involves or requires plastic being placed in a person’s body. Some people question whether silicone is actually a plastic, but most agree that it’s closer to a rubber than it is to a plastic. In any case, the only “plastic” used in plastic surgery is in either saline or silicone implants, which aren’t used in BBL surgery.
