Breaking down the buccal fat fixation

The facial fat's removal is the latest cosmetic surgery trend sweeping social media

NEW YORK - Buccal fat became the talk of some corners of the Internet in December after social media users started speculating about celebrities who might have removed some for an extrachiselled look.

Buccal (pronounced "buckle") fat is a type of fat found in the midsection of the face that can, in some people, make a face appear more rounded. Surgically remove some of that fat, and the face will immediately look more sculpted.

Well, almost immediately. Initially, most patients experience some swelling, but once that goes down, it is "hello, cheekbones".

What exactly is buccal fat?

"There are facial compartments that define the shape of the face, and there are superficial ones and deep ones," said Dr Andrew Jacono, a New York plastic surgeon best known for giving American fashion designer Marc Jacobs a facelift.

"Buccal fat is one of the deep facial fat compartments that kind of give structure to the cheek area."

It is not affected by weight fluctuation, he said. "We're born with how much we have."

He added: "There are some people who have faces that are very sculpted, whether they're cheekbones or more highlighted. There are some people who have more cherubic faces. Some people call it chipmunk cheeks."

Dr Jacono pointed to the faces of two cherubs, the round-faced angels on the bottom of the Sistine Madonna by Italian painter Raphael, as examples of prime candidates for buccal fat removal.

Why are we talking about this now?

Blame Twitter and TikTok - and, inadvertently, Lea Michele.