September 08, (THEWILL) – The new fad in town, especially among upwardly mobile women and celebrities, is the Brazilian Butt Lift. More popularly known as BBL, this is a cosmetic surgery procedure that involves removing fat from other parts of the body and injecting it into the buttocks for a fuller and rounder shape. More women are visiting countries like Mexico, Brazil and USA and other places where this service is available particularly Turkey where it is reportedly cheaper.
In Nigeria, clinics offering this service have sprung up in many cities across the country. The craze for bigger butts has got some of these clinics run by both quacks and professionals alike getting fully booked all year round despite persistent warning by medical experts against the potential risks of the procedure. To successfully get a BBL nowadays, you will need plenty of luck and of course, a skillful doctor.
The latter is vital to the survival of the enlargement-seeking client. There have been several disturbing reports of butt lifts going wrong post-surgery. The results are often fatal.
About two weeks ago, a woman died in Lagos after undergoing the procedure. The 36-year-old victim started gasping for breath and lost consciousness after the owner of the clinic asked her nurse to administer an injection on her. Following her death, the doctor vanished from sight, but the long arms of the law caught up with her in the end.
However, despite the attendant risks, many Nigerian women have successfully undergone the surgery, some with perfect curves, some, not so perfect. IVORY UKONU spotlights a few celebrities who have admitted to having the procedure and also shared their experiences and reasons for undergoing them, thus contributing to the ongoing conversation about beauty standards and body image. Blessing Okoro Self-acclaimed relationship expert, Blessing Okoro, a.
k.a Blessing CEO, after gaining social media visibility had felt that the next best thing to do is to get a Brazilian Butt Lift, BBL. This she acquired in 2022.
This was in addition to liposuction, fat removal from specific parts of the body, but particularly from the stomach, which she also did. The liposuction was to help enhance her shape and make the BBL more prominent. She claimed to have spent N3 million to get the procedure done.
The divorced mother of two revealed that she got BBL done in the Lekki area of Lagos State. As a social media personality, Blessing documented her procedure which she shared with her fans. She would later reveal that she thought some people she met at the hospital might leak her videos before her.
For this reason, she decided to document the process herself. Oluwabusayomi Abiri Former Big Brother Naija reality star, Oluwabusayo Abiri, more popularly known as Khloe, whose outspoken nature made people love her while on the reality show, has made it known several times that she went under the knife for a more rounded breast and threw in a BBL for effect. Her reason, like most others, was because she hated how her body looked and needed to do something about it.
Since she had the BBL done, Khloe who now runs a skincare business never fails to flaunt her new banging body. She did reveal that she almost committed suicide when a picture of her naked and unconscious after the procedure went viral. Khloe has never hidden her disdain for what she refers to as the hypocritical opinion of some Nigerians over getting BBL, particularly when they want to also undergo the procedure themselves.
But one thing she has vowed never to do is to go under the knife again for another BBL procedure because of the attendant pain that comes with the procedure. While advising those who may be interested in doing the procedure, she explained that the reason why some have complications with their BBL is because they don’t do enough research about the process and procedure, which leaves their behind way more massive than any other part of their body after a while. She stated that before surgery care is as important as the aftercare, which must be done religiously.
She emphasised that some after self-care like drills involving faja, making use of waist trainers at all times, what activity one engages in, what one eats and how one keeps the transferred fat alive are very essential to the success of the procedure. The process, according to her, starts with the type of body one wants, the style that fits one’s stature and the need to make the outcome look as natural as possible. She warned against ladies who want their surgeons to simply pump fats into their backsides excessively, saying that the fat might attempt to regenerate and could lead to an unexpected burst.
Toke Makinwa Media personality and lifestyle entrepreneur, Omotoke Makinwa, has been very open about her body makeover journey. First, she started by bleaching her skin because she thought it would keep the wandering eyes of her ex-husband, Maje Ayida, who likes very fair skinned women, focused on her. She says that bleaching her skin was the dumbest thing she ever did.
Then she graduated to getting a BBL after getting rid of fibroids in her body. The soon to be 39-year-old, says she does not regret enhancing her body as it is the best thing she has ever done as the surgery helped to enhance her appearance and make her look better and curvier in clothes. Lilian Afegbai The Nollywood actress who once confessed to bleaching her skin before putting an end to it is one of the many celebrities who decided to enlarge their bum via BBL.
Although Lilian has never explicitly admitted to getting a BBL, she however did hint so in a post on her social media page while recounting an incident that made her purge while commuting between Edo State and Abuja for a movie production. She had said in a veiled remark that she would not allow anything to deflate her surgically enhanced bum which she was preserving and would only take out the fat when it no longer serves her. Her BBL does give her the perfect hourglass figure and that makes any outfits she wears look way better than it would have if she didn’t get a BBL.
Nengi Hampson Former beauty queen and ex-Big Brother Naija housemate, Rebecca Nengi Hampson, disclosed that she had BBL because she was uncomfortable with her big stomach. She said that she removed fat from her tummy and transferred it to her butt to get the hourglass look she had always desired. She advised anyone not feeling confident about anything in their body to change it and feel better about it.
She also revealed that her only regret was not documenting her surgical procedure. Nina Ivy Apart from getting a liposuction and a breast reduction at different times, former Big Brother Reality show contestant, Nina Nwadinobi, a.k.
a Nina Ivy, has gone under the knife for a BBL. The twice married entrepreneur who currently resides in America has never hidden this fact and she has made a show and dance of it. She got her BBL in 2021 because according to her, she wanted a perfect body shape.
Hilda Bassey Although Hilda Bassey, the Akwa Ibom-born chef who broke the Guinness World Record, GWR for the longest cooking time as an individual, hasn’t exactly admitted to getting a BBL, it is obvious, when compared to some of her throwback pictures, that she got her bum surgically enhanced. Besides, shortly after she broke the GWR, an Abuja based cosmetic surgery clinic, Renew Aesthetics Clinic posted a before and after photograph of her after she got her bum enhanced. They claimed to have carried out the surgery and in celebration of her feat, were offering one lucky lady a complete body reconstruction surgery free of charge.
The lucky lady they said would be chosen by Hilda herself from her hordes of fans. Like most people who have had their bum enhanced, Hilda never passes on the chance to show off her curvy figure. Chinenyenwa Okoebor Edo State born former stripper and ex Big Brother Naija housemate, Chinenyenwa Desire Okoebor aka Chichi, did go under the knife to surgically enhance her bum via BBL.
Although she hasn’t quite admitted to this, but it goes without saying that she did particularly because her fellow housemate, Josephina Otabor aka Phyna, winner of the reality show for season 7 while on the show, taunted her to no end for going under the knife and not having a bum as curvy as should be expected. Chichi would later respond to Phyna after the show ended, slamming Phyna for also doing the same thing she (Phyna) had criticized her (Chichi) of. Mercy Eke Fashion entrepreneur and winner of the Big Brother Naija season four, Mercy Eke had liposuction where she moved fat from her stomach to her butt area for a BBL.
She has equally been quite open about enlarging her bum, though she admitted that peer pressure and trends in 2018 influenced her decision to get a BBL. She said she got the procedure done alongside two of her friends despite having a good form. She recounted the experience, noting that she didn’t inform her mother to avoid getting discouraged.
She described the post-BBL experience as painful, particularly the discomfort of having to lay on her stomach for about 14 days to avoid pressure on her bum. Also, during massages by nurses during the post operation, to get water out of her body she felt a lot of pain. Despite the discomfort, Mercy revealed that the procedure is worth it as her bum feels like water.
Tonto Dikeh If there is one actress who likes to go under the knife, that would be controversial former actress and aspiring politician, Tonto Dikeh. The divorced mother of one has never hidden her love to do whatever it takes to have a curvier figure even at the risk of her health and life. Besides having gone under the knife on three different occasions for a liposuction, she surgically enhanced her bum via BBL.
Although she didn’t document the procedure, she however informed her fans via a video she recorded, on what she was embarking on shortly before she was wheeled into the theatre. The former deputy governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 governorship election in Rivers State, once stated that her doctor and not God gave her a sexy body..
