Over the course of the 2010s (that’s what we’re calling them, right?) the plastic surgery conversation shifted—what was once discussed in shameful, hushed whispers suddenly became Instagram caption fodder. A-list celebrities and reality stars alike started owning up to their cosmetic work, helping to normalize public perception of injectables and surgical procedures and giving us hope that the stigma associated with the industry might be nonexistent another 10 years from now. <\/p>
Here are the 12 biggest pop culture aesthetics moments that defined the decade.<\/p>
In 2010, The Hills<\/em> star Heidi Montag was a rich and famous 23-year-old. She made headlines when she got 10 plastic surgery procedures done in a single day, radically altering her appearance. The full list of surgeries she got in one go: fat injections<\/a> in cheeks, nasolabial folds, and lips; chin reduction; neck liposuction; ears pinned back; mini brow lift<\/a>; Botox<\/a>; revision rhinoplasty<\/a> and breast augmentation revision<\/a> (she got her first nose job and breast augmentation<\/a> in 2007); liposuction<\/a> on waist, hips, inner and outer thighs; buttock augmentation<\/a>. <\/p> “For the past three years, I’ve thought about what to have done,” she told People<\/em><\/a> <\/em>in a cover story that ran at the time. “I am absolutely beyond obsessed.”<\/p> Today, she says she has a new perspective on plastic surgery. “I was way too young to make such a life-changing decision and was under so much pressure because it was the beginning of comment sections and negativity and hate on the internet,” she told Cosmopolitan<\/em><\/a> in July 2019. “I was just really self-involved at the time—like so many young people—but I was also on TV, where every perceived flaw is amplified. I think I looked in the mirror a little too much. I wish I had waited and not made a decision so young, because I have long-term health complications…. Obviously, it’s your body and I’m not against plastic surgery, but everyone always shows you the before and after pics. They don’t show you how devastating the recovery is. I don’t regret a lot of my enhancement, but plastic surgery isn’t something that should be glorified. Take it seriously.”<\/p> You can’t discuss the past decade in plastic surgery without acknowledging the effect the Kardashians have had on the industry. In particular, Kim’s butt. Her famous posterior has been at the center of many debates, and for a time, many speculated she’d enhanced it with implants<\/a>. On a 2011 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians<\/em>, Kim decided to put that rumor to rest by getting an X-ray. “My sisters have dared me to get a butt X-ray,” she tells<\/a> the doctor. “I really just want to get [it] so I can show the whole world.” The verdict: no implants. <\/p> Related: Will Instagram’s New “Cosmetic Surgery Ban” Actually Change Anything?<\/a><\/em><\/p>2. Kim Kardashian gets a butt X-ray (2011)<\/strong><\/h2>