Cosmetic transparency among famous women is still new. Celebrity women’s appearances have pretty much always been picked apart in the court of public opinion, but additional speculation about cosmetic procedures is inescapable in the social media era. The pressure for them to admit to surgically enhancing their looks is at an all-time high, and some have leaned into that. The Kardashian-Jenner family has recently made cosmetic disclosure a new part of their brand, revealing the details of the surgeries and treatments they’ve undergone. This year alone, Tisha Campell, Stassie Karanikolaou, and Barabra Corcoran have done the same, and more will undoubtedly follow. Transparency is becoming its own currency.
The story for men, however, has historically been much simpler. Any significant changes to a famous man’s appearance could be chalked up to a haircut or the natural result of aging or weight they’ve gained or lost for a role—no mass speculation necessary. In reality, it’s likely that plenty of men have been booking procedures and “tweakments” since the dawn of Hollywood, but admitting it publicly would risk coming off as vain and therefore less masculine—until now, apparently. When it comes to aesthetic transparency, famous men are following their female counterparts’ lead.
In late 2024, John Cena opened up about his “life-changing” hair transplant, which he says he maintains with red light therapy, minoxidil, and other supplements. This summer, Joel McHale similarly copped to having undergone four different hair transplants. Many of reality TV’s biggest male stars have made headlines for their cosmetic transparency this year, including Andy Cohen, Summer House star Carl Radke, and Tom Sandoval, who’ve all divulged details of their Botox and/or veneers.
At the same time, skin care routines for men are being rebranded as an act of ambition and self-discipline. That’s thanks in part to brands launched by A-listers like Brad Pitt, Pharrell Williams, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and LeBron James, all of whom have promoted their products by giving interviews about their skin care philosophies. And although women still account for the overwhelming majority of the aesthetics and beauty market, men are starting to eat bigger slices of that pie.
Data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons shows that men received just over 965,000 invasive and non-invasive procedures in 2014; by 2023 that figure had passed 1.3 million (accounting for 7-8 percent of all cosmetic procedures). The ASPS also reported that in 2024 alone, neuromodulator treatments (Botox, Xeomin, Dysport) among men grew 4.3 percent. The same report found that the number of skin resurfacing treatments performed on men rose 6.1 percent from 2023 to 2024. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery reports that nearly 9 out of 10 surgical hair restoration procedures worldwide are performed on men, and that the number of men surveyed who received beard and body hair transplants jumped from 13 percent to 18 percent from 2021 to 2024. In the U.K., men under 30 now account for nearly a fifth of all non-invasive and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures, according to a 2024 report by the British College of Medicine. Meanwhile, the global men’s skin care market is worth over $17 billion today. It’s just a fraction of what the women’s market is worth (more than $100 billion), but it’s projected to double in the next decade, according to Future Market Insights.