A recent article from Singaporean Chinese Newspaper, Lian He Wan Bao, pointed out that over the years, many Asian male and female celebrities’ faces have become slimmer and sharper compared to a few years ago.

For many women, the ideal facial shape is slim, with gently curving contours from the ear lobe to the chin. A slim, tapering lower face is beautiful and feminine.

In Asia, the desire for this ‘heart-shaped’ face is even stronger – the Asian diet, rich in fibre, often causes the masseters (the muscles at the sides of the face used for chewing) to enlarge, resulting in square and angular jaws.

An interesting trend is that in recent years, it is not only the ladies, but also Asian men who desire a slimmer facial silhouette. Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese TV serials featuring male pop idols with slim faces have no doubt set the trend for thousands of men in Asia.

Before the era of Botox, facial slimming could only be done surgically by altering the shape of the jaw, making the procedure available only to those who could afford the downtime. Today, however, non- invasive methods have made facial slimming painless and quick, with almost no loss of work days.

The celebrities in the article above mostly, if not all, used Botox for facial slimming, with results significant enough to set the tabloids’ tongues wagging.

Most of my patients and readers already know how I feel about Botox for facial contouring – My patients and I absolutely love the results. Personally, Botox has entirely transformed how my face looks, and cured me of my bruxism (nocturnal teeth grinding, which was wearing my teeth down to dust.

Non-invasive skin tightening procedures such as Ulthera also work very well with Botox to slim down the face. Ulthera was originally used only for skin tightening and lifting, but after working extensively with the excellent platform, we discovered that Ulthera’s unique deep penetrating ultraound energy is excellent for melting facial fats as well. The double action of skin tightening and fat busting gives Ulthera an unparalleled edge in facial contouring.

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From SPH newspaper, 联和晚报, 21 June 2011.