Cosmetically, It's Allergan's Botox By A Long Shot

Dermatologists have been jumping on the bandwagon to accommodate aging Baby Boomers, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Botox injections were the single most popular non-invasive cosmetic procedure last year.

That information comes from recent data released by the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).

In addition, Allergan's Botox and hyaluronic acid dermal fillers (namely Juvederm, also from Allergan), were the fastest-growing noninvasive cosmetic procedures in 2006, up 33% versus 2005, and, for the first time, those injectable procedures are the top two most popular non-invasive treatments (as opposed to complementary and/or competitive treatments like microdermabrasion and chemical peels).

This comes as Allergan, via agency Grey Healthcare, broke its first ad campaign for Juvederm Ultra and Juvederm Ultra Plus. Print ads, which broke in March monthlies, have Allergan's newer and lesser-known product tagged "new from the creators of Botox Cosmetic." A TV campaign for Juvederm hasn't been finalized; however, it's likely that one will hit the airwaves by this fall.

advertisement

advertisement

The use of this new brand is growing quickly, having received approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) last June.

According to the ASAPS survey, nearly 1.7 million injections of Botox and Juvederm were administered in 2006. Americans spent just less than $12.2 billion on all cosmetic procedures last year.

Not surprisingly, people in 35-to-50-year-old range had the majority of cosmetic procedures - both invasive and noninvasive. Accounting for almost half of all procedures, the beauty treatment of choice for that age range was first liposuction, then Botox.

For younger women, it's not a stretch to assume implants are now as likely a graduation gift as a car or a vacation, with the most popular invasive procedure for 19-to-34-year-olds being breast implants. But across the board, too, breast augmentation was the cosmetic surgery performed most often on women in all age ranges, outpacing lipoplasty.

Despite years of negative attention on silicone breast implants (versus saline ones) and since being reapproved by the FDA for cosmetic use at the end of last year, the number of silicone breast implants was up 18% last year.

In terms of gender, although much has been said about males becoming more comfortable with grooming, cosmetic procedures and wearing fashionable clothing, the number of American men who underwent surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures actually declined by 5% last year. In total, females had 92% of all cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. last year, with women getting 10.5 million procedures, a 1% increase versus 2005.

Top surgical procedures for men: liposuction, nose jobs, eye lid surgery, male breast reduction and facelifts.

Across races and ethnic groups, minorities had 21.7% of all cosmetic procedures last year, with Hispanics getting 9.7% of the procedures; African-Americans, 6.6%; and Asians, 4.7%.

Next story loading loading..