While fuller, plump lips (read: lip fillers and implants) are still all the rage among women in the United States and other western countries, a trend has got women in Asia going under the knife to achieve a totally opposite look.

More and more Asian women in their 20s and 30s, particularly in Thailand and South Korea, have reportedly been undergoing lip reduction surgery in recent months, reports Metro (via New Beauty).

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The procedure involves cutting out the inner side of the upper lip using stitches to create a new lipline. The lip underneath inside the mouth is then pulled to reduce its overall size.

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Patients are placed under local anesthetic for the surgery which takes around 15 to 30 minutes to finish per lip. A week after such operation. the stitches are then either dissolved or removed manually. The procedure has very minimal side effects, which may include some pain, swelling, bruising, and temporary redness.

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Thailand-based dermatologist Dr. Nuttae Nuttapon is attributing the trend to Asian women’s aim for a more Western-style beauty.

“Asian men and women typically prefer Caucasian facial features, which are narrower cheekbones, deeper eye sockets and thinner lips,” Nuttapon was quoted as saying.

Ironically, Western women have also recently picked up the trend, as Allure pointed out. In the U.S., regular lip reduction surgery reportedly costs around $1,000 to $3,000, with prices going higher in more expensive areas, such as New York City, where such surgery can cost up to $7,000, while in Beverly Hills, it runs up to $10,000 each lip.

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Marc Mani told People that the procedure’s popularity in the U.S. is largely due to the stigma associated with excessive lip augmentation procedures.

“People with naturally large lips don’t want to be lumped into that group,” Mani was quoted as saying.

“Nothing screams ‘bad plastic surgery’ like over-filled lips — although ironically it’s not a surgery that caused the problem [for most patients opting to get a lip reduction], and more ironically, it is surgery that’s required to fix it.”

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