Searches for Kylie Jenner’s breasts skyrocketed after The Kardashians star wore a record-breaking $50 million fantasy bra on the runway at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on Oct. 18. It’s not the first time Jenner’s breasts have been the talk of the internet. Last year, she went viral for sharing both her surgeon’s name and the exact details of her implants on TikTok.
There was a time when large, round breasts were the only standard of beauty — and when the philosophy on implants was simply bigger is better. That time isn’t completely in the past, but social media is now also packed with videos of women raving about how sexy they feel with small breasts. Couple that with testimonials from women who say they’re happier and healthier after having their breast implants removed, and it’s fair to be confused on whether boobs are out or still going strong.
Statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) found that breast procedures rose in 2025, with breast augmentation—which is usually code for implants—rising by 11%. Breast lifts grew 8% during the same time frame.
But breast reductions were also up 7% in 2025. And, the ASPS report notes that aesthetic preferences around what kind of implants people did get had changed. Instead of go big or go home, people are interested in proportional implants, something that looks good with their body.
“I think it’s definitely an interesting trend,” Samuel Lin, MD, MBA, an ASPS member surgeon, said in the report. “Not going bigger, basically, but still making a change or enhancement in terms of being more of a ‘moderation’ approach.”
While it’s just a fraction of the 304,234 breast augmentation procedures performed in 2025, there were also 45,773 breast implant removal surgeries, aka “explant” procedures that same year. Explant surgeries still make up a small portion of overall cosmetic surgeries, and according to the ASPS report, rates remained about the same year over year. But other data indicates that explant surgeries are rapidly increasing worldwide. One data analysis found that these procedures increased by 653% worldwide from 2008 to 2021.
Among the women getting their implants removed is Summer Altice, a brand consultant at Playboy, and Miss August 2000. She had explant surgery in 2025 after years of issues with her breasts. Altice says she originally thought about removing her implants after experiencing capsular contracture, a complication where the scar tissue that forms around an implant becomes tight and hard, and noticing one side looked different from another. She also learned about breast implant illness, a controversial diagnosis that links systemic symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, joint and muscle pain, and more to breast implants. (While many in the plastic surgery world recognize breast implant illness, the Food and Drug Administration points out that this isn’t a formal diagnosis and there is no recognized criteria to define it.)
“I went down the rabbit hole of breast implant illness,” Altice says. “I always had this rash on my hand, and I got a rash on my neck randomly. I didn’t know they could be attributed to my breast implants.” Altice says that fueled her decision to have her implants removed.
Breast implant removal surgeries are so popular now that Dr. Kevin Brenner, MD, FACS, board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Beverly Hills, no longer does implants. “I stopped putting in implants completely because I was seeing so many complications,” he says.
But while Altice is one of thousands of women removing their implants, are boobs actually out—or is the mindset of what makes breasts sexy simply changing?
Many women are focused on other areas of the body.
Data suggest that facial rejuvenation surgeries are having a moment, with facial fat grafting procedures seeing the largest increase in 2025—by nearly 40%. Forehead lifts, neck lifts, eyelid surgery, and facelifts also saw increases.
But liposuction was the most commonly performed cosmetic surgery in the U.S. in 2025, with total 317,196 procedures. That was followed by breast augmentation and implant revision procedures, along with tummy tuck, breast lift, and blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery).
Clearly, breast enhancement surgery hasn’t gone away. But the prevalence of breast lifts and implant revision surgeries suggests things are changing when it comes to the ideal breast enhancement.
Women undergo explant surgery for a number of reasons
As Altice points out, it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole with explant surgery. TikTok is jammed with positive commentary from women who either had their implants removed or are considering it. Plenty of celebrities are opening up about their explant surgery experiences, too.
Kehlani called explant surgery “the best thing I ever did,” adding that “they were making me sick…physically, mentally.” Danica Patrick, former Playmate Kayla Rae Reid, and Ashley Tisdale have been open about having their implants removed over health concerns. But others like Victoria Beckham and Alyssa Milano said they had their implants taken out over shifting priorities and aesthetics.
Brenner says he sees about 20 new explant patients a week, including those who think they have breast implant illness. “I oftentimes will see people who are at the end of the line—they’ve been to a cardiologist, endocrinologist, neurologist, but nothing really abnormal comes up on imaging or labwork,” he says. “They’re left with a symptom complex that’s not really diagnosed.”
But Brenner also sees patients who simply want to have their implants removed because of changing preferences. “Some are at a different place in their lives where they want a smaller, more natural look than they did when they were younger,” he says.
Boobs haven’t gone away—and neither have implants.
Plastic surgery statistics clearly show that women continue to get breast implants, and breast lifts, suggesting that breasts are still in. It’s just that society’s view around breasts and what makes them sexy have changed over time. “When I first went into practice, the trend was really large implants,” Brenner says. “That’s not the case anymore.”
Whether they’re having implants removed for health or due to changing tastes, Brenner says many of his patients now want more “natural-looking” breasts.
Many of Brenner’s patients ask for a breast lift when they have their implants removed. “A perky and youthful-appearing breast—that’s at the core of what most women want,” he says.
For those who want larger or fuller breasts without implants, Brenner says there are “excellent options with fat-grafting, where you do liposuction and inject it into the breasts.” Women who aren’t candidates for that may use alloClae, a donor-derived human fat product that has similar results to fat grafting, he says. (Altice used alloClae after her explant surgery.)
Altice says she misses having larger breasts, but feels healthier overall. “I sleep better,” she says. “I don’t get rashes anymore.”
Brenner stresses that breasts aren’t out—the ideal has just changed, and women are largely driving tastes around them. “A lot of women now are in touch with what they want. They’re not trying to live up to some sort of ideal that’s out there,” he says. “Having proproportionate, youthful breasts is what many women want.”
