There may be a new driving factor behind plumper pouts…

It’s no secret that the fuller lip trend has gone into overdrive. Plump pouts populate Instagram and have become the go-to look thanks to celebs such as Kim K and Kylie Jenner.

According to the interwebs, lip augmentation takes place every 19 minutes in the US, proving that its popularity is through the roof.

According to recent statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 28,430 lip augmentation procedures last year.

Recent scientific analysis of fashion models paints a new explanation for the booming trend.

The research, led by Dr Prem Tripathi, from the University of California, analysed the lips of models on the pages of Vogue from 1960 to 2011.

Surprisingly, they found there is no significant increase of lip size throughout this 50-year period.

The Vogue models who were studied commonly demonstrated resting mouths, not pouting, and minimal make up was used to enhance the lips.

“If the frequently cited trend towards fuller lips truly exists, why is this not quantitatively seen in Vogue?” they wrote. Indeed, “a cursory glance through [the magazine] leaves the reader with a variety of shiny, lip-centre images of fashion models,” the researchers wrote.

This suggests that fashion, which has been an authoritative beauty source in the past, is not the driving force behind the craze for fuller lips.

So what drives such an increasing number of women to get lip surgery? The surprising answer is the trend of the decade: selfies. Say, what? These staple photos, which have become a norm (especially if you just got a cute new haircut), can be traced back to celebs.

Scientists are now identifying selfie queens such as Kim and Kylie to be the driving force behind the rise of lip surgeries. The researchers reveal that rather than drawing inspiration from the fashion industry, “celebrity images in mass media highlighting the overfilled lip may now serve as the very platform from which patients cultivate their cosmetic ambitions.”

Talk about influencers…

Which selfie taker are you?

In the future, our society’s visual history will be mainly made up of selfies. Weird, huh? So it’s important to understand why people do it. Whether it’s an MUA’s new beauty look, a globetrotter snap, #throwback, #OOTD or a classic squad snap, the drive behind our selfies may be more complicated than one may think. So, which selfie taker are you?

Communicators

These are the guys that use their selfies to spark conversation and open up a dialogue with their followers, whether it’s for environmental, social or political causes. The US Presidential election was a BIG one, with many displaying their ‘I Voted’ stickers to urge others to do the same. Think Lena Dunham, Lady Gaga and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Autobiographers

These selfie-takers are people who want to share their photos in the public realm so that others may see them, but who aren’t seeking the feedback and engagement that communicators are. Take a look at astronaut Scott Kelley who pretty much put up the coolest selfies ever of himself in SPACE.

Self-Publicists

Surprisingly, this is the smallest of the three groups and are made up of people who love documenting and sharing their entire lives, hoping to present themselves in a positive light. Think Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Taylor Swift, Gigi and Bella Hadid.