I'm Shami, I'm 23, and I'm considering a Brazilian Butt Lift.
Apparently pioneered in Brazil by Doctor Ivo Pitanguy.
Now the procedure is practiced all over the world.
And I've heard it's the world's deadliest cosmetic procedure,
with one in 3000 operations ending in death.
But body image has always been something I've really struggled with.
The worse comment I've ever had was,
"Your personality, but in Stefflon Don's body."
Oh no.
Why would you say that to me?
These women just look like frigging carcasses on the table,
just - boom - leg, thigh.
I want to find out more before going under the knife,
and talk about the pressures black women face to be curvy.
To take this risk, for fashion,
I can't explain it and I can't support it.
My family back home will probably be thinking,
"Why would you put yourself under the knife?"
"Are you crazy?"
"You could lose your life".
But usually in African culture
it's always like "no, the bigger the better".
Or "the curvier the better".
So I work in marketing,
I work for a few charities,
hair companies,
I also mentor,
as well as having my lash business.
Anything else?
No.
I've been struggling with my weight loss since about college.
I've tried to set a goal so if it's not for a birthday, it's for a holiday.
I went to Barbados and I managed to drop a bit of weight
but then you come back and there's nothing really to look forward to.
So you sort of lose yourself a bit.
Now, I'm just thinking, let me just consider a BBL
and maybe things wouldn't be so tough.
I'm intrigued to find out the different types of surgeons,
other women's experiences of actually getting to that point
where they are considering a BBL.
And just the emotional process behind it.
The surgery Shami wants is a two step process.
Step one - she'd have to have liposuction.
To remove fat from unwanted areas like the stomach, back and thighs.
Step two - vast amounts of this fat is injected into the bum
to give the desired
fuller, perkier and rounder effect.
I follow a lot of influencers,
people like Nella Rose, Aaliyah Jay and Mariam Musa
She shares her experience with cosmetic surgery
and has spoken openly about the pressure to fit into
a certain mould as a black influencer,
it’s something I can really relate to.
You've got lots of followers, like what, 500K?
Yeah, about 526K.
How do you feel your audience, or your followers, perceive the news?
I had my breasts enlarged.
After that I had a long time not doing anything, it was just my breasts I wanted.
Then I went into non-surgical, which was more my face.
I got told, "why are you trying to be white?"
It was always seen as a thing black girls don't need to,
or shouldn't be doing it.
We have this thing, it's glorified that, "black don't crack".
We don't really age as quick, the majority have good skin.
I think why it's a taboo and so hard for us to swallow,
when black women, or anyone, wants to get cosmetic surgery,
non-surgical, or surgical,
is because we are ruining something that we already have.
I'm currently considering a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL),
is this something you have ever contemplated before?
I've got to stage where I've actually had it ready, knowing what dates I was going.
I wanted to get my bum done, I was like, "look at all these Instagram girls doing well,
working with these brands, showing off their bodies..."
As a black influencer there's like a certain look.
I think the certain look is you have to be a figure eight.
Like a curvy, big-boobed, big bum, to be considered as a woman,
as a black woman.
It is to get likes, it is to get things like that.
Because that's your job, at the end of the day,
you want your engagement to be high.
Why didn't you do it?
Did you think it would affect them [your followers]?
I got to the stage where I felt like I was doing more on my social media
for young people.
I just thought embrace what I have, that's it really.
I'd like to say thank you so much for coming today.
Thanks for meeting me.
How much nicer is this?
This is nice.
Today was really insightful, I obviously met Mariam.
You think that once you have one procedure
you want to carry on.
But the fact that she's left it, it's not on the cards for now, anyway.
Because she's an influencer, and she has a lot of young people depending on her,
she's the representation that they're looking for.
Mariam gave me a lot to think about, but our lives are so different.
I wanted to discuss getting a BBL with my good friend Livs.
I've been considering a BBL for a while,
and obviously we've spoken about it before,
from university and stuff.
But I wanted to get your opinion on how you feel about it all.
It's different when you talk to your friend about doing it.
I stand by the thing I've always said,
people have got the right to do whatever they want to do with their body.
My thing is, let's do a reasoning.
Why?
Why, girl, why?
It's a few things.
Just down to what I do in my day-to-day life,
social media, my job.
Different shoots I go to, people I interact with,
and just what I see.
If you didn't follow anyone on Instagram,
say you didn't even have Instagram,
or Snapchat, or any kind of social media,
do you think you'd still want to even think about getting a BBL done.
Wow, no-one has ever asked me that question.
I'd probably say no.
Because I'm the only child,
my representation is my mum, and she's very petite.
Oh my god, yes, your mum is snatched.
I go on social media, "oh my gosh, this is amazing".
That's where the influence comes from.
I totally understand where you're coming from,
especially because it's in our faces.
I go onto Instagram, it's like my newspaper.
I wake up in the morning and the first thing I'm on is Insta.
So I get it, seeing things can make you feel down.
But then you're standing outside in a queue to get something that everybody's promoting.
That's what I do like about the influencers.
A lot of them are just like,"boom, this is what I did, this is where I got it...
Use my discount code".
It's true! Can you imagine?
SJ is one of these influencers.
I'm SJ, Shani Jamilah.
She's been there, bought the t-shirt and tagged her surgeon in the post.
She travelled to Turkey for her Brazilian Butt Lift this year,
where British woman Leah Cambridge died after undergoing the procedure.
So I had a lot of questions to ask her.
Does it slightly upset you that people affiliate your inspiration with Kim K?
It literally grinds my gears.
Yes she looks good, yes she has a figure similar to what I went to get done.
However, that's not the reason.
Her inspiration draws from black women also.
She's only been in my life a few years, my mum's been in my life since birth.
I've been considering a BBL for a while,
I just wanted you to explain how you got to that point,
and just your whole process in general.
I'm from the West Indies, and, as a lot of people know,
West Indians are curvaceous people.
So my mum and my aunties, are all like these voluptuous women.
I'm looking at these curves, "oh my god,
you guys are heavenly."
It came to, like, maybe 18,
and I realised, "babe your hips are not coming in, any time soon."
Your hips are going to come in after you have a baby,
are you even going to be able to enjoy it? What's going to happen?
I was like,"no, I want to do this."
Have you ever had, in the back of your mind, that this could go terribly wrong?
Yeah, death is a real thing.
Death is definitely a real thing.
But, saying that, after the initial researching,
death became...
I wasn't really thinking about it.
After I researched, and I've done more research and more research,
and I've prayed and I'm making sure my health is paramount.
I'm making sure my blood counts high.
Even down to vitamins, I was making sure everything was perfect.
So this is where I am going to get the fat grafted to, the red areas,
and the green areas is where they are sucking the fat from.
I've got around 40 minutes to an hour until I have my surgery.
Next thing you know I woke up and had a new booty,
and new hips and it was amazing.
How would you explain your emotional state after the procedure?
That's one thing I fear, that the pain is going to be a bit more intense.
It's painful.
I'm not going to butter it up, it's painful.
By the fifth day I was running around like usual.
How long was your healing process?
The general healing process for a BBL is six months,
until you see your final, final, final form.
But the mark that I'm at now, if this is my six month body I'm fine with it. It's ok!
I feel just for your own peace of mind, research is key.
Key, key key.
I'd love to thank you so, so, so much for giving us an insight.
Any time, I know I'm an angel!
Meeting SJ really got me thinking.
Patients like her clearly take the risk with the surgery,
but I've started to question if doctors felt the same pressure too.
One doctor who is not convinced it's a risk worth taking
is Doctor Ewoma Ukeleghe.
I'm 26 years old, I'm a medical and cosmetic doctor
and I can pretty much fill most places in the face.
Chin,
jawline,
nose to mouth lines.
marionette lines,
lips, nose, cheeks, cheekbones.
So in terms of the people who come and see me,
it's pretty much 98% women.
My black clients say to me they've come to see me because I'm black,
and therefore I get them.
Not even, "oh my God you're a medical doctor", or anything like that.
It's,"you're black, you look like me, therefore you understand my struggles."
There's almost this sense that injectables are purely for the caucasian community,
and not for us.
And if, for whatever reason, we are considering injectables
it means we're not proud of ourself,
or we're not self-confident.
There's a lot of secrecy surrounding aesthetic treatments
in the black and mixed communities.
People are reluctant to even say where they got their hair done.
I've definitely toyed with the idea of offering a type of butt enhancement.
You can get injectables that stimulate collagen within that area.
Obviously from a financial business point of view it could be really good.
But on the flip side I felt as though, "Ewoma if you start offering this...
what message are you sending out?"
Especially as a black woman, I almost feel responsible for having that stance.
Occasionally I'm just kind of looking at these Instagram profiles,
of these clinics.
You see these images of these ladies, pretty much everything exposed.
These women look like frigging carcasses on the table.
Just - "boom" - leg, thigh.
It's almost a trend where black women are becoming a modern day
caricature of themselves.
I'd heard from a doctor who doesn't offer butt enhancement,
it was time to talk to one who did.
Dr Kremer has performed BBL surgeries in the UK and abroad,
but he recently turned his back on the procedure.
I wanted to know why and get a real breakdown of the risks.
I've been looking into the different prices for the BBL procedure,
some down to £2,000.
Two thousand pounds sounds so inexpensive,
that I would wonder the credentials, the experience of the surgeon.
Be careful.
How do you perceive the fact that people are actually going out of the country?
It would be really condescending to say, "oh in Turkey they are not good".
That's not true.
They would be very good surgeons too.
Worldwide you can go to any country, there will be great surgeons,
but you must know who they are.
Do you speak Turkish well enough?
Probably not.
Does the doctor speak English well enough to express himself?
After picking Dr Kremer's brains, he assessed if the BBL I wanted was even a possibility
Shami, do you remember the song, "you can leave the hat on!"
Turn around, I want to see what it is.
Where do you think you want the fat?
Here.
Interesting.
When you stepped out of the bathroom in front of the mirror
I was really surprised you're here for a BBL.
As your buttocks look great.
It's full, it looks completely proportionate.
Actually you are a girl who probably makes a lot of other girls jealous,
because they come to have a BBL, to have exactly what you have.
Your problem is more on the side of the buttocks, there's a dent.
I've seen that, so you're right.
There's something missing and you want to have this filled.
You showed me the areas where we need to take the fat,
there is enough, don't get me wrong,
I don't mean it like it sounds, but there is enough
to transfer to your buttocks.
Could you explain further what it consists of?
Two steps.
In the first step we remove fat, we do an extensive, radical liposuction.
To whatever area needs to be shaped.
In the second step we take this fat, and inject it in the areas which want to be enhanced,
in the buttock.
Could you explain the risk?
A lot of patients think it's a quick procedure, it's harmless.
But we shouldn't forget one in 3000 procedures end deadly.
So this is the highest death complication risk in any cosmetic surgery, by far.
Shami, what you shouldn't forget is that a BBL is a so-called 'blind procedure'.
I have the risk that I could injure a vessel
and pump millilitres and millilitres in this vessel,
and I cause a fat embolism.
A fat embolism would hit the lung, or the heart,
and you die within seconds of a lung embolism
or a heart attack.
I decided not to inject into the muscle anymore.
So you will have to sign this risk of death.
It's fashionable, in a few years it might not be fashionable anymore.
To risk your life for that, I don't understand it.
I'm not ridiculing you as a patient, for you it's not a fashion.
It's how you define yourself as a black woman, I totally get that.
However, we should not forget this tremendous risk of life and death.
We see YouTube videos, vloggers, influencers, talking about the experience,
but no-one actually explains it into depth, the way you have.
You've really given me an insight into the truth.
I think you look really cool, and it would be the wrong thing to take this risk.
Thank you so much!
Dr Kremer clarified a lot of things for me,
and, surprisingly, I'm not considering a BBL anymore.
Just for the fact he told me all the risks, and honestly, he changed my perspective.
He just told me some of the things that I might see as a big issue,
if I was actually going to get work done for it, I'm actually putting my life at risk.
I missed that on the internet, that was definitely not on the internet.
Now that I've started being a bit more active,
the confidence is coming back.
I'm really glad about that.
I've started swimming again,
healthy eating, going to the gym.
So as for now a BBL is not really for me,
I'm really excited for the future.