America the Booty-ful: How Dr. Mendieta's Bottom Line is reshaping the country

By April MacIntyre Feb 7, 2012, 22:16 GMT

Last year in Miami, a disturbed transsexual masquerading as a Doctor injected terrible things like cement and Fix-A-Flat tire repair compound into unwitting patients all seeking to enhance their buttocks and faces.

The net result was horrific, but it underscored the growing trend that the Kate Moss and Agyness Deyn boyish sexless thin build no longer was the desired look. This haut-fashion human clothes' hanger ideal has been replaced by the voluptuous, round and decidedly retro female form.

'Baby got back' is in full swing, and Americans, thanks to culture icons J-Lo, Kim Kardashian and Sofia Vergara, are lusting for the grabbable tush, the bootylicious behind.

The man who is considered the top of this bottom enhancing field is Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Constantino Mendieta, a Miami-based physician raised in Los Angeles, and still licensed in California too. 

Courtesy of Dr. Mendieta

Dr. Mendieta is a popular gluteal augmentation specialist who has penned formal professional studies and authored a book, The Art of Gluteal Sculpting, on the female form.  He has established the go-to clinic in Miami for the redistribution of assets, and his end goal is not about making the buttocks bigger, but rather more rounded, curvier and perkier.

Courtesy of Dr. Mendieta

Because of his larger than life personality, sense of humor and successful specialized practice, Dr. Mendieta is rumored to be in talks with a major reality TV production house for a television show based on his celebrity-filled specialized practice.   .

Dr. Mendieta spoke to Monsters and Critics at his stunning offices off the South Dixie Highway in Miami where he shared some interesting facts on the operation dubbed the "Miami Thong Lift."

"About 85% of my patient business is gluteal enhancement," says Dr. Mendieta."New techniques in Vaser Liposuction allow a superior removal of fat from the areas no one wants, like the waist and flanks, and we then treat the fat in a special process and inject into the areas lacking, reshaping a patient's physique with their own natural tissue.  The rate of retention now is excellent, with about a 20-30% reduction over time. Some people need minor tweaks to their initial surgery, but the results are so natural and pleasing, it's really life changing."

Once upon a time, the breast augmentations were the king of female form enhancement, but ask Dr. Mendieta, it is squarely the rear rising to the forefront. "Miami has more plastic surgery and body enhancing surgeries than anywhere else in America," says Dr. Mendieta. "People here want to look good in little clothing, and the esthetic has shifted, women want to look good coming and going, to be curvier and rid fat from the bad places, and use their own natural fat to enhance the gluteal area and the breasts. A woman's behind is her best asset. Thanks to Pippa Middleton's photos from the royal wedding, it has really piqued the interest of many Americans who wish to fill out that dress a little bit better."

Dr. Mendieta explained there were two general methods used to augment the behind, implants and fat transfers.

Implants, according to Dr. Mendieta, come with more risks than the preferred fat transfers. "What I specialize in is a three-dimensional sculpting of flesh. My work is painstaking and precise, no short-cuts.  Complications with fat grafting are rare. Implants have a much higher risk because the suture wounds can open up or the implants can harden."

Courtesy of Dr. Mendieta

The types of butts preferred by most?  Dr. Mendieta says, "The A shaped behind is prettiest, most flattering; the A shape happens where a woman's waist is smaller than her hips at a ratio of 0.7.  It's the shape I look to effect for patients, many saddled with square or V shaped bottoms. Also, about ten percent of my patients are men, a mix of straight and gay men who need buttocks augmentation, mostly due to age. They tend to lose tissue there as opposed to women."

Dr. Mendieta travels around the world teaching his technique. More information about Dr. Mendieta is available at his website: http://www.buttsbymendieta.com/