“I haven’t seen what I”ve looked like in years,” reality star Tilly Whitfeld said in a recent TikTok where she documented the experience (needles and all) of having her fillers dissolved.
This procedure, where patients seek to reverse the effects of cosmetic treatments, has become increasingly popular.
After being on Big Brother, Whitfield told The Feed that multiple companies contacted her offering free treatments.
Though she initially “loved” how the botox looked, Whitfield’s relationship with cosmetic injectables shifted after having breast implants.
“It really scared me how quickly your body and your health can change,” she said.
Then, the filler in her cheeks started to migrate underneath her eyes.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what is in this filler and what’s it doing to [my] body? And what are the long-term effects on [my] health?'”
“I just thought … [if] I’m gonna get my [implants] removed, I have to do the whole lot. There’s no point doing one thing and then still having plastic in my cheeks.”
Controversial US beauty YouTuber shared a similar experience in January, and told his 38.5 million followers that it had been “seven years” since he’d seen himself with “lips that are this size”.
Charles is a well-known YouTuber and influencer who does makeup tutorials. His signature lips have arguably been his most identifiable feature.
Now he has joined the ranks of celebrities including Courtney Cox and Amy Schumer who are opting to dissolve their filler and remove implants.
And it’s not just celebrities whose relationships with cosmetic injectables are changing.
On TikTok, the hashtag #dissolvingfiller has attracted 47.9 million views, with users and aestheticians sharing their personal experiences while medical experts are seeing the trend too.
Dr Scott Allison, a cosmetic physician and secretary of the , (CPCA) told The Feed he has noticed an increase in people wanting to have their filler dissolved.
“One of the big reasons that I’m seeing patients have filler dissolved is from overfilling. So I think there is certainly an issue in the industry with patients getting too much filler,” he said.
“I think the trend has certainly moved away from filling and certainly overfilling, and people are wanting [a] more natural, less filled aesthetic.”
Dr Ronald Feiner, medical dean of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine, also said there is an “uptick in Australians getting filler dissolved” due to overfilling.
“We are aware of people being injected with much more than 6 mls of filler per session,” he told The Feed.
“Our immune systems can generally tolerate a few mls of filler being injected in a treatment session, but our immune systems can be challenged and stressed when excessive amounts of filler are injected.”
Feiner said it can lead to inflammatory reactions such as swelling or lumps, which require filler to be dissolved.
There are also a range of other factors influencing people”s relationships with cosmetic injectables, including migration, where filler moves beyond the designated area, to new information surrounding the longevity of treatments.
“They’re [also] lasting a lot longer than the 18 to 24 months that we’re led to believe,” Allison said.
“When patients — particularly if they’re coming every six to 12 months to get their filler done, perhaps their lips done — we’re just building and building and building. And it’s the slow creep, where patients’ faces are just distorting over time.”
The solution to this? Both Ronald and Scott emphasised the importance of seeking out practitioners who are “experienced”, “qualified” and won’t “overfill you”.
The cosmetic gateway: from filler to fat injections, and back again
Having started out with filler and botox and then getting fat injections, former Married at First Sight contestant also reversed his treatments.
Cooper told The Feed that at one point, he was “getting filler every two months”.
“That was just chewing through my bank account … And so my cosmetic nurse at that time turned around and was like, “Have you thought about fat injections?”
Cooper said he was told fat injections were a more “permanent” alternative to filler. He had fat sucked out of his thigh and injected into his jawline, chin and cheeks.
Former Married at First Sight contestant Liam Cooper before and after reversing his treatments. Source: Supplied
“Afterwards, I just looked round … there was no definition,” Cooper said.
“I hated looking at myself in the mirror, I got depressed. I didn’t want to take any photos. I was turning down interviews, I was turning down gigs.”
Cooper said he experienced body dysmorphia in two different ways.
First, when he was getting treatments: “I was like, ‘Oh, this is so easy … what else can I change?'”
Yet even after having various procedures, Cooper still didn’t like the way he looked. A year later, he started the process of reversing the treatment and was referred to a new doctor to get liposuction.
“I would never touch filler or anything like that again,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of female friends that are trying to get their filler removed, because that’s not what they want,” he said. “Everyone is trying to reverse back to the ‘natural’ look.”
The rise of cosmetic injectables
There has always been a market for beauty and anti-ageing and with the interconnectedness of social media, where users are more aware of beauty trends led by celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, these trends have only been accelerated.
Instagram and Snapchat filters have made it increasingly easy for users to share idealised versions of themselves online with big lips, small noses, full cheekbones and poreless skin.
On top of this, cosmetic injectables have become increasingly available. Botox, for example, was first approved for cosmetic use in 2002 in Australia, according to a Therapeutic Goods Association spokesperson. Before this, cosmetic surgery and botox was mostly considered beyond the means of ordinary people.
Now, you can get a range of injectables on your lunch break at many shopping centres.
The risks of dissolving filler
Dissolving filler can come with its own side effects.
According to the , hyaluronidase is typically used outside of the cosmetic world to “temporarily break down the hyaluronic acid in connective tissue”.
However, a hyaluronidase injection is typically used in cosmetic medicine to dissolve hyaluronic acid dermal fillers. And the risks can vary.
Feiner said: “Unfortunately, hyaluronidase has been used rather flippantly by some naive practitioners to reverse poorly delivered, overfilled and distorted outcomes.”
Bruising and swelling are among the most common side-effects when using hyaluronidase to dissolve filler, however there have been reports of facial drooping, loosening of skin elasticity and in some cases, anaphylaxis.
Are we really saying goodbye to filler forever?
Though some people are pivoting away from cosmetic procedures, it doesn’t necessarily mean botox, filler and other treatments are a thing of the past.
Lauren Rosewarne is an associate professor at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences and specialises in sexuality, gender, feminism and pop culture.
She cautions that although there might be some pushback, the beauty and anti-ageing industries “are still enormous”.
Australia’s annual spend on minimal or non-invasive cosmetic procedures topped $1 billion in 2015, according to a report published by the CPCA.
Instead, the pushback might be representative of a different way of viewing beauty, where extreme or overly conspicuous treatments are looked down upon.
Rather than a radical overhaul, Rosewarne said “making small, but constant updates” to your appearance has become normalised.
“[It] doesn’t mean people aren’t getting fillers, it’s just that they’re going to be less noticeable,” she said.
“Makeup is only good when people can’t tell you’re wearing it … fillers are only good until you can notice them.”
“I think part of it is wanting to be compliant with beauty standards, while not also looking like you’re a slave to them.”
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