Is Dissolving Your Lip Fillers The New Trend?

For decades, lip filler has dominated the cosmetic procedure market.

But since 2020, dissolving them has become more popular. NOVA

explores why young people are reducing their lip sizes.

“After getting my lips refilled a few times, I look back at pictures now and I see that my lips were too big. I think I overdid them at one point,” says Natalia Radlowska, 22, who has been getting lip filler since the age of 18.

Natalia explains she always knew she wanted to get her top lip filled as she did not like that her bottom lip was heavier than her top lip. She says, however, that there is a “slippery slope with lip filling and sometimes you don’t realise when to stop.”

As a young person, no matter where you look, whether it is Instagram, Tik Tok or TV shows like the popularised Love Island, lip fillers are everywhere. But is this changing? With celebs like Molly-Mae Hague dissolving her lip fillers in 2020 and more recently, Geordie Shore star, Charlotte Crosby, doing the same, is this something that is becoming glamorised to the younger crowd?

Aesthetician Heather Matharu, 36, who dissolves and refills her own lips, believes that influencers on social media affect a lot of young people. She says: “Charlotte has just had hers dissolved. Now with Molly-Mae, I kind of expected that, but with Charlotte, I think it was more of a shock to see her do that. I think that would have urged more people to do it because she’s not the type of person you’d expect to dissolve those lips.”

PHOTOGRAPHY - MOGHADAM KHAMSEH

According to NOVA’s survey, 32% out of 25 people with lip fillers have considered getting them dissolved. Another four percent answered ‘maybe’. More than half of the respondents seem to be satisfied with the way their lip fillers look.

There are a few common reasons why people are going through with dissolving their lip fillers. Jodie Parsons, 28, an aesthetician at Dollsface Aesthetics, which won the ‘Best Lips Award’ in the UK Beauty Awards 2022, says that “the most common reason is to achieve a flat Russian lip and start fresh with a new technique, and potentially a new practitioner”.

In other instances, some people prefer their natural lips and find that filling their lips simply does not suit them. Jodie adds:

“Overfilled lips used to be trendy and now they’re not.”

Otherwise, many survey respondents have revealed that soon after the lip filling procedure, their lip filler started to migrate, and they could feel lumps in their lips.

“Migration is when filler travels outside of the border, when it travels where it’s not supposed to be. In the lips, where you have your pink pigment, the lip filler is supposed to stay in those lines but it can move out into the skin, giving a quite ‘ducky’ appearance”, explains Jodie. This usually occurs when lips are overfilled or not injected correctly.

This is the case with Natalia. She says: “I think at one point, I would like to dissolve my lips and start off with a fresh slate because you’re not really meant to have these lumps and bumps in your lips, and I feel some.”

UK legislation regarding who can inject lip filler is scarce and certainly requires updating. Anyone can actually administer dermal fillers, even someone who has not received sufficient training for the procedures they are offering.

With more people seeking cheap treatments, this opens up potential for things to go wrong. NOVA’s survey shows that although 80% of respondents researched if their practitioner was licensed to administer lip fillers, there were still 20% of respondents who did not. Heather points out that many of her clients who are dissolving are usually doing it because they had their fillers done at a cheap price.

“That’s something that I would definitely stay away from; somebody that’s always doing offers, somebody that’s way cheaper than everybody else. I’d just say definitely go to somebody you know has already been to that person and they’re happy and you’re happy with the work,” says Heather.

Faye Winter, a former contestant of Love Island, sparked major controversy and a wide debate in the aesthetic industry. She said in a recent ITV ‘This Morning’ interview that only medically trained professionals should be able to provide aesthetic procedures. Many people support this idea and believe that non-medics do not have enough knowledge to do the same treatments as medics.

Jodie says: “There are so many amazing non-medical practitioners that are just incredible, so I think that was a really unfair comment and she shouldn’t use her influence in that sort of way. It really shouldn’t be medic versus non-medic. It should be safe practice versus bad practice. I think it literally depends on how much of a passion that person has for the industry and how much they invest into their knowledge to make them a good practitioner.”

One of the things worth considering when looking for a safe practitioner is making sure that their place of work is clinical and sterile. Look out for the floor and surfaces to make sure they are clean and ensure that the equipment used by the practitioner is sanitised.

Also, does the practitioner hold recognised qualifications and insurance? Jodie highlights that as a client, you’re most welcome to ask the practitioner if they hold insurance as it’s a safety feature for not only them, but for yourself. Therefore, they shouldn’t feel offended if you ask.

Always ask yourself if the practitioner is doing a thorough consultation. The risks and possible complications should be clearly explained to you. At the end of the consultation, you should have a full understanding of what treatment you are receiving and what product is going into your lips. You should consider that the safest and best dermal filler for lip enhancement is Hyaluronic Acid due to its natural extract from the body.

Reviews also go a long way. It is important to check if the practitioner holds genuine reviews on sites like Google, Booksy and their website. “Don’t just look at someone’s Instagram followers and likes because you can actually buy those.

You should look for genuine reviews from real clients to see whether this person is a safe practitioner,” says Jodie.

For Natalia, it is vital to closely look at the practitioner’s portfolio because what they do on other people, is most likely what they will do on you. “If you like the look of large fake-looking lips, then I would go to someone who does that. And if you want something more natural or someone who can do different shaped lips, then I would look at that. It’s the same with getting a tattoo. I wouldn’t go to a water-coloured artist if I wanted a comic tattoo. People specialise in different things.”

IMAGE - JODIE PARSONS

Not everything influencers post on their social media platforms is always the reality. Jodie talks about influencers who used to get a lot of free treatments because practitioners were so keen to have them in their clinic that “they wouldn’t care if their lips were already overfilled. They just go and do it anyway, just to have their picture on their page”.

Despite it being idealised by several influencers and users on TikTok, lip filler dissolving can ultimately be really dangerous and “it shouldn’t be looked at as a trend”, adds Jodie. To dissolve lip fillers, hyaluronidase is injected near the filler, which begins to break down the filler. It contains B-enzymes, meaning that “if you have an allergy to bees or wasps, it’s a no go because you might go into anaphylaxis”. Therefore, all clinics should always do a patch test in case someone is allergic.

Like Heather says, if you are unhappy with small lips, get them filled. And if you are unhappy with big lips, dissolve them. Regardless of what kind of lips you desire, NOVA suggests that you do whatever is safe and what makes you happy long term.