Young people ditch fillers for face-lifts: A growing trend

Arab Times

26-01-2025

NEW YORK, Jan 26: Celebrities are increasingly opening up about their decision to reverse cosmetic procedures and swear off dermal fillers. However, some of them have found that the process comes with unexpected consequences.
Courteney Cox, the famous actress from Friends, shared her experience with removing fillers on the Gloss Angeles podcast in 2023. "I was just doing too many fillers and then having to have them removed which, thank God they are removable, but I think I've messed -- I messed up a lot and now, luckily, I can, you know, I was able to reverse most of that," said the 60-year-old.
Reality TV star Lala Kent, known for Vanderpump Rules, also discussed her decision to stop using fillers with BravoTV.com. "I wanna stop with the lips, I wanna stop with the fillers, you know, it's just enough is enough," said the 34-year-old. "I'm starting to look at the comments and compare photos, I'm not about it anymore."
In 2023, model Blac Chyna revealed on Impact x Nightline that losing weight led her to reverse her cosmetic procedures at age 34. "As I started to slim down, my features started to really come out, like my cheekbones and everything. So with all the filler, that started to really protrude out now that my face has become slimmer," she explained. "It served its purpose, like I'm just, I'm cutting ties with it so I can move on to the next chapter in my life."
UK beauty influencer and podcaster Ashley Stobart also shared her reflections on cosmetic procedures with followers on her podcast Nip, Tuck, Not Giving A…. She had nonsurgical lip fillers at age 18, the earliest age at which it's legal in her country. "It was just that quick fix I needed for maybe loss of volume, wanting bigger lips, bigger cheeks, the jaw filler, the chin filler, the nose filler," she recalled. "I was having all the filler."
Hyaluronic acid, commonly used for fillers, is a gel-like substance injected into the skin to give a plump appearance. According to Dr. Darien Sutton, ABC News medical correspondent, "When you scroll online, you see advertisements for things like fillers -- that should be a red flag. When you see people looking for customers, aka patients, trying to do procedures that they may not be fully skilled in doing, selling it at a discount, you know, these should be red flags."
Sutton noted that while many people believe these substances dissolve over time, "we're learning more and more that many of these substances are persistent in people's bodies for longer than they may think. And that exposes people to risks that we are only beginning to understand."
After becoming pregnant, Stobart took a break from her fillers. But when she returned to them, she realized they hadn't worn off. "There were just multiple layers of treatments that I had accumulated over the years," she said. "I'm looking bigger and puffier than ever."
Stobart decided to reverse the fillers, but after removing more than a decade's worth of injections, she was left with sagging skin. So, at age 34, she opted for a facelift. "They found a lot of hyaluronic acid, or remnants of some injectable at some point that I had had. They were pushing it out for hours," Stobart explained. "I was in surgery for 9.5 hours in total. That wasn't anticipated because when he opened everything up, it turned out there was still a lot left in there."
Dr. Sutton warned that the face is one of the most complicated areas to operate on because of blood vessels, nerves, and muscles. "The risk of complication is so high, and the risk of disfigurement is so high, that you have to make sure you're doing it with someone who knows exactly what they're doing," he cautioned.
Some people in their 20s and 30s are also sharing their own stories of surgical lifts on social media. Ryan Joers, 26, began his cosmetic journey almost a decade ago with fillers. "I had always seen on social media, other influencers," he said. "Kylie Jenner, at that time was, I think, 16 years old, getting her lips done, and just seeing that kind of noise everywhere, seeing the influencers apply products to their lips that were beautiful and full was a big motivator."
By age 22, Joers began to feel uneasy about his cosmetic procedures. "That was when I would smile -- I didn't see anything other than my lips," he said. "I would see photos and videos of myself and just see lips."
Joers reflected on how his understanding of fillers had changed. "Our knowledge on fillers was not what it was today, it was 'fillers aren't permanent.' So you need more, you need more, you need more," he said. "So I never really got the opportunity at first to understand different types of filler, how they interact differently in the body."
At age 25, Joers decided to reverse some of his work by dissolving fillers and undergoing rhinoplasty and a brow lift. "It was an interesting landscape, being, you know, a younger man -- it comes with a lot of judgment from plastic surgeons," he shared. "You have to admit to someone not only that you made mistakes, but that you're not happy with the way you look. And that's a very vulnerable thing with anyone, whether it's a friend or a doctor."
Joers believes surgical lifts were the best option for him due to the limitations of nonsurgical procedures. "I'm happier now with the way my face looks, given that surgery was an intervention or an option of altering my chin, altering my nose, altering my face in a way that naturally would have not been possible or achievable through a med spa procedure," he said.
Joers has been open about his cosmetic journey, posting recovery updates and before-and-after photos on TikTok. "I'm grateful for my experience, even the bad of it, because that's how I got here," he said. "Through that, I was able to learn and make better decisions when it came to permanent solutions."
Having undergone a similar journey, Stobart hopes others will learn from her story. "I would just say, don't rush into anything unless you're 100% sure and you understand all of the pros and cons," she said.