Too much lip filler makes you look like a duck – so chimes the voiceover, rather bluntly, of one advert.
'The good news is, it's simple to undo.'
'Not happy with your lip filler? Then reverse the result,' advises another, from a cosmetic clinic on video-sharing app TikTok.
'An eraser enzyme instantly dissolves the filler [and can return] your lips to their natural shape and form.'
For the uninitiated, lip fillers are medical-grade gels that are injected into the lips. They sit beneath the skin and add volume, creating a plump, pillowy pout.
Once the preserve of wealthy middle-aged women looking for an anti-ageing pick-me-up, the number of twentysomethings and teens undergoing the procedure has soared over the past five years, no doubt inspired by sexually charged images of social-media celebrities and reality TV stars who've had the jabs.
One recent survey of 18-to-24-year-olds suggested that as many as seven per cent of this age group had undergone a cosmetic lip enhancement, while a staggering 68 per cent said they knew someone who had.
A recent survey of 18-to-24-year-olds suggested that as many as seven per cent of this age group had undergone a cosmetic lip enhancement, while a staggering 68 per cent said they knew someone who had
Yet experts have warned they are now having to tackle a 'tsunami' of unhappy patients with botched or abnormal-looking results who are desperate to have lip filler removed.
So is it, as another advertisement claims, possible 'to start over'? The answer, worryingly, is that it can be far more risky than they make out.
The drug that must be injected into lips to dissolve filler gel can also destroy healthy tissue, leaving cavities, irregularities and other deformities, cosmetic doctors have told The Mail on Sunday.
If carried out by a well qualified injector, the procedure is safe and effective. But in the wrong hands, both lip fillers, and the jabs given to remove them, can leave patients permanently disfigured, they warn.
Recently, a number of reality TV stars have spoken publicly about having their lip fillers reduced, claiming they've decided to go for 'a natural look'.
Last year Love Island contestant Molly-Mae Hague, 22, boasted she had spent thousands having procedures, including jaw and lip fillers, reversed.
Experts have warned they are now having to tackle a 'tsunami' of unhappy patients with botched or abnormal-looking results who are desperate to have lip filler removed. One woman, Daniella Bolton, 24, from Edinburgh, recently needed treatment with steroid medication after her lips ballooned to '20 times their normal size'.
She'd first had her lips enhanced when she was 17 – something that would now be illegal, as offering cosmetic jabs to under-18s was banned in October – and in a YouTube video that's been viewed more than two million times claimed she did not miss her 'lumpy, bumpy horrible filler'.
A few months earlier, Kylie Jenner, 24, a member of the reality TV Kardashian clan who has more than 300 million followers on Instagram, admitted the reason she was looking different in photos was 'because I got rid of all my filler' – sparking a slew of magazine articles proclaiming 'the end of lip injections'.
However, it's not always possible to reverse lip-filler procedures, warns Dr Raj Acquilla, who runs cosmetic clinics in London and Cheshire. He says he regularly sees young women who have 'realised what they've done doesn't suit their face'.
My advice to young women? Don't have your lips done in the first place
He adds: 'They feel ashamed at what they've done to themselves, and are desperate to look normal again, but in many cases we have to tell them there's only so much we can do to help.'
While he isn't against the use of lip fillers, Dr Acquilla continues: 'One problem I see often is a uniform amount of filler injected throughout both lips, giving them an abnormal sausage-like appearance, rather than the natural heart shape they should have.'
And poorly applied lip filler isn't just a cosmetic issue.
He says: 'Big duck lips that project outwards look unnatural, but they can also affect the function of the mouth. Some patients can't form certain words properly. And expressions can become warped – the corners of the mouth turn up but the lips don't move.'
He calls this 'a Joker smile', after the grotesque, clown-like villain in the Batman comics and films.
A big part of the problem, he says, is that most lip filler procedures are being carried out – perfectly legally – by practitioners with little or no training. Lip fillers are classified as implants, so don't need to be prescribed as medicines do.
In 2019, Ashley booked in for a new kind of lip-filler procedure, dubbed 'Russian lips', in which extra filler is injected into the centre of the lips to accentuate the cupid's bow – giving a Russian-doll-like look, hence the name. She immediately regretted it. Pictured: Ashley before, posing with her enhanced pout
Ashley paid about £250 for her Russian lips procedure – but £3,000 for three appointments at the end of last year with Dr Acquilla to have them dissolved. Pictured: Ashley after, now with a natural look
Research suggests up to eight in ten of those offering the injections are beauticians or people with no medical experience.
Other investigations have found jabs being offered in gyms and leisure centres, hair salons and even living rooms, usually at a fraction of what a private doctor or nurse would charge.
And many, it would seem, now offer treatments they say will 'fix sausage lips' and 'correct ugly results' – promoting their services directly on social media.
Patients post 'lip filler dissolving journey' videos, often mentioning the name of their beautician – on TikTok there are seemingly endless posts tagged 'lipdissolve' and similar – with claims such as 'my lips were completely free of filler and no longer swollen in two days', and 'I had my old filler dissolved and redone'.
The most commonly used lip filler is a jelly-like substance called hyaluronic acid, a man-made version of a naturally occurring compound found in the skin and cartilage where it provides moisture and suppleness. It can be broken down in minutes by injecting the drug hyaluronidase.
But inexpert lip dissolving can be even more disastrous than badly done filler, warns Dr Acquilla.
'Hyaluronidase can break down healthy lip tissue, as well as the filler. If it's not done right it can leave patients with irregular shaped lips and even cavities – as if bites have been taken out of the face.
'These poor girls go for dissolving treatment because they feel bad about the way fillers have made them look, and are left in even more of a state.'
Women who are unhappy with hyaluronic acid filler results can play a waiting game – the gel is naturally reabsorbed by the body over six months to a year. However, things may never look the way they did. In these cases, the only option is to keep filling.
'We can help women look more normal, but some will need reconstructive treatment for the rest of their
