Has Hollywood finally had its fill of filler as stars from Jennifer Garner and Courteney Cox to Blac Chyna ditch Botox
FLAWLESS skin has been the norm in Hollywood since Botox exploded in the Nineties.
But A-listers are turning their backs on the trend, refraining from having injectables ahead of red carpet events — and even dissolving cosmetic fillers.
Just last week, 51-year-old Jennifer Garner showed off a glowing complexion at the LA premiere for her Apple series The Last Thing He Told Me.
She has said she is part of a new wave of stars who “don’t want a frozen face”, despite dabbling with Botox “a few times” in the past.
She told Harper’s Bazaar magazine: “We all look at our faces more than people used to, and it doesn’t do you any good.
“You obsess over changes or how to fix something on your face.
“My advice is to look at the mirror less and be cautious when it comes to injecting anything into your face.”
It is not just celebs who are saying no to facial tweakments.
The hashtag #makeunder has more than 24million views on TikTok, while #lipdissolving — referring to removing cosmetic facial fillers — has been viewed more than 162million times.
Make-up sales last year only saw a three per cent growth, while the skincare market boomed by 16 per cent.
‘Subtle results’
The latest figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons show a decrease of 7.5 per cent in cosmetic facial procedures compared to the previous year.
Leading aesthetics expert Nina Prisk, of Update Aesthetics, says: “Many of the people I’m treating are seeing celebrities sporting more natural-looking lips after having fillers dissolved and are wanting to follow suit.
“There is a huge trend-shift away from this artificial, over-plumped look and people are now seeking more natural, subtle results.”
Dr Miriam Adebibe, cosmetic doctor and co-founder of Victor & Garth, says: “Celebrities are opting to turn their backs on aesthetic treatments that create the unnatural look that makes us all look very similar.
“Overdone features that don’t suit the face and dissolve facial individuality are going out of fashion.
“Many of these stars will still be having treatments, but ones with more of a regenerative focus.
“There’s much more of a focus in 2023 on using aesthetics to regenerate our skin rather than changing how we look with things like filler.
“As a result, in clinics we are seeing a change in how Botox is used.
“Previously, it was used to entirely freeze the muscles of the face, whereas more recently, patients are using Botox to help maintain collagen levels but keep movement with smaller doses.
“On top of all this, celebs are embracing ageing gracefully — and it’s refreshing to see.”
Earlier this year, Pamela Anderson, 55, talked about anti-ageing tweakment and said she “can’t wait to see myself old” and let her hair turn “naturally grey”, and added: “We are going to get old.
“I don’t want to do that crazy s**t to myself”.
Model Blac Chyna, 34, was praised last month as she told how she had facial filler dissolved from her cheeks, jawline and lips.
In a video posted to her social media, she said: “Enough is enough.
“It all has to come out. Back to the baseline.
“I’m just tired of the look, and it’s just not flattering, it’s not what I look like.
“It totally changed my face.
“I already have the structure.
“I don’t know why I even did all the fillers.
“Well, I did it because everybody was doing it.
“So let this be a lesson. Don’t even do it, y’all. It’s not even worth it.”
Friends star Courteney Cox, 58, has also recently spoken out about her beauty regrets.
In the past she has admitted to getting lip fillers, chin implants, breast augmentations and a nose job.
On the Gloss Angeles podcast, she revealed her biggest beauty regret was “fillers” and thinking she “was getting older when I was really young”.
Courteney, who has had her fillers dissolved, said: “That’s just a bummer, a waste of time. It’s a domino effect.
“You don’t realise that you look a little off, so then you keep doing more because you look normal to yourself . . . and you look in the mirror and go, ‘Oh, that looks good’. You don’t realise what it looks like to the outside person.
“Thank God they are removable, but I think I messed up a lot and luckily I was able to reverse most of that.”
Aesthetics expert Emma Wedgwood says: “It’s no surprise that achieving more natural results is gaining more traction in the cosmetic industry.
“Now more than ever, women are looking for more non-invasive treatments to create a more refreshing version of themselves.
“People are becoming more clued-up on their options when it comes to aesthetic treatments — botched treatments or results they’re dissatisfied with aren’t forever, they can be reversed and corrected.
“Recent studies by SaveFace showed that dermal fillers were the number one aesthetic treatment to accumulate complaints last year, with two out of every three complaints — 67 per cent — being about lip fillers.”
‘Cringe category’
Dr Kajal Babamiri, GP specialist at aesthetics clinic CLNQ, says: “It’s not just celebs choosing to embrace a more natural look,
“I’m seeing an increase in patient enquiries for filler dissolving too.
“Natural-looking, undetectable tweaks — and a rise in skin health treatments, such as radiofrequency micro-needling and moisturising injectables — are popular alternatives right now.
“People are becoming more clued-up on their options when it comes to aesthetic treatments and know they can be reversed. Others opt to dissolve fillers to ‘start from scratch’ in creating a new look, to match the natural chic trend.”
Former Towie regular Megan McKenna, 30, was one of the first reality stars to ditch filler in 2019 after years of having her lips plumped. A year later, Love Islander Molly-Mae Hague, 23, got her facial fillers dissolved and stripped back her teeth veneers after admitting: “In the long run, it makes you look worse.”
More recently, reality stars Shaughna Phillips, Olivia Attwood and Faye Winter all followed suit.
Speaking on the Diary Of A CEO podcast in September, Molly-Mae said: “I thought I needed to get jaw, cheek and lip filler to be a successful influencer like the girls on Instagram are.
“It’s all editing, now I realise. By the age of 21, I didn’t look like the same person. There was this one pivotal moment where I’d got loads of filler in my jaw.
“I posted a video post-procedure, when I was still really swollen. A screenshot of that video was trending on Twitter for weeks.
“It was horrendous. I realised I’d taken it too far. After that I got my lips and everything else dissolved.
“Weirdly, I felt the prettiest I’d ever felt. I feel like I’ve dropped about five years off my age.”
Emma Kenny, one of the UK’s leading psychological experts, puts this change in aesthetic goals down to people wanting to appear more “human”.
She says: “While cosmetic procedures have prevented the wrinkles associated with age, they have also reduced and, at times, removed the all-important expressions that human beings use to communicate.
“This is likely why the tide appears to be turning.
“As opposed to wrinkles and laughter lines symbolising a loss of beauty, many are realising that they represent wisdom, compassion and life experience that emboldens confidence and authenticity.
“Just like any fashion, trends come and go.
“Beauty standards and expectations shift and change as society has a period of adaptation and adjustment that sees certain looks and styles stand the test of time, while others fall by the wayside or are upgraded.
“Botox and fillers may remain part of the beauty landscape, but a less-is-more approach allowing natural beauty to remain centre stage seems likely as we come to realise that ageing is a privilege and not something to try to escape, or deny.”
Despite research finding a drop in the number of women wanting to ditch the filler, Botox is still a million-pound business, and experts reckon we will now see a rise in “natural-looking” Botox instead.
Ruby Jo Lomax, owner of aesthetics education hub RJL Education said: “While celebrities may be having their fillers dissolved, it doesn’t mean people are going to follow suit and go completely natural — #botox still has six billion views on TikTok.
“The latest movement is the ‘no make-up, make-up’ look.
“The goal is to look effortlessly flawless and like you’re not wearing any make-up at all, even though you are.
“As though you rolled out of bed like this.
“Think minimal mascara, concealer and a touch of blush. ‘Natural’ is in right now, but people aren’t ditching aesthetics, they’re ditching the overly-filled look.
“People are still flocking to aesthetics.
“Vanity will always sell, just this time round the trend is more natural.
“The overly-filled look has been dumped firmly in the ‘cringe category’.”
‘I looked odd – I didn’t recognise myself when I smiled’
CLAIRE Jones, 49, has quit using Botox after a year.
The weight-loss coach at YourOneLife Healthy Weight Solutions lives in Dover, Kent, with husband Rick, 53, a graphic designer and photographer. She has two children, aged 29 and 26.
Claire says: “In my early forties I started to become aware that my face was becoming more lined and I was beginning to look older.
“I wasn’t too happy and started looking around for anti-ageing solutions.
“In June 2019, I had a face-to-face consultation with a skin and laser clinic in Canterbury and we talked about different treatments, including face lifts.
“I thought I wanted to try something that was potentially reversible, which is Botox.
“I had the first lot in June and another dose in October, spending around £300 each time.
“I had it on my crow’s feet, between my brows and some around my laugh lines.
“I was pleased with the results – and you could clearly see the difference.
“My eyebrows and eyelids were lifted and there were fewer wrinkles.
“But as time passed, I started to notice my face looked odd.
“I didn’t recognise myself when I smiled.
“Even though it was probably not that obvious to other people, it was really obvious to me.
“I didn’t feel authentic and I didn’t feel I looked like myself any more.
“Then we had a lockdown and I was no longer able to get a top-up.
“Looking back, I think it did me a favour.
“It made me question if I really needed Botox.
“There wasn’t that much difference between the first time and not having it done, but by the second time I think it became more obvious.
“I started to realise it was one of those treatments where you can keep going, and then before you know it your face has completely changed.
“I decided to not go back as I wanted to come to terms with the fact I’ve got lines on my face, which is inevitable when you get older.
“I am 50 tomorrow, and it’s nice to feel 50 and fabulous in my own skin and not making alterations to my appearance.
“It’s important for me to feel comfortable with who I am and not worry so much.”