Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Kate McCusker

HISTORICAL FACTS: When filler removal goes wrong my lips and cheeks caved in - The Untold Story

Partly deflated red lips balloon
You do not need to be a medical professional to administer fillers in the UK, nor do you need a prescription to acquire filler. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

It was her wedding photographs that did for Grace Stewart’s dermal fillers. By the time the 32-year-old married her long-term partner in 2022, she had been getting fillers for three years – first in her jaw, in pursuit of “that snatched look”, and latterly in her lips, cheeks, nose and chin. One image in particular made her do a double-take: a side-on candid shot in which she is being swept up in a hug by a cousin. “It was this really lovely moment, but all you can see is my chin curling up and this bulky jaw,” says the Nottingham-based social media manager. “I now think: ‘My Lord, why did I do that to myself?’”

Stewart did not get any further treatments in the two years after her wedding, but while hyaluronic acid filler is typically marketed as temporary – lasting up to 18 months – she couldn’t seem to shake the volume that had been injected into her jaw. So, this year, she made like Kylie Jenner, Courteney Cox and Molly-Mae Hague and had social media’s latest injection du jour: hyaluronidase, or dissolver. “I now know that there’s a reason why my face is the shape that it is. It’s not supposed to have this angle to it that doesn’t flow,” she says. “I feel so sad that I felt the need to adjust how I looked just to feel like the best version of myself.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.