Too much of a good thing is a bad thing – this logic, as we know, applies to food, alcohol, sunshine, exercise, and whatever else you can think of. The same absolutely goes for cosmetic procedures. A little filler here and there may enhance your beauty, but too much of it can leave you looking a bit strange. We saw how the internet reacted to Madonna's appearance at the Grammy Awards earlier this year when she showed off her age-defying, puffy cheeks.
This week, a woman named Chloe on TikTok (@omgiloveskincarelol) garnered over 10 million views after she posted a video about Kylie Jenner's and Kim Kardashian's procedures. She noted that the sisters' resting faces make them look like they're getting a waft of something nasty. "I don't know what facial thing it is that they got done, but it makes them look like they're always smelling something that stinks," Chloe said. The responses on her video indicate there's a widespread consensus among the audience. They see it too.
One viewer commented that she saw this in Kylie's photo from the Schiaparelli Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show in Paris: "The pic of her with the lion dress is where I first noticed it!"
"I ALWAYS say it looks like Kylie is smelling cheese!!!" an anonymous user added.
A lot of people began to speculate about the cause of the Kardashian scrunch. @bunelliebun on the platform writes, "It's from cheek filler and lip filler; both of them migrate, and then the nasolabial lines get exaggerated." Her theory is repeated by hundreds (if not thousands) of other commenters.
What Procedure Is Causing It? We Asked the Experts
The girlies demanded an answer to this phenomenon, so we asked the experts. Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon in New York, believes it could be the filler injections into the nasolabial folds (your laugh lines that run from the corners of your mouth to your nose). While it may reduce the appearance of deep lines, it can look abnormal in some people when they smile. It all depends on their features.
"This appears to be the result of a filler injection to nasolabial folds," Dr. Vasyukevich wrote in an email to Evie. "People with naturally full cheeks will always have these folds on a deeper side (think of a hill next to a valley).Smiling, of course, makes these folds look even deeper.When a filler is injected to the area, it makes the folds look shallower. If the nasolabial folds look too shallow for someone with full cheeks, it might make the smile look a bit unnatural."
Dr. Sean Kelishadi, board-certified plastic surgeon and President of SSK Plastic Surgery, adds that certain angles could be to blame and that the cause is different for everyone who gets the scrunched look. Sometimes, it's filler migration. For others, it may be due to the loss of volume in the nasal area. "I think it's just a focus of how some photos are taken," Dr. Kelishadi explained. "With each person, it could be a different reason from atrophy or deficiency of volume at the piriform aperture vs filler migration."
It seems Kylie's and Kim's high and plump cheekbones play a role in the "stink face." Dr. Eugenia Bonelli, co-founder of Prima Face Aesthetics clinic, told the Mirror this year that she believes Kylie got cheek fillers. "Despite her recent claims that she only had lip fillers, in my opinion, the youngest of the Kardashian's appearance has changed quite a lot over the years," she said. "If we have a closer look at her nose, the tip looks much more refined, and the bridge is more narrow. Therefore, I believe one of the first procedures she had at a young age is likely to have been a rhinoplasty."
Dr. Bonelli added, "Moving to her middle face, her cheekbones are more defined, and her face becomes more sculpted over the years. Even though we lose fat as we get older, Kylie is only 25 years old. It's very possible that she achieved this look with cheek fillers and buccal fat removal." Other experts state that Kim is no different and that she's likely had a good amount of "filler treatment" as well.
The verdict? It's what many people have already said in the comment section of TikTok – it's likely the fillers.
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