LESLEY REYNOLDS
In her first OK! column, Queen of harley street Lesley Reynolds reveals all about plumping Injections
Wrinkles and sagging are normal signs of getting older, but a host of ageless celebrities have proved that it’s possible to wipe years from their face in a flash. Cheekbones are restored, sagging skin is lifted and, just like magic, lines vanish.
However, you might be surprised to hear that their time-defying secret isn’t surgery, but injectable fillers. Yes, these stars really can say, hand on heart, that they haven’t been under the knife.
Another big bonus for celebrities is that fillers are very Instagram friendly. Done well, there’s minimal downtime so nobody needs to know their secret. It also means women no longer have to choose, as Mae West once famously said, between their face and their bottom. They can stick to a strict diet and gruelling gym routine, and still keep the plump, high cheeks and contoured jawline of a teenager.
There can be one big downside to this quest for eternal youth, though. Some famous faces end up with an almost obsessive approach to fillers. I call it fill-orexia. We’ve all seen the stars who have created a face so artificial it looks almost mummified. In fact, I would be loath to hold a candle near some faces in case they melted.
Look out for eyes that have become cat-like due to cheekbones being overfilled, or cheeks that look like stuffed pillowcases. Another giveaway is the ping pong look, when there’s so much filler it becomes lumpy.
The problems start when people have endless syringes of fillers to try to make everything look the same as it did 10 years ago. It won’t. The skin’s elasticity isn’t the same, and it won’t hold fat in the same way.
As we age, the face loses volume, deflates and sags. Fillers can certainly replace some of the lost structure, but when too much is used it can cause the angles of the face to become distorted.
Sometimes, I’ve had to politely refuse to carry out a treatment when a star wants a look that is so unflatteringly over the top. I once had to tell a lovely American who was filming in London, “No more filler,” when her over-inflated cheekbones entered the room before she did.
In many ways, I can sympathise. There is massive pressure on women in the spotlight to continue to look as young as possible.
But over-inflating an ageing face isn’t the answer, and unfortunately bad work has left many women dubious about having facial fillers. That’s a great shame as, in experienced hands, the results can be fabulous. Fillers are especially great when you feel your skincare isn’t cutting it any more.
Done well, the results should look and feel completely natural, leaving people to guess, “Has she or hasn’t she?” And that is the mark of a good practitioner – someone who will want to enhance your beauty, not distort it.
‘results should look natural’