How you can avoid celebrity ‘pillow face’: Aesthetician lifts the lid on filler phenomenon that leaves people looking unrecognizable

A beautician has shed light on the so-called ‘pillow face’ celebrities have, which makes them look puffy.

Fillers do not dissolve, but can migrate. That is why some celebrities can suffer from this phenomenon. It is not only caused by cosmetic changes that have not gone well, but also by too much filler that ends up under the skin.

It is the opposite of the narrow Olympic face; a person’s cheeks and lips can appear extremely puffy, swollen, and unnatural.

“We now have an explanation for the ‘pillow face’ phenomenon, namely that the filler does not simply dissolve or metabolize over time,” says beautician Jayme B. she announced to her followers in a now-viral TikTok video with over 3,500 comments.

Instead of the filler dissolving naturally, it migrates or spreads to other parts of your face and continues to expand the tissue, she warned.

Jayme said that ‘people who use fillers regularly’ end up with a bloated face because the filler can migrate. She used Madonna as a supposed example.

According to Jayme, people who use fillers regularly have a bloated face. That makes sense, because their body contains more gel-like substance.

She showed recent photos of Madonna and Chrissy Teigen, both of whom have shocked their fans with their changing looks.

The photos of Madonna came from her performance at the Grammys, an event that sparked furious plastic surgery speculation among stunned onlookers.

During the awards ceremony in February, social media was flooded with confused reactions from viewers. One person wrote: ‘To me, Madonna doesn’t really look like Madonna.’

Another said: ‘Madonna needs to stop plastic surgery and embrace the aging process. She’s almost unrecognizable at this point.’

Weeks later, Madonna responded to the social media storm with a humorous post.

“Look how cute I am now that the swelling from surgery has gone down lol,” she captioned a photo of herself reclining in ripped jeans and a “Spiritually Hungry” hat.

Meanwhile, Chrissy faced similar backlash after a beauty Instagram account accused her of ruining her face with fillers last summer.

Commenters said at the time: ‘She used to be beautiful. I don’t know why she ruined her face like that,’ while another added: ‘Why do these celebrities want puffy cheeks?’

But the mother of four wasn’t afraid to hit back. Chrissy kept it short by replying: ‘No malice intended? But saying that could be your face if you do it wrong? You’re a piece of shit. I’ve gained weight.’

In September 2021, Chrissy announced on her Instagram Stories that she had undergone buccal fat removal surgery, a procedure in which fat is removed from her cheeks to define her jawline.

In her video, Jayme goes on to explain that she hasn’t worked in a medical spa in almost three years, but she always knew the filler could seep into other areas of the face. In fact, it “almost seems like a guarantee.”

She believes ‘the conversation about how long it lasts’ has changed, as people used to think fillers lasted six to 12 months, but now it seems to last even longer.

Jayme asked other injectors if the protocol now involved a round of solvent injection before more filler was injected. He also asked what patients said about the length of the treatment.

“What’s your opinion on fillers outside the lips disrupting your lymphatic system?” she asked, pointing to her cheekbones.

She also wondered if it was a dying trend. Someone in her comments section said it was because it becomes ‘semi-permanent’ and therefore no longer requires regular maintenance.

“I’ve never been so glad I’ve never had filler,” another commenter said after learning about the cushioning effect, while someone else said they were actually glad they were “too broke for this stuff.”

Jayme showed off recent photos of Madonna and Chrissy Teigen as both women have shocked their fans as their faces appear to have changed over time

“I lost two friends to filler. They didn’t graduate or something, I just couldn’t watch it anymore. Really sad,” joked one furious TikTok commenter

Someone brought up that MRIs prove that fillers can spread, which made them realize that ‘they never want to touch filler again.

Another warned: ‘Solvents don’t always work either’ – and it can also lead to extreme allergic reactions.

Many people indicated in the comments that their filler still had not dissolved after a year.

One person explained that he had fillers done only once almost three years ago and he can still see the color. Another said that he had his lips done in 2021 and they are still full.

“I lost two friends to filler. They didn’t graduate or something, I just couldn’t watch it anymore. Really sad,” one commentator joked.

According to a New York plastic surgeon Dr. Amiya Presad’s website, the ‘pillow face’ appearance is caused when ‘‘filler migrates and creates a doughy appearance,’ leading to cheeks that appear ‘large and disproportionate.’

However, not everyone thought it was due to migration of the filler.

Some believed it was because people were simply getting too much filler, as one wrote: ‘That’s not filler migration. That’s overfilling. Filler migration is bumpy and moves to a different location.’

Someone summed it up by saying, “Short answer: Different rheology/technique/anatomy/metabolisms all play unique roles in regards to migration, longevity, and results. I’ve been using fillers more and more, but there are better products out there these days.”

An experienced injector explained: ‘The problem with fillers is that you use them for people who don’t need them. For people with volume loss, it’s very effective. I still have a lot of filler clients, but I don’t fill them if they don’t need them.’

Some people thought filler was gone for good, with one saying, “I heard filler is dying out. Apparently, treatments like needles and special facials are the answer.”

The only dermal filler that is not absorbed by the body and is FDA is made with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) beads suspended in a solution containing bovine collagen.