Dangerous new “devil lips” filler treatment trends on Instagram

A bizarre new lip filler trend, thought to have originated in Russia is causing concern among industry experts who have labelled it as “unnatural’ and dangerous”.

The procedure, which has been trending on Instagram, is known as ‘devil lips’ or ‘octopus lips’ and creates waves around the lip border. Although some women use make-up to create the look, others are now turning to dermal fillers, it has been reported.

Aesthetic Medicine editorial board members Dr Steven Harris and Dr Sophie Shotter gave their views on the trend. Dr Harris commented, “The ‘wavy pouts’ or ‘devil lips’ have been receiving much attention in the media, especially on Instagram with mixed reviews. It represents a very poor understanding of natural anatomy along with a gross lack of artistic acumen and represent everything that is wrong with our industry, including the complete lack of regulations.

“These practices involving a distortion of the vermillion border are not only unsightly and offensive, but involve significant risk. This is especially true in the upper lip where the course of the superior labial artery is unpredictable raising the risk of a vascular occlusion. Furthermore, the filler is very resistant to break down on the hard side of the border, so a degree of disfigurement can be very long lasting, even with attempts to dissolve the filler.

“These kind of procedures prey on our most vulnerable patients; the young and impressionable and those with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). As practitioners on the forefront of this mess, we have to take responsibility because we have a duty of care to our patients and therefore need to play a very important role in educating them and encouraging psychological intervention such  as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) when necessary.”

 

Dr Sophie Shotter added, “The vermillion border of the lip cannot be augmented in the way suggested in recent devil lip photos. Not only does it look bizarre, but I would suggest that anyone wanting to learn this technique might want to book onto a photoshop course rather than onto an injectable training workshop. The way this has trended shows a fascination with the bizarre, but I’m very pleased to say this hasn’t translated into requests in clinic.”