Ever wonder why so many people, even celebrities with access to the best plastic surgeons are walking around with pillow face?
Why does it seem that the more money someone can pay to access treatments they can sometimes age weirder instead of more gracefully?
One of the offending effects is demonstrated by the explosion of “pillow face”. While the term has been used interchangeably to describe the odd, bloated, puffy appearance that results from an exorbitant amount of filler being injected into the face, this past spring, we saw the debut of the namesake filter, which allows you to try the look on for size—cartoonish lips; exaggerated cheeks; stretched, shiny skin—
Alluring, right?
You too can channel your own pillow-licious self by using this instagram filter.
While the overfilled face may be good for a laugh on social media, its growing prevalence IRL is a very real concern in the aesthetics industry.
In aesthetics, there’s always a latest-and-greatest, that hot-now fix suddenly overshadowing all the old reliables. Given time — and the rigors of trial and error — trending treatments will either fall off the map or establish true legitimacy.
Pillow face has been paved on the path to aesthetic artistry veering somewhat off course when patients are over-filled instead of lifted. The intention is well-meaning, however, there is a key point of differentiation: fillers help to mask aging, but they do not lift.
The Triangle of Youth isn’t a tropical destination near Bermuda where everyone leaves looking mysteriously youthful. It is, however, a more desirable destination than the Pyramid of Aging. A youthful face has 3 unique features: high cheekbones, full cheek volume and a well-defined jawline, hence the Triangle of Youth.
When you’re younger, your face appears plump, contoured and defined. As we begin to age, these features slowly turn into what is known as ‘the pyramid of age’.This is where definition drops and the triangle becomes inverted. We’re talking deflated cheeks (with excess skin moving down to the jaw), more defined nasolabial folds (the lines that run from your nose to the corners of your mouth) and thinner, less elastic skin. The volume is still there in the face, it’s just migrated down below. That hallow is then present, not because that volume has disappeared, it has just migrated, leading to jowling.
Enter Fillers. Some injectors will tout fillers as being able to deliver a “mini facelift” to fill up above the cheek bones and pull everything up to try to re-establish the Triangle of Youth. Their strategy is to inject up high to camouflage loss of volume that has shifted down but there is one big problem – it makes everything fuller over all.
Fillers in moderation can help mask shadows on your face. They can help camouflage the fact that volume has shifted downward. But they do so at the expense of adding volume to your face.There’s volume in the product being injected, as well as added water from the fillers’ hydrophilic properties. Hyaluronic acid based fillers are water magnets. They attract water and hold it indefinitely, which can translate to the unpredictably bloated and boggy appearance seen in some of the bulkier-looking celebrity before and afters. Depending on how superficially the injections are placed, they can also have a negative impact on lymphatic drainage, stopping everything up, and adding to the water-boarded appearance.
When volume is added instead of skin tightened or lifted, things start to shift. This is especially apparent on thinner patients. Think too heavy – a face with proportions too big for their body. Aesthetic work that detracts from natural beauty as something augmented to no longer resemble something to be found in nature.“When the architecture of the human face is even slightly tweaked or pushed out of its natural boundaries, it’s acutely noticeable to the human eye”, says artist & Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Subbio. See his entertaining and informing take on the issue. It doesn’t help to have no lines if it means resembling a caricature of your former self.
If you are going for fillers, it is important to work with a skilled injector who takes in the full picture of your unique beauty and works within integrity valuing the appearance of skin over time rather than a quick fix. We work closely with expert injectors in Virginia and are happy to provide quality referrals to you in meeting your beauty goals.
A wonderful adjunct or replacement to fillers is Radiofrequency Microneedling, specifically the Morpheus 8. This treatment creates a controlled wound-response in the skin utilizing 24 pins that create channels in the skin that cause it to contract and lift, and radiofrequency energy to “shrink wrap” the skin from the inner, dermal layer. Loose skin is tightened and made more firm through collagen induction. It is done harnessing your body’s own regenerative processes, not relying on an outside placeholder. The results are less lines and wrinkles, a sculpted appearance, more-defined jawline, firmer skin, brighter complexion, refined contours, among other anti-aging benefits.
If you have multiple areas you want to treat where you notice aging like marionette lines, jowling, eye area, sagging, neck area, double chin, laxity, you may be a good candidate for Morpheus. Anyone wanting to create change within the Pyramid of Aging, while looking sculpted and defined should look into this treatment.
We believe that loving the skin you’re in and wanting to enhance it are not mutually exclusive ideas. Whether you’re aiming to repair decades-old sun damage, restore your facial contours to previous proportions, or simply look like the healthiest, more rested version of yourself – we utilize the ultimate skin-rejuvenation treatments to get you to your goals quickly! All non-invasively by turning on your skin’s own healing processes for a harmonized and healthy outcome without distracting, unwanted side effects.
Similar to fillers in a way that balances science and art – treatment protocols, settings, and experience really matter with Morpheus 8 treatments. We utilize advanced protocols at our office for hyper customized settings, and increased comfort measures for the best overall experience and results. We map out each client’s face in determining settings for the optimum lifting, tightening, and brightening. Imagine lifting your skin at your cheekbones – we figure out how to treat the skin appropriately to work on that same change of landscape.
We require a consultation before any Morpheus8 Treatment – Book a consultation with us today!
What are the ways you’d like to turn back the hands of time? What questions do you have about Morpheus8?