My looks are a big part of my career and brand as a beauty queen, entrepreneur and social media influencer. My journey with fillers began over a decade ago when I first got my lips done at a plastic surgeon’s office in Syracuse, New York. At the time, I was between 20 and 23 years old. From that moment, I went down the injectable rabbit hole pretty fast. I loved the way my lips looked, especially how they swelled after the injections. When they started to go down, I felt the need for more. I kept going back and soon learned how easily fillers could change my appearance. I eventually had my temples, neck, cheekbones, jawline and chin done, often in collaboration with a doctor’s office as an influencer. However, one photo truly changed my perspective on the “more is more” approach.
No Cannes Do
The turning point came at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Surrounded by cameras, I made my way up the famous stairs and struck a pose. When I saw myself in the published red carpet photos, I was shocked by how unnatural my face looked under the harsh lights. A plastic surgeon even publicly criticized my face on social media. It wasn’t just one post—he did interviews and multiple posts about how bad my face was and how I had ruined it. It was a harsh wake-up call. Looking back, I’m grateful for it because it made me realize how much filler had accumulated and migrated over the years.
Filler Fallout
When I had my cheekbones done, I didn’t like the placement. The injector didn’t use much filler, but something about where it was placed didn’t look right. I don’t know if it migrated, but it definitely had a fake look to it. I naturally have high cheekbones because I’m Asian, so a lot of people think that’s due to filler, but it’s not. When the cheek filler was placed, it was right over my contour. I didn’t notice it immediately, but over time, it seemed to migrate to a place that made it look super artificial. I felt like I had very inflated cheeks, but it wasn’t immediate—it happened gradually.
There was also a lot of migration in my lips. I would get one syringe of lip filler every time I went in for my injections, which I believe is the standard. This continued over the course of seven years. I always tried to keep the same shape and didn’t increase the syringe size over time. I thought you had to go every six months to a year because that’s how it’s marketed, like the filler goes away. But I noticed it wasn’t disappearing—it was moving around.
Deciding to Dissolve
That’s when I decided to have my fillers dissolved. The process was intense. It took two sessions, using a total of seven vials of hyaluronidase, which is quite a lot compared to the typical amount. I was totally numbed the first time, so I found the procedure to be surprisingly painless. By the second session, I opted out of numbing entirely. It didn’t hurt at all for me. I know people have different pain tolerances, but it was manageable.
My results were immediate and dramatic. My lips initially swelled up but then deflated completely, revealing a more natural look. It felt like my face could breathe again. My transformation was more than just physical. Even though my lips initially looked a bit wrinkly due to the stretched skin from years of filler, I felt a sense of relief and newfound confidence. Eventually I did have some fillers reinjected into my chin to smooth out the appearance but opted for a minimal approach with my lips, adding only a tiny amount back. I feel more natural and I love it.
I wanted to share my story so more people know this is an option. If you’ve had multiple filler sessions over the years and you just don’t feel like yourself, you can start fresh. Now that I’ve done this, I highly recommend having filler dissolved and re-injecting to start over. The key is to be patient and trust the process. When I returned to Cannes this year, no one said a word about plastic surgery. And as for that plastic surgeon, I want to thank him now because I probably wouldn’t have considered dissolving my fillers if it weren’t for his criticism. Sometimes, constructive criticism, even if it hurts, can be beneficial. Now, I’m embracing a more natural look and I’m grateful for that.
