I didn’t realise I’d overdone my filler until I saw these photos of Nicole Kidman – here’s why I’ll never go back: POLISHED with Elise Wilson

Welcome to Polished with Elise Wilson, where Daily Mail’s qualified makeup artist and hair stylist answers your questions, shares advice, and trials the up-and-coming beauty and skincare trends so you don’t have to.

Over the years, I’ve watched the beauty world live by one fairly simple rule. If something is sagging, hollowing or ageing, fill it.

But lately, the tide appears to be turning as the famously plumped and perfected faces we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on red carpets suddenly look softer, fresher and, dare I say it, more human.

Welcome to ‘The Great Deflate’, the growing shift away from obvious volume and overfilled facial features in favour of a more natural, virtually undetectable approach to cosmetic treatments.

And nobody seems to embody this new beauty ideal quite like our queen, Nicole Kidman.

While promoting Practical Magic, it’s been hard to miss the actress looking absolutely incredible. 

Her features appear beautifully defined, her skin is glowing and, when you compare recent photographs with those from just a few years ago, there’s a noticeable difference in the overall appearance of her face.

I’m certainly not going to speculate about exactly what Nicole has or hasn’t had done, but her refreshed appearance perfectly captures the aesthetic currently sweeping through Hollywood.

Australian TikTok star Anna Paul is another high-profile example of the changing mood, famously documenting her decision to dissolve her lip filler in 2024, eight years after her first injections because she wanted to recognise herself in the mirror again. 

Then we had The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice following in her footsteps, documenting herself having her lip filler dissolved on TikTok in November 2024, echoing the same sentiment to followers that she wanted a ‘more natural look’.

Before anyone accuses me of jumping on the anti-filler bandwagon, I have to confess that I’m certainly no stranger to the syringe myself. In fact, I’m a tad guilty of overdoing it too.

Although I’ve since let mine naturally wear off, it was only a few years ago that I realised I’d probably gone a little too far (read: way too far) with the filler in my cheeks and jawline. At the time, I thought I looked amazing, but when I look back at photographs now, the telltale puffiness is glaringly obvious.

The truth is, filler ‘blindness’ can happen to any of us, including myself unfortunately. But in our defence, when we look at our own faces every day, our eyes gradually adjust and what once seemed like a noticeable change just becomes our new normal.

It can then be all too tempting to keep chasing more and more (the addicting to cosmetic procedures is real), convinced the filler you had months ago has disappeared when, in reality, plenty may still be there. 

That’s why I believe the person holding the syringe is every bit as important as what’s inside it.

A good, experienced cosmetic practitioner should know when to say enough is enough rather than agreeing to whatever you ask for, particularly when it comes to repeatedly injecting foreign substances into our faces. 

What is the Great Deflate?

Nina Johah, cosmetic registered nurse and owner of The Injection Bar in Sydney’s Maroubra, said it’s not just something she’s noticed scrolling through celebrity photographs.

She told me she’s witnessed a dramatic increase in clients wanting old filler dissolved and completely removed over the past 18 months.

What was once an occasional request has become almost weekly, and on particularly busy days she can dissolve filler in three or four clients with the most common areas the lips and tear troughs.

‘Clients are wanting more refinement, not so much the big volume anymore,’ Nina said.

Many are choosing to effectively ‘reset’ their faces before moving towards subtler, regenerative-style treatments.

How to know if you’ve gone too far

The tricky thing about filler is that we can become accustomed to seeing ourselves with it.

Nina explained that clients sometimes believe their filler has disappeared when, in reality, it’s still there. But because their appearance has become their ‘new norm’, they continue adding more.

Nina looks for a loss of natural contour, unusually round or projected cheeks, heaviness around the mouth, a pronounced step beneath the eyes and, of course, the infamous ‘pillow face’.

Filler can also migrate beyond the area in which it was originally placed, while some filler-tissue complexes can hold fluid and contribute to chronic puffiness.

In some cases, too much volume around the cheeks and under-eyes can even make the eyes themselves appear smaller.

Looking back at my own photographs now, I can absolutely recognise some of those signs in myself.

Facial filler is not the enemy

Despite the negative press surrounding filler recently, Nina doesn’t believe it’s disappearing altogether. Instead, she says that when used conservatively and appropriately, it can still be an incredibly useful aesthetic tool.

‘Filler has a place. It’s always going to have a place,’ she said.

The problem, she believes, is that for years it became the default solution for almost everything.

Now, rather than trying to ‘fill’ ageing away, Nina is seeing more clients focus on collagen stimulation, skin quality, texture and treatments designed to work with the body’s own regenerative processes.

Think collagen biostimulators, microneedling, medical-grade chemical peels and injectable skin boosters designed to improve glow, firmness and texture.

‘Improve the fabric instead of just adding stuffing,’ she joked, and I couldn’t agree more.

Dissolving filler isn’t a ‘magic eraser’

Nina stressed that, like any cosmetic injectable procedure, dissolving carries risks and needs to be performed carefully by an appropriately qualified practitioner.

Allergic reactions are possible, although Nina says they’re rare, and her clinic performs a patch test to assess sensitivity before treatment.

The enzyme used to dissolve filler, hyaluronidase, doesn’t distinguish between the hyaluronic acid filler you no longer want and your body’s naturally occurring hyaluronic acid.

This means people can experience temporary hollowing, flatness, asymmetry, changes in skin texture or laxity after dissolving.

Then there’s what Nina calls the ‘deflated balloon illusion’, whereby if filler has been repeatedly placed in an area for years, it can expand the surrounding tissue.

Removing that volume too quickly can sometimes leave the face appearing flatter or more aged than expected.

For long-standing filler, Nina prefers a staged approach rather than attempting to dissolve everything aggressively in one appointment.

‘We’re modifying the filler tissue complex. We’re not wiping the slate perfectly clean.’

A holistic approach to depuffing

For some faces, carefully placed filler may still be exactly the right treatment, but for others, the best option might be to stop adding volume altogether and concentrate on the quality of the skin instead.

I’ve written before about my love of lymphatic massage, particularly when I’m feeling puffy, and Nina is also a fan, provided you’re realistic about what it can achieve.

The lymphatic system helps move excess fluid through the body and relies partly on movement and external pressure. Massage, exercise and even deep breathing can therefore help encourage fluid movement, which can temporarily reduce puffiness.

But it won’t dissolve migrated filler, replace lost facial structure or reverse ageing, and instead Nina described it perfectly as ‘facial housekeeping, not a renovation’.

Hormones play a big part in preserving beauty

For women approaching their 40s and beyond, Nina believes aesthetic medicine needs to look at far more than what’s happening on the surface of the face.

Estrogen is closely associated with collagen and skin health, and as hormone levels fluctuate during perimenopause and menopause, women can begin noticing significant changes in their skin.

Suddenly, the treatment that worked beautifully a few years ago might not seem to deliver the same result.

Nina says that women experiencing these changes should consider discussing their overall hormonal health with their GP or qualified women’s health specialist rather than assuming another syringe or aesthetic procedure is automatically the answer.

She has observed differences in the skin quality and treatment responses of women going through hormonal changes, but decisions around hormone testing or hormone replacement therapy are medical ones and should always be discussed with an appropriate doctor.

Nina also believes cookie-cutter filler, aggressive full-face packages and the pursuit of identical proportions are all on their way out.

In their place is something much more excited personalised, with treatment plans designed to make you look refreshed rather than ‘done’.

It should be for someone to look at you and think you look incredible, without being able to work out why.

Disclaimer: 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely my own and do not reflect those of any brands, clinics or companies mentioned. This content is not sponsored or endorsed in any way. Cosmetic treatments and medical procedures carry potential risks and results vary between individuals. This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult an appropriately qualified medical professional before undergoing any cosmetic or medical treatment.