Love her or hate her – Kylie Jenner has become one of the most influential stars for her famous plumped pout.
And it’s no wonder the reality star – who confessed she had lip injections at the age of 17 – has fuelled a spike in the number of people turning to cosmetic surgery in recent years.
Here, two Australian women reveal the real reasons behind why they made the decision to get their lips surgically enhanced from such a young age.
Summer Wilson was just 17 when she got lip injections after her mother gave her consent
Now aged 19, Summer said she has no regrets over her decision to get lip injections so young
Summer Wilson, from Victoria, was just 17 years old when she got lip injections after her mother gave her consent.
‘I remember I was in Year 9, I started realising I didn’t have an upper lip – it was very small, almost non-existent,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I know it seems weird but that’s how I felt. I had a reason for wanting it, I wanted to boost my confidence.’
She revealed she first became interested in cosmetic fillers at the age of 15 when she noticed her thin upper lip.
‘I was interested in lip fillers at a young age,’ Summer said.
‘I know it wasn’t a phase but it was something I felt quite insecure about. People would say to me: ‘You don’t have a top lip’ – the comments actually hurt me.
‘I was very sensitive because my lips were something I didn’t like about myself. I got quite self conscious about them.’
She explained how she would try to get her lips to appear bigger naturally – from rubbing them together or sucking on a lip enhancement tool.
But eventually she nixed that fix, opting to undergo cosmetic procedure to enhance her lips at the age of 17.
‘I loved it,’ she said.
Reality star Kylie Jenner has become one of the most influential stars who confessed she had lip injections at the age of 17
Now aged 19, Summer said she has no regrets over her decision to get lip injections so young.
‘I’ve been back to the clinic around five times now,’ she said.
‘My lips are exactly where I wanted. I started off with half a ml because you don’t want to shove too much fillers into your lip at once.
‘It’s a natural look. It’s taken me two years to get the desire look I want.’
And while Summer said she believed celebrities such as Kylie Jenner normalised lip injections, she made the decision to undergo needles on her own.
‘There was no inspiration behind why I get them done,’ she said.
‘It was more encouraging me after seeing young people getting them done, and realising “okay, it’s not a bad thing if I do it too”.’
After going public about her lip fillers two years ago, Summer said she felt like ‘I’m empowering young women’ who have turned to her for advice.
Before and after: Madison, from Sydney, said she started getting lip injections at the age of 18
Madison, who lives in Sydney’s Marayong, said she started getting lip injections at the age of 18.
‘I didn’t hate my appearance before, and was aware that I didn’t “need” any cosmetic surgery, but bigger lips fit my personal aesthetic ideals more,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Celebrities like Kylie Jenner were never motivators for me to get cosmetic surgery, I’ve always wanted it for myself.
‘The only people who I looked to as realistic inspiration for my work were the patients featured on Dr Naomi’s Instagram, but that was only after I’d already decided what I wanted done.’
After undergoing three lip injections, the now-19-year-old woman said she doesn’t think the procedure suits everyone.
‘I firmly believe that cosmetic surgery is not something that can be “recommended” to anyone,’ she said.
‘You have to want to do it for yourself and make your own decisions about it. It’s all about bodily autonomy.’
The now-19-year-old woman said celebrities never motivated her decision to get lip injections
Sydney cosmetic surgeon Naomi McCullum (pictured) said her clinic only treats people over the age of 18 with injectables
Sydney cosmetic surgeon Naomi McCullum told Daily Mail Australia her clinic only treats people over the age of 18 with injectables.
‘We occasionally get some get some requests, but we just tell them to wait until their 18th birthday,’ she said.
‘For our clinic, it is just a matter of policy that we choose to only treat over 18s. When we create an age policy, the line has to be drawn somewhere, and I suppose the lowest risk comes from taking this conservative option.’
Astonishingly, Dr Naomi explained women’s ‘beauty mindset’ remains the same no matter what the age.
‘A beauty achieving mindset, is something that may start from a young age, and is often present forever,’ she said.
‘I can definitely see the unfairness in our policy, as I know when I was 16, if lip fillers or Belkyra were available, I sure would have wanted them.
‘I also would have been capable of making informed decisions such as understanding the risks and more.
‘However, one good thing about our policy is that it gives teens something to look forward to. I think that’s what’s happening now.’