Wavy mouths – also known as ‘octopus lips’ – have been cropping up on social media recently, we investigate
In 2017, a viral trend swept the internet, titled ‘wavy brows’, it saw beauty influencers and fans of the trend drawing their eyebrows on in a wavy pattern – often created with a little help from Facetune. Two years on, there’s a brand new Instagram trend to match.
Though its origins are unknown, it’s believed to have been started by a Russian plastic surgeon (as many of the strangest beauty trends do) called Emelian Braude. Coined ‘devil lips’, or ‘octopus lips’, the procedure is said to involve inserting filler in the outer lip to create a wave effect across both the lips.
On Instagram, you can easily come across plenty of different women seemingly sporting the lip, usually to a mixed reaction from followers and people who stumble across them. With some comparing them to blisters, others have called the trend ‘bizarre’ and ‘stupid’ and reactions on Reddit include describing it as “an exotic form of herpes”. Others call it “oddly aesthetically pleasing.”
Since the trend first took off, others have followed suit, creating their own versions of ‘devil lips’ with make-up or by using Photoshop. Many believe that the latter is the only way that the people who have allegedly had fillers could create them.To find out more, we asked Dr Krystyna, cosmetic dentist and facial aesthetician about them, who was clear on the matter.
“You cannot change the anatomical shape of the lips like this,” she explains. “You can sharpen and contour by enhancing the vermillion border, but these ‘devil lips’ are unnatural.” She continues on to explain the damage you could cause if you tried to create this with fillers. “Filler injected inappropriately could end up in a blood vessel, causing blockages and leading to necrosis (death) of the tissue. The vessels are around the lips, so using filler inappropriately is what can cause this.”
So, while the trend is not literally possible (for now), in an age of AR and face filters – as well as face-changing tools like make-up and Photoshop – you too can join the devilish fun yourself, without any adverse health effects.
