They Don’t Have Lip Filler, They Just Have Lip Filler Accent

Recently on the subway I observed a phenomenon in person that I had previously only seen on the internet. Two teenage girls sitting across from me were talking to each other. They were both dressed in the teenage-girl uniform—loose-fitting jeans, cropped black jacket, white sneakers—and they were idly tapping their phones as they chatted. That is not the phenomenon I'm talking about. I couldn't look away because one of them was speaking in what I have labeled Lip Filler Accent.

Lip Filler Accent is a noticeable pursing of the lips that creates more open space between the teeth and lips, constraining the shapes vowels take and compressing the sound. I call it Lip Filler Accent because I associate it primarily with online content creators who have had filler, but I think Botox injected around the mouth to smooth out smile lines can contribute to it as well, because Botox essentially freezes the muscles around the mouth, restricting expansion.

To be clear, I am making a few assumptions about this teenage girl: I am assuming that she adopted this style of speech, because of the way she was pushing her lips out while she spoke; I'm assuming that she had not received filler, because children under 18 generally are not allowed to receive cosmetic procedures like this. Which, if I'm right, would mean something even more fascinating is happening: Not only is Lip Filler Accent a thing, but people without lip filler are now mimicking it, either intentionally or not, online and in their real lives.