10 Pics Of Kristi Noem's Formerly Thin Lips That Are Jarring To See Today

These days, the very idea of seeing Kristi Noem sans pufferfish-esque lip filler seems unlikely. After all, as the mold for Mar-a-Lago face, the secretary of Homeland Security has a very important responsibility to the MAGA community. However, once upon a time (and pre-major face transformation) Noem actually had much thinner lips. And, unfortunately for the former governor of South Dakota, we have the pics to prove it. 

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Try not to get distracted by Noem's hair transformation, here. Back in 2010, she was still being called a "rising star" by the press — and she also still had her original lips. 

Seen in a pic at Capitol Hill, Noem's pout was significantly smaller than it is today. She also wasn't necessarily trying to make it look any fuller than it was, opting instead for a nude lip color (aka the trend du jour). To be clear, Noem's lips certainly weren't pencil-thin. Au contraire, her pout was very much visible. However, given just how much bigger her current lips are, we did a double-take at her OG kisser (and we don't doubt you did, too). 

While Kristi Noem donned glossy nude lips to Capitol Hill in 2010, she certainly didn't seem to have been averse to some color. Case in point: When she spoke on stage the very next day, she did so in a brown lip shade. More notably, she didn't even try to overline her lips, and TBH, we think the look suited her. In fact, we might even go as far as saying she was giving Season 1 Monica Gellar vibes. 

Fast-forward to CPAC 2011, and Kristi Noem was back to her nude gloss. As it had before, the shade looked youthful on the then-40-year-old South Dakota representative. And, once again, she also eschewed an overline. 

All in all, it was a great look for Noem, and we kind of wonder what it would have looked like if she'd stuck with it instead of going the filler route a few years down the line. It certainly would have nixed the hefty price Noem likely paid a plastic surgeon!

Since becoming a full-time member of the Mar-a-Lago squad, Kristi Noem typically opts for a bubblegum pink lip shade, and it certainly enhances what her doctor gave her. 

It does bear mentioning that Noem didn't shy away from brighter colors in the past. Exhibit A: the coral hue she wore in March 2011. However, if anything, seeing throwback snaps made her more recent total lip makeover stand out to us even more. That is, when we weren't distracted by her pre-falsies messy lashes (but we digress). 

This won't be the first time we've said Kristi Noem looks unrecognizable from her old self today, but (and for maximum effect, please read this in Kevin Hart's voice), damn!

In fairness to Noem's lips, some of the unrecognizability comes from her super skinny eyebrows and plastic-looking hairdo, but there's no denying her not-so-trout pout played a role in it as well. Noem also (wittingly or unwittingly) made her pout look even smaller by picking a lip color that almost blended with her foundation. Sure, she added a darker liner, but the effect of even that was minimal. 

Back to the '90s Courtney Cox vibes, in 2012, Kristi Noem sported something of a mixture between the dark brown she wore on stage in 2010 and her CPAC gloss, and we've got to say, it was a great look for her. It also let her natural lip shape shine, and while her lips certainly didn't look big, they also didn't look paper thin. 

In the unlikely event that Noem ever gives up the filler, we reckon reviving this particular look would be the best way forward. 

Possibly one of the most staggering pics highlighting Kristi Noem's transformation over the years is one from a press conference in 2014. Then-Congresswoman Noem's hair played a role again, but we couldn't help but zone in on those much-thinner lips. Sure, Noem was speaking while she was being photographed, so her top lip would naturally have curved to some degree as she did so. Nevertheless, if we were to see a close-up of her mouth and have to guess who it belonged to, there's no way we'd guess it was Noem. 

By 2020, Kristi Noem had ditched the super thin eyebrows, which made her look a tad more modern. She'd also started using a pinker lip color. However, the lips she applied that to were the same ones we'd seen for years prior (read: not blown up with the filler "South Park" would later eviscerate her for). 

It is also possible that one of the reasons Noem looked so different is because, without her hair extensions, she's borderline unrecognizable. 

Without a doubt, Kristi Noem's fillers stand out most when compared to throwback pics of her smiling. We give you: the time she posed for a selfie with a fan in 2021. Noem's top lip curled up as she flashed those pearly whites (and side note, the only time Noem has confirmed any cosmetic work was when she did a promo video for her cosmetic dentist), showing just how slim it was. 

Of course, that's no longer the case. 

If only we'd known that Kristi Noem's 2021 appearance at CPAC would have been one of the last times we'd see her without over-the-top lip filler, we ... well, we probably wouldn't have done anything, but it would have been interesting to know. 

Though it seems as though she may have been overlining just a smidge at the time (and that bubblegum pink hue had already started creeping in), for the most part, Noem was sporting her natural look. Of course, as we've assessed, Noem's look has changed drastically over the years, so take that with a pinch of salt. 

Time will tell if Noem ever reverts back to the lips she was born with. She's certainly proven over time that she's a big fan of shifting with trends, so we wouldn't rule it out.