Is it even a comeback of the modern times when the internet does not zoom in on one tiny detail? In situations where Alysa Liu had come back to the ice after a hiatus in 2022 and then said in March 2024 that she was coming back, attention remained, in most cases, on her skating. Nevertheless, when cameras captured her smiling in the midst of a massive competitive moment in 2026, the gaze lingered on a flash of metal at her gumline: a small jewelry piece, which only showed when she grinned.
It was not a tooth gem, it was not braces that reflected the light. Liu had on a lip frenulum piercing, or a so-called “smiley” as many of them are known, as the piercing sits just inside the upper lip and is only visible when she smiles and is almost invisible until we experience a hearty laugh or a big smile. In piercing terminology, it is an upper lip frenulum piercing, which is a discreet piercing that is recognised immediately upon detection.
In an interview with TMJ4, Liu came out and answered the question by saying that she got the piercing over two years ago, and that it was done in a manner that would have been more of a family story than an announcement on the red carpet. I had it pierced a little more than two years ago, she said. Then she told the mechanics with an air of inexplicable fact which makes the story still more wild: I had my sister help me while I stood in front of the mirror, and I did it myself.
The interest in the jewelry was not just on the position. It was the contrast: a sport with long-held traditionally luxurious connotation clashing with a detail that has a foundation in individual style and a very Gen-Z way of self-presentation. In the case of Liu, the piercing is written as a component of an entire appearance, a different dimension which complements elite sporting discipline, as opposed to challenging it.
The practical reason as to why the smiling has become such a conversation-starter in the broader beauty universe is as well: its fine tissue positioning may be accompanied with certain considerations. The oral piercing guides warn of possible complications such as irritation or dental concerns and that is why, professional analysis and proper care are probably the key to this placement than people would like to understand with this seemingly insignificant on camera appearance.
On which, by the way, the attraction of this scene to Liu was the lack of performance. She did not make the piercing look like a provocation or a stunt, it was just a part of her face when she smiled, which did not happen to be a bad shot when the season was high visibility.
The intention of her hair was equally muted. In the same interview in the TMJ4, Liu related her brown-and-blonde halo stripes to time lapses and was inspired by nature instead of the cycles in trends. “You know how trees have rings for their age? I thought every year, I’m gonna add a new halo around my hair,” she said. After all, the viral sparkle succeeded since it appeared in the very location where people seek happiness: at the very brink of a smile.
