For some time the trend with lips has been the bigger the better! Well, that is not the case anymore. Sure, we all want volume in our lips. But, we want our lips to look natural and beautiful. Notice the keyword, NATURAL!
Big lips that cover too much and conceal the upper teeth are not necessarily pretty or sexy. In fact, an upper lip that is too big and covers too much of the upper teeth makes the face look more masculine and the person appear older. Bigger lips that lack tooth show do not make us look younger or sexier. Further, big lips that lack the definition of the cupid’s bow or philtrum signal that something is off.
Large luscious lips are sexy, as long as you can still see the upper teeth. (There you have it! That’s the secret.) The key to beautiful lips is keeping a short distance between the nose and the lip, and seeing the upper teeth at rest. A great way to accomplish this is with hyaluronic acid lip fillers like Prollenium Versa™, Restylane™, and Juvederm™ injected to emphasize the philtrum and the cupid’s bow. The key is to shorten the distance between the upper lip and the nose. We do this by injecting the cupid’s bow and right above the cupid’s bow to shorten the distance between the nose and the vermilion border of the upper lip.
We are also able to create beautiful lip flips with the use of hyaluronic acid fillers like those mentioned above, which last a very long time; much longer than a Botox lip flip. For this specific effect, you want to have tiny filler droplets injected to the vermilion border of the upper lip. The same lip flip technique for the upper lips will also help undo “Smokers lines” or “lipstick lines”, which are signs of volume loss and aging. Lip flip can also be done for the lower lip, but with a different technique. To attain a lower lip flip we inject a tiny amount of filler in a straight line between the two injection points originally used to create a beautiful pillowy effect.
Now that we’ve covered much of the upper lip, let’s discuss in detail the lower lip. You will often find that filler to the upper lip lasts practically “forever”. (I used quotation marks because nothing ever lasts forever). The anatomical structure of the upper lip allows us to retain the hyaluronic acid in the upper lip for a very long time, which means you will need just a tiny little touch-up every year or even longer. The perfect time for a lip filler renewal is Valentine’s Day or right before your birthday. For most people, the lower lip should be slightly larger than the upper lip. For youthful luscious lips, you would want to create a beautiful pillow effect. For others, it may be one big pillow across the middle. To attain the best results for you requires a discussion with your injector to ensure everyone is on the same page. To maintain the results with your lower lips, you will likely want to inject tiny aliquots of filler once or twice a year. We call that a maintenance syringe, and you can use the remaining of the syringe to improve other facial areas, like those surrounding the mouth, cheeks, temples, nose, or under eyes, to name a few.
As a final note, one cannot forget the anatomical landmarks around the lip, such as the nasolabial folds, mouth commissures, marionette lines, or jowls. If any of these areas are hollow or too pronounced, they must be addressed as part of the lip filler experience. The best thing about lip filler injections is that they can last for years, especially in the upper lip, and specifically when performed by a well-experienced detailed injector.
