Lips can speak volumes.

Lips… the cause of so much negativity, bad press and ridicule in the aesthetics industry and social media, not to mention the complications that go hand in hand with this treatment. But on this day focused on love, lets give lips a break from the negative vibes and take a step back to appreciate the true beauty in this small but vital element of our face.

Lips are viewed by many people as the most beautiful feature of the face. They are a natural focal point in human interaction, they portray emotion in the way they move, what they speak and the words that flow through them can evoke infinite emotions in those receiving them. They can inspire, create, build, and move mountains… they can also topple cities, cause destruction and damage, hurt and pain. They physically show love and affection, their highly sensory ability can light fires within us, make every hair stand on end and send shivers down our spines. They are probably the most powerful and most wondrous element we possess!

So why do people seek lip treatments? My experience has taught me that those that do, fit generally into 2 categories. Firstly, those that wish to look like a favorite celebrity or idol, wish to make a statement (I am all for making statements by the way), or want to follow a trend. Secondly, those who wish to reverse the signs of aging. The clients in the first category pose a challenge for us as practitioners, as these clients often have a very defined idea (or picture) of what they’d like their lips to look like, which often goes against the natural shape and appearance of the lip and the ‘golden ratios’ that we use as guidance. They also provide us (and themselves) with the inherent risk of increased complications, due to the volume and positioning of dermal filler required to create such a look. Those in category 2 also pose a challenge to us, given that the natural shape of the lip alters with age and lip volume naturally decreases, practitioners need to recreate shape, replace volume and assess the peri-oral area as well. Age related changes do not solely affect the lip, but the complete peri-oral area, including the top lip, lines that run from nose-mouth and from mouth-chin. Unfortunately, these changes, as natural as it is, can make us look prematurely aged, and many clients wish to soften these effects. Therefore, the ‘science’ involved with lip augmentation is of the upmost importance in the first incidence in order to create natural lips that fit into the existing anatomical features and move naturally.

Whatever you choose for your body, and your lips in particular, it’s worth gaining a really good understanding of what may suit you, what your face looks like as a whole, the overall effect, and most importantly, exactly what is involved in achieving that. Any practitioner worth their salt, will happily discuss lip assessment and measurement, anatomy and physiology, their technique (which is evidenced based) and their dermal filler product of choice. It is worth mentioning at this point, that the phrase “cheap filler is cheap for a reason”, has never been more apt. The right practitioner (the one with experience, medical background and the competency and ability to deal with complications), with the right product is the way forward in safe and effective lip augmentation.

Lip augmentation is all about using the scientific base to formulate a treatment plan, and an artistic eye and creative hand to produce lips that look natural, move naturally and are balanced within the other elements of face to achieve a truly beautiful result that speaks for itself.