Instead of aiming arrows, I try to hit the love mark with cosmetic injectables.
Gravity eventually takes a toll on every part of the body, even the lips. As we get older, the upper lip loses its firmness and definition. As a result, the Cupid’s bow, a sign of youth and beauty, is lost leaving an undefined, flat line in its place.
Thinning of the lips becomes evident from generation to generation. I did a comparison of 4 generations of lips right in my own family; from my baby girl to my wife to her mother and my wife’s grandmother. What I can see is the loss of shape firmness (the medical term is turgor) as well as volume of the upper lip. By the eldest generation the upper lip becomes flat with vertical lines.
CUPID’S BOW LIP is performed by using a half cc, or touchup size of Restylane or a half a syringe of Juvederm. The filler is used to create new shape to the lips. To the contrary, to create larger lips, I use a full syringe or 1cc of filler. However if overdone, as is seen way too often, patients can look puffy and get an awful “trout pout.” Additionally, I use a tiny amount of Botox to smooth the vertical lines above the lip as well as relax the muscle in this area.
I am looking to re-introduce the power of glamour. Celebrities have long been the inspiration for what patients look for. However, the latest trends have been to make lips too large. They look great on Angelina Jolie, but how many other celebs have lips that are way too big, plus upper lips that are twice the size of their lower lips? For truely aesthetic lips, the lower lip should be at least 1 1/2 times the size of the upper lip.
So who do I look to emulate? I create more coy, flirtatious lips. This more refined and natural look references the Holywood glamour of yesteryear when starlets like Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard and Greta Garbo were the defining power of beauty.
Below are a few examples of lips that I have created using this technique, after photos are on the bottom.
