While more than 75% of lip enhancements performed today are obvious, there are still a large number of women (and even some men) who desire more enhanced lips. While a large percentage of today’s lip enhancements are obvious and artificial looking, there is a huge misconception as to what projects beautiful, natural lips and what does not.
The anatomy of natural proportions
Lip Enhancement – The Golden Ratio. There is great importance of using the Golden Ratio when doing lip enhancement. No matter the ethnicity or the shape of the face the lower lip should be roughly 1.6 times the volume of the upper lip.
It is not just the size of lips. Volume alone is unflattering if not proportioned correctly. Adequate definition to the vermillion border (edge) and adequate curves and volume to the philtrum columns (the 2 columns that lead up from the Cupid’s bow to the nostrils) are key landmarks for the surgeon to shape and enhance your lips for greater beauty, rather than bulk.
The cupid’s bow is one of the most fragile areas of the face and is very easily over filled producing an infamous “duck lip” look. Adding volume to this area requires caution when building shape to the mouth.
While the shape of the lips is an important aesthetic element of the face, it must be considered in relation to other facial features as well. While looking at a person’s lips, for example, one must also consider the shape and size of the nose, the projection of the chin and the shape of the cheeks. Facial proportion therefore encompasses all these dimensions. For example, if a woman has very thin lips, her face may look more beautiful if her nose is on the small side in comparison. Similarly, if she has a modest overbite or receding chin, these characteristics may complement her thin lips.
Injection technique and product selection
Amazing lips can look natural too. Amazing natural looking lips are out there and some amazing lips look natural too. However, the boundary between a natural look and an unnatural look is more related to the details of how the fillers are placed, than to the choice of filler itself. It takes a little more time and a little more skill, but using a micro-droplet technique to place the filler into the lip tissue gives the best results.
Choosing the right product(s) for treatment can be an art for skilled practitioners. Like different sized paintbrushes serve different purposes, hyaluronic acid fillers with different cross-linking densities serve different purposes in lip enhancement. A softer more moldable filler is best suited for blending into the body of the lip whereas a slightly firmer product can provide structural support in particular areas. The best lip fillers in Jacksonville use a layered approach and employ multiple products in different locations to create the most aesthetically pleasing outcome.
The location of filler injection is critical for both safety and aesthetics. If the filler is placed too superficial, the area can become lumpy and irregular. Conversely, if the filler is placed too deep, it will have no definition or enhancement and appear flat.
The role of gradual enhancement
Unlike lip liner and fillers that are carried out as a ‘quick fix’, Dermal Fillers can never really look 100% natural as the process of adding volume in a few sittings is hard to avoid looking more obvious than if you built up the volume over several sessions. Allowing time for the filler and the skin to settle gives a much smoother appearance and is often preferred by clients. It also gives the opportunity to fine tune the result without over filling in areas such as the Cupid’s bow, the philtrum or the lip corners.
But when large gains occur suddenly, the lips can seem to balloon unnaturally for a while, resisting the natural lines of the face. This is because of what some call “tissue memory,” or the muscles of a area “remembering” a previous shape. But with slow gains, the lips’ tissues and muscles are able to adjust until the lips ultimately end up looking more natural and pleasing than if a sudden transformation were attempted.
Avoiding common enhancement mistakes
One of the worst things that can happen to a female enhancement is to be over-filled. The influence of social media is very visible in the before and after pictures of feminine augmentations, as women excitedly compare the outcomes and rave about their new sizes. The more exciting her result, the more her patient will expect and wish to emulate her new size topless. Thus, the pressure is put on doctors to inform their patients as to what can realistically be achieved, and how natural and balanced an enhancement they can provide in order to give her the most beautiful result.
But still another set of problems occur with so-called “face enhancement” procedures, namely that they do not deal adequately with facial asymmetry. Most people’s heads are somewhat asymmetric. A good procedure would accentuate, not fix, such small inequalities.
Long-term maintenance considerations
Many patients are surprised to learn that even a “natural looking enhancement” will require maintenance by a series of small increments on an ongoing basis to maintain the volume and achieve a natural blending. This is in contrast to failed enhancements which typically go through a cycle of correction and overcorrection.
Just as persistent enhancement of younger lips can shape the appearance of the lower face as it ages, so too does balance and naturalism play a significant role in the enhanced lip. A beautiful, enhanced lip has a natural shape and volume within the context of the rest of the face. An increase in static volume may look less natural as the skin, muscles, and supporting structures of the lower face transform with time.
The very best lip enhancements are invisible to the eye, providing all the confidence-boosting benefits without a hint of over-filled sleaziness. This is hard to get right and obviously demands a lot of skill but even more restraint. See More