Lip Fillers

If you want to catch a man’s attention, don’t bother fluttering your eyelashes or flicking your hair. Just practise your pout. According to a study, a woman’s lips are the most attractive part of her body. Especially if she’s wearing red lipstick. Scientists found that in the ten seconds after meeting a lady for the first time, the average chap will spend more than half his time gazing at her lips. The study, carried out by scientists at Manchester University, involved tracking the eye movements of 50 men as they were presented with images of different women.

What constitute ideal lips?

An ideal lip should possess these characteristics:

✓ The width of the mouth should be about 1.6 times the width of the bottom of the nose (aka the golden ratio-what a coincidence!).

✓ If you drop lines down from the inner part of the iris (the colored part of your eyes), your mouth should fit between those lines.

✓ Your front teeth should be visible below your upper lip for one to four millimeters and your lower teeth should not be visible when your lips are open. As you get older, your upper lips drop and you see less of your upper teeth.

✓ The ideal upper lip should be slightly larger than the lower, with a gentle curve that peaks (called Cupid’s bow).

✓ The lip color also affects what’s going on. Pale lips indicate anaemia (a lack of red cells or abnormalities of red cell contents). Blue shows lack of oxygenation of blood, which can come from many causes. Healthy lips should be an attractive shade of pink.

Are ideal lips born or bred?

Some of us are luckier than others, and we are born with lips that are closer to the ideal than our less fortunate counterparts. However, age levels the playing field for all of us, because even the genetically blessed will find that their lips become thinner, more wrinkled, appear more dehydrated with time. Either way, getting a little help to enhance your lips have become a common occurrence with the plethora of non-surgical aesthetic options available such as natural fillers.

What are the treatments available to enhance our lips?

Depending on what your lip concerns are, the doctors at SW1 Clinic will first assess your lips and then map out the best treatment option for you. Here are some of the examples of the available lip beautification services available:

Dehydrated lips:

If your lips are simply dry and lined, you will probably need a replenishing of your lips natural collagen stores without augmenting its size. Revitalift Lips is just the right treatment to do that for you. Its main purpose is to increase the water attracting capacity of your lips. It involves a few painless injections of a water-attracting hyaluronic acid skin booster to increase the water content of your lips.

Disproportionate lips:

If your lips are far from the ideal ratios, this may reduce the attractiveness of your pout. You may not require a lot of volumizing, but your lips could benefit from meticulous reshaping and targeted enhancement. Lip Shaping fillers placed in strategic locations can help strengthen the appearance of your cupid’s bow, restore the ideal proportions of your lips, and improve your overall appearance.

Thin lips:

If your lips are generally thin, you may benefit from Lip Volume fillers. These are designed to give your lips the best foundation to build on so as to help it restore its natural contours and shape.

Is there only one ideal lip shape?

There are many different lip shapes which can work for you. This depends on several factors including the shape of your face. Therefore, it is important for the doctors at SW1 Clinic to assess you in person so that they can advise you on the best lip filler treatment for you.

What is the procedure like?

Lip Fillers are a relatively straight-forward procedure. As long as the patient is realistic and follows the post-treatment instructions carefully, there is usually little downtime, and any side effects can easily be managed.

Before the treatment, the lips are numbed with a special topical numbing cream. The doctors at SW1 Clinic will mark out the area to be treated carefully. Prior to injections, we will also use ice packs and a special anaesthetic spray to increase patient’s comfort. A few injections will be placed on the lips depending on the treatment goal and endpoint. This will usually take about 5-10 minutes and is usually very comfortable. After the treatment, an antibiotic ointment and a hydrating lip serum is applied, and the patient may put on makeup and leave the clinic.

How long will the effects last?

Lip fillers tend not to last as long as fillers on other parts of the face as our lips are very mobile regions. This results in the fillers breaking down at a faster rate than other parts of the face such as the temples. The longevity of the lip fillers will also depend on factors such as your lifestyle (whether you are a smoker) and the initial volume of lip fillers used. In general, most patients find they last anywhere between 6-9 months.

What is the downtime like?

Some patients experience temporary swelling lasting 12-24 hours. This is usually mild and not very visible. This can be alleviated with intermittent ice packs to the treated area. In rare cases, there may be mild bruising which may least for a few days. This risk can be reduced by avoiding alcohol, aspirin, vitamin E and blood-thinners for a few days before and after the treatment. Oral arnica can also be helpful. In some cases, patients who experience bruising may opt to undergo our anti-bruise laser which speeds the resolution of bruises.

Are there any side effects? Will I be able to kiss after?

Occasionally as we chew and pucker our lips, some patients may feel some lumps after the treatment. This usually resolves by itself after a few weeks. While this is a rare occurrence, we ask that patients who are worried to return to have them assessed by the SW1 doctors. It is important to know that at SW1 Clinic, we only use FDA approved natural fillers for the lips. As these fillers are natural hyaluronic acid fillers, they are easily dissolved (or reversed) with an injection of an enzyme called hyaluronidase. Hence, our patients always have the peace of mind knowing that any unwanted results can be dissolved away at any time.

After lip fillers, you are certainly able to kiss without anyone knowing you’ve had anything done!