Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Surgery Blog

The strikingly unnatural lip enhancement you’re talking about is everywhere these days and is an unfortunate result of the thinking “If a little of something is good, then a lot of it must be really good”. In many cases, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The final result depends on the volume of injectable used and the exact placement. This location can be varied to give different looks. Options for enhancement are non-permanent fillers such Restylane and Juvederm, longer-lasting fillers such as Radiesse and Artefill, and permanent implants or procedures.

Hand in hand with lip enhancement goes rejuvenation of the entire surrounding area, including the cheek-lip (nasolabial) folds and lip-chin folds. In the attached photo of a real Profiles patient, you can see how these areas are also enhanced giving the lip a more youthful look by elongating it and restoring an upturned curvature to the corners

Here at Profiles, we tend to encourage and lean towards a very natural lip enhancement that increases volume and definition without looking out of balance with other facial features. Feel free to give us a call to schedule an appointment to discuss your concerns in more detail.

As you probably know, all of the products you asked about are dermal fillers. These are designed to restore volume to sagging skin in areas of creases or folds, such as the nasolabial folds between the cheek and lips.

These are 3 of the most popular hyaluronic acid products which, along with collagen, make up the main ‘building blocks’ of your skin. Unlike most collagen products, they are not animal-derived but, rather, are ‘grown’ in the lab, so the risk of an allergic reaction is minimized.

Injectable Collagen causes improvement in creases that lasts about 3 to 4 months. Because of the allergy risks and other factors, its use has largely been replaced by the hyaluronic acid products. Restylane, Perlane and Juvederm restore and replace hyaluronic acid that the skin has ‘lost’ and add volume by absorbing up to 1000 times their weight in water. The cosmetic benefits usually last from 6 to 9 months depending on the area injected, the volume used, and other factors. ‘Touch-ups” will cause the effects to last even longer.

Restylane and Perlane are from the same family made by the same manufacturer. They differ only in particle size, with Perlane having larger particles. This means that Perlane is more appropriate for deeper creases in thicker skin. In these situations, it will likely last longer than Restylane.

Juvederm is also a hyaluronic acid with a slightly different formulation or cross-linking. Its use in the United States is more recent with some claiming that it is perhaps slightly smoother and longer-lasting.

Because these products have been approved for use in Canada for many years, we at Profiles have had extensive experience with them. Please browse our web page on injectables and wrinkle reduction to get a sense of what these fillers can do for you.