Holiday-Ready Lips (How to Get Them)

Are you ready to show off your kissable lips under the mistletoe this holiday season?

If you’re self-conscious about thinning, shapeless lips, filler injections can quickly enhance and augment them to achieve the fullness and shape you desire, giving you beautiful results with a brief office visit and no downtime.

How Your Lips Age

Aging causes loss of volume in the lips due to declining collagen production. Thinning lips can lose their attractive shape, particularly the cupid’s bow at the center of the top lip.

Because the mouth is active—talking, smiling, laughing, frowning, eating, and drinking—this creates ideal conditions for wrinkles to form. The collagen and elastin in this area can rapidly degrade, resulting not only in volume loss but also fine lines and wrinkles. Genetics and sun exposure play a role in the formation of wrinkles around the lips as well. Visit pubmed.gov to learn more about how your lips age.

How Fillers Can Help

Lip fillers can improve the lips in several ways:

Lip volume enhancement – When we’re young, our lips are fuller due to the presence of collagen and hyaluronic acid. But as we age, our bodies naturally lose these substances, resulting in thinning lips. Fillers can restore volume to the lips and give you a younger appearance by replacing lost collagen and adding hyaluronic acid.

Lip symmetry – While every face has some asymmetry, some are bothered by lips that don’t quite match up. Filler can improve the shape and balance of lips for a more even pout.

Filling in lines and wrinkles – Loss of collagen and hyaluronic acid also affects the skin around the lips, often creating a wrinkled or puckered appearance. Dermal filler injections around the mouth fill in perioral lines and wrinkles to create a smoother, more youthful appearance.

Best Fillers for Lip Augmentation

At Coast Dermatology & Laser Center in Laguna Beach, CA, our board-certified dermatologists use fillers from the Juvederm® and Restylane® product lines to augment the lips and reduce wrinkles around them. The concentration of hyaluronic acid in these products will give your lips additional volume, restoring the fullness you may have lost.

Dermal filler injections are a quick, relatively comfortable treatment for most patients. Depending on the treatment area and the amount of filler used, injections are performed with either a very fine needle or a blunt-tipped cannula. If you’re concerned about discomfort during your treatment, our doctors will be glad to administer an ice pack or topical numbing cream before your procedure. Lip augmentation injections take only about 15 minutes.

Most patients resume normal activities immediately following treatment. Swelling and redness may occur initially but should subside within a few days. Avoid sun exposure during this time, as it may stress your recovering skin.

Dermal injections have a duration of 6-12 months, depending on the treatment area. Touch-up treatments are recommended to maintain your results.

Treatment Options for Perioral Lines

Products in the Juvederm and Restylane lines are good choices for diminishing perioral lines as well as augmenting the lips. At your appointment, your injector will determine which filler is best for you based on your concerns and desired results. 

Laser treatments paired with injectables produce excellent results for many patients. Coast Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center has more lasers than any practice in the area, including the Co2 laser – Active/Deep and Total FX. This enables us to create a highly customized procedure for your specific needs.

If you’re considering lasers as part of your treatment plan for the holidays, bear in mind that you may need separate appointments with an interval of time between them to give your skin time to fully heal. During your consultation, our doctors can advise you if a combination of injectables with lasers is right for you.

One-Stop Rejuvenation

If you have other problem areas, why not address them along with your lip augmentation?

There are numerous brands and types of fillers, each slightly different and designed for a specific purpose. In addition to Juvederm and Restylane, our Laguna Beach, CA, office offers:

• RHA®
• Sculptra®
• Radiesse®

Dermal filler injections can quickly and effectively treat common signs of aging, such as:

• Loss of definition and volume in the midface
• Nasolabial folds (smile lines)
• Marionette lines (from the corners of the mouth down to the chin)
• Chin creases and wrinkles

Our expert dermatologists can use dermal fillers to contour and define your facial features. With precise injections placed in the cheekbones, chin, and jawline, we can add youthful contours to your face and define and structure your jawline–achieving a lifted effect without surgery. Every treatment is customized for your unique needs to ensure the most natural, beautiful results.

Choose a Qualified Dermatologist as Your Injector