Sunday 16 June 2013

Why other clinic's lip fillers (lip enhancements) are only half the job

Lip augmentation (plumping) without proper contouring can leave the lips looking like fat sausages. A practitioner or clinic offering only a lip augmentation is offering only half a job!


Skin Beautiful Medical and Cosmetic Clinic provides expert advanced dermal filler treatments at clinics in Exeter Milton Keynes Bristol Coventry Swansea Warwick Daventry Evesham Carmarthen Llanelli and Neath.


Fuller lips, lip plumping, lip fillers, lip enlargement, lip injections, etc, etc are all offered by cosmetic clinics across the UK. These treatments are nothing more than adding volume to the lips. Surely that is what every client seeking a lip enhancement wants, isn't it?

If I tell you that these treatments can result in loss of definition, natural shape or symmetry then you may think a little differently about these advanced dermal filler treatments. To "plump up the lips" changes their dimensions. A little saying I often use to explain this to clients:

"As we change the dimensions of the lips then we must also redraw the contours."

Introducing lip sculpting, shaping, contouring and outline definition!


Lip plumping is only half the job

What happens to a balloon when one adds water to it? It changes shape and size. In other words its outer perimeter contours are altered to compensate for the volume of water contained within them. This is very much the same with the lips when liquid gel hyaluronic acid dermal fillers are injected into them. Clients are left with larger, fuller lips but in some cases the outline of the lips have been eroded. In these cases the client has literally gained a fuller pair of lips at the expense of them losing their shape. This is only half a job as the lips have not been finished off correctly.

What is lip contouring and why is it important?

Lip contouring is particularly important as part of a lip enhancement procedure because it redraws the natural contours of the lips, particularly the upper lip. When volume is added to the lips the contours can then be redrawn using advanced needling techniques.

The diagram below is from a previous lip enhancement treatment performed at our clinic. It shows the particular points of interest that together make up the contours of the lips. Notice how the natural contours have been redrawn after the lips have been augmented (plumped). Without lip contouring the lips would just look like fat shapeless sausages!
Diagram of the lips showing points of interest
Lip contouring is about the areas around the border outline of the lips

Sausage lips, balloon lips and the trout pout!

Many young women desire fuller lips and realise how easy it is to get treatments for them at high street cosmetic clinics throughout the UK. Clients I have consulted with generally have no prior knowledge of lip enhancement other than to have larger lips. When I consult I explain that the contours will change once the lips are enlarged (augmented). Of course any client is quite welcome to have just a lip augmentation treatment at our clinics, but many choose to have them contoured too.

I have spoken with several clients whom, having had consultations with other clinics have been offered only lip plumping and so their understanding of lip enhancements goes no further than the size of the lips. Some practitioners make the mistake in over filling the lips as a way to reintroduce shape. This is not the correct way to redraw contours and will only make them look like ugly, fat sausages or over inflated balloons. This is commonly referred to as the "trout pout!"

Advanced lip enhancement procedures

Advanced lip enhancement treatments involve lip sculpting, shaping, contouring and definition. this is quite different from the basic lip augmentation (plumping). I always advise clients to get the best for their money when considering dermal filler treatments. At the basic end a client pays for one, two or more syringes of dermal filler. The vital question then is what is the practitioner going to achieve with that syringe of dermal filler? If they cannot perform advanced treatments because they don't know the necessary advanced techniques then the ceiling for potential creativity is instantly lowered and the client is not going to benefit from the true potential of the dermal filler.

Advanced needling techniques - Lips created by Helen Bowes!

For every two syringes of dermal fillers a client pays for then some of this filler must go into contouring. Clinics that charge for lip augmentation and do not contour may be wasting a client's money. I am not about to give away my knowledge of advanced needling techniques and procedures for other practitioners to attempt in their clinics but the video below demonstrates how advanced needling can really make a difference to a client both in terms of discomfort and precise results

Expert lip augmentation - No bleeding, bruising, lumps or bumps.


Watch Helen Bowes RGN, BSc (hons) AMAP perform the perfect lip augmentation






I don't use a cannula or dental block! A cannula is not a good tool for precision in lip contouring and sculpting. Patient discomfort is kept to a minimum by advanced needling techniques.



Links to our lip enhancements:
LIPS! by HELEN BOWES®
All of our other lip enhancements
Lip augmentation (plumping & volume)
Advanced lip sculpting, shaping contouring and definition


Other Skin Beautiful links
Skin Beautiful Medical and Cosmetic Clinic homepage
Treatments available at our clinics
Dermal fillers and advanced techniques

Skin Beautiful YouTube channel







1 comment:

  1. Thank you to all for the dozens of comments received for this article.

    Unfortunately, many comments do not relate the the subject being discussed. In some instances other clinics have used this blog quite blatantly to promote their own businesses in a way that does not relate even remotely to the content of the article.

    Our webmaster will not allow these kind of comments and will remove them from the article.

    If you want your comments to appear here as part of a discussion then please do not insert hyperlinks with keywords back to your own clinic/practice.

    Helen Bowes
    Skin Beautiful Medical & Cosmetic Clinic

    ReplyDelete