Trout pout, lilo lips, bee sting lips. We’re all too familiar with the disasters of over-plumped lips splashing the pages of our magazines with the likes of Liz Hurley, Melanie Griffith, Meg Ryan, and even Kylie Minogue. But how can a treatment that when done well looks fantastic, go so horribly wrong?
The trend for bigger lips began in the late Eighties, with the development of collagen as a skin plumper. But the results were short lived and surgeons soon moved on to permanent fillers. However, these sometimes caused horrific scarring or permanently lumpy faces which is what happened to actress, Leslie Ash, who’s botched lip implants in 2002 have made the headlines ever since.
But it was when new, long-lasting but temporary fillers made of natural hyaluronic acid hit the market that the trend really took off. These could be injected in ten minutes, results could last up to six to nine months and the risk of allergic reactions was almost eliminated.
A recent study indicated that women with plump lips looked years younger than their thin-lipped peers. Hardly surprising as our lips, like the rest of our face, suffer from the effects of ageing. ‘The lips lose volume in the same way as the rest of the face,’ explains consultant dermatologist at The Cranley Clinic, London, Dr Nick Lowe. ‘However, the ageing process is accelerated by the fact that the mouth is constantly moving when you talk and eat, and so the constant puckering and creasing causes the skin to age more quickly and for deeper lines to develop’.
The skin around the lips, which acts as the support structure around the mouth, also ages as the amount of collagen and elastic decreases. Smoking exacerbates the problem by damaging collagen, reducing volume and increasing wrinkles. The lips are also very exposed to sunlight as they’re hard to protect which means they are prone to a lot of UV damage.
But there are other issues too. ‘Signs of ageing in the lower third of the face all have a knock-on effect on the lips’, explains Dr Susan Mayou, consultant dermatologist at The Cadogan Clinic, London . ‘The underlying bone decreases and the chin changes, gravity pulls down the corners of the mouth which can give you a tired, sad appearance, the cupid’s bow flattens, and the margin of the lips becomes less defined’.
But why the trout pout? Lip jobs are harder even than Botox to deny, mainly on account of lips being right there in the middle of your face. Blow them up like balloons and people tend to notice. A lot. ‘Choose your injector very carefully’, advises Dr Lowe. ‘Where people get it wrong is that they tend to neglect the lower lip. A small amount of filler should always be injected into the bottom lip to balance it out’.
He also strongly advises against the use of permanent fillers. ‘Never have permament filler in the temptation that it lasts longer,’ he stresses. ‘If there is a problem, it lasts forever as it’s almost impossible to get it out. Also, as you age, the lips get smaller, and if you have permanently large lips it can look even worse. It can look very unusual to put it mildly!’ You only have to look at Leslie Ash to get the picture.
