LIP SERVICE
The 411 on Getting Your Lips Done
In the crusade to achieve the perfect pout, one might wonder where to start. So, if you’re new to medical spa lip treatments, this article is for you. Kiss Me Med Spa’s Karen Tesi, RN, Director of Nursing, is here to introduce and explain the professional practices for those seeking different services to make your pucker all the more kissable. There are many factors to consider when treating lips—age appropriation, filler formula and its amount, picking a provider, desired effects, maintenance, and even treatment-style inclinations. Whatever your preference—from injectables to non-invasive treatments—you’ll be amazed at the various options for lip gurus and novices.
Lip filler is perhaps the most universally familiar treatment in lip enhancement, but not all formulas are created or perform equally, as thickness varies greatly. Thus, selecting an age-appropriate filler is the key to natural-looking results. “When we choose a particular brand or type of lip filler, we always look at the rest of the person’s face to see which one is going to be balanced with what we’re already starting with,” Karen explains. For example, for a 75-year-old who has never had any procedures, a less robust product is ideal so that their lips blend into their face. Thicker fillers tend to be well-suited for younger people whose skin and lips are naturally plumper and can support a firmer product.
It’s also vital to use an appropriate amount of filler, which varies from person to person. “It all just depends on the finished look that the patient wants and what we think would look good on them as well.” For the older person just described, as little as half or a third of a syringe may be used. “You definitely don’t want to overfill,” Karen warns. “You can always add more after two or three weeks when it settles in.” Overfilling can lead to problems, such as migration, where the filler extends beyond the lip and winds up settling in the area around the mouth. “There’s no magic border that keeps the filler inside your lips. If you overfill them, they’re going to leak out into the surrounding tissue.”
But, filler isn’t the only injectable option for lip rejuvenation. “There’re new products as well that aren’t actually fillers,” Karen shares. “They are considered injectable hydrators, and we can use those in an off-label manner for someone who just has, say, wrinkly lips and doesn’t want filler but would like to do something about those wrinkles. We can inject an injectable hydrator that does a natural plumping.” This is a great solution for anyone with wrinkles or fine lines on their lips. “Even some young people have a lot of wrinkles in their lips and they’re wanting their lips to be smooth—it’s just the texture that they were born with,” Karen reasons out. “Somebody like that might be a good candidate for either one of the very thin fine fillers or even an injectable hydrator.”
When you go for a lip consultation, your lips should not be the only part of your face that’s analyzed. Providers must assess all your facial features, such as volume loss, wrinkles, and texture, with due consideration. “We need to take that into account if we are doing some sort of lip augmentation because when we’re finished, we want it to blend with the rest of what you have going on,” Karen says. “And then, of course, what we would want to do, in a perfect world, is get you going on restoring the volume you’ve lost, and get you going on wrinkle treatments and building more collagen so that you look younger instead of just going straight for the lips.” Slow and steady wins the race with all fillers—be patient and accept that it may take a few visits to achieve your desired look.
Every person is a special case that must be approached uniquely for not only aesthetic but also health reasons. No two lips are the same, so when determining how much filler to use, it’s tough to give a straight answer. “The young girls who have the big, plumpy, full, overfilled lips, oftentimes they have up to two syringes in there,” Karen details. At Kiss Me, “we will never do more than one syringe at a time because there is a risk to the tissue if you overfill it, such as the possibility of a pressure occlusion, which means that you put so much filler in the lip that the filler makes the lip tissue so tight that it pushes down on the blood supply, basically squishing the veins and the arteries, which can compromise the lip and cut off its blood supply. Safety is number one, and quite frankly, the lip can only handle so much filler.”
Then there’s the question of how one goes about selecting a provider. “Reviews are very important and experience—it’s hard for the general public to pick a provider because they don’t know the background, they don’t know how long they’ve been doing it, they don’t know if they’re even good at it,” Karen emphasizes. “At Kiss Me, we do many lip treatments on a daily basis. I think one of the most important things for an injector is to have great mentorship. This will hopefully ensure that treatments are done safely and effectively. Some people tout themselves as ‘master injectors’. I personally have been injecting for 20 years and have mentored doctors and nurses in the process, so I would be considered a master injector. But I am not aware of a test that you can sit for that gives you that designation. Therefore, oftentimes that title is a self-appointed title.”
Generally, the cost of a lip filler procedure differs based on its complexity, but you can expect to pay $450 to $650 for a lip filler session at Kiss Me Med Spa. The cost associated with returning for another session depends greatly on how much filler is needed, but it could be as little as $200 for something like a minor touch-up. Think of it like how one would approach going blond from being brunette—there’s the initial appointment that begins the process before you eventually wind up with the color you want, and then you have to go back to the salon periodically for regrowth touch-ups. “Maintenance is a lot less labor, it’s quicker, it’s less material. It’s the same kind of thing with aesthetics,” Karen explains. “You would do your initial treatment and then you could do your little mini touch-up maintenance every few months.”
There are three factors to be aware of when preparing for filler. “Typical preparations are you want to avoid anything that thins your blood, like fish oil, aspirin, ibuprofen or Aleve, alcohol, anything like that, for at least three days before because when your blood is thinner, you have a tendency to bruise more,” Karen advises. “We also like to avoid any kind of dental cleaning or drilling from the dentist 30 days before your filler and also 30 days after your filler. If you have a history of getting cold sores on your lips, or perhaps if you’ve had shingles around your mouth, we would pretreat you with antiviral medication for a few days before getting your lips done as well.” Patients are given topical numbing before injections begin. Even with these precautions, swelling and/or bruising may occur but usually subside within a few days, which is the same estimated timeframe for full recovery.
Your provider typically will want to see you two to three weeks later. At that time, “we can tell if there’s a lump or a bump. We can tell if you have a little flat spot that needs to be touched up because when you’re working on the lips, sometimes they start to swell before you’re even finished. And if there’s swelling, it’s kind of hard to continue on. So sometimes we might have to finish up at your follow-up depending on either how much you’re bleeding or how much you’re swelling.” It’ll take two to three weeks for the filler to integrate into the tissue. “So, in our opinion, we always tell people, ‘let’s not judge anything for at least two weeks, preferably three,’” Karen adds.
How long do lip fillers last? “The body breaks down filler just like it does calories,” Karen imparts. “Some people have a fast metabolism, and they break down their calories much faster than someone else. It’s the same way with fillers, and it has nothing to do with your weight, how large you are, how skinny you are—your body will just break down the filler at whatever rate it chooses to do.” That’s why providers give an average time when asked how long it lasts. “If you have a complete full lip done, the average is six months. Some people are going to burn through it in four months. Other people are going to burn through it a year or two later. It all just really depends on how fast your body breaks it down and absorbs it.”
Using a plumping gloss on your lips is a great way to help maintain your filler results. “You can also come in for a non-injectable lip enhancement with our laser, and it’s called LipLase!” Karen suggests. “This treatment can be a way to maintain by building collagen. It will leave lips plumper regardless of whether you do filler or not, or it can be an alternative to injectables.” LipLase is ideally suited for people who can’t have fillers, anyone with a fear of needles, and those who are wary of foreign substances in their bodies. “If someone is more of a holistic, organic kind of person, then the LipLase treatment is perfect for them.” All things considered, Karen believes, “we have more than one way to get lip goals achieved.”
LipLase can be performed with or without topical numbing—it depends on pain tolerance, but a little numbing cream never hurts and only takes about 20 minutes to take effect. The treatment itself takes just a few minutes. The laser passes feel like hot water droplets landing on your lips. You’ll be asked to keep licking your lips between passes since the saliva helps make the laser a bit more comfortable. “It’s a quick little treatment—about 15 minutes,” Karen affirms. “We just laser the inside of your lips and also the outside of your lips. The third step would be to define your vermilion border, which is the area where you would put lip liner. So, if we can strengthen that, we’re building collagen, the lips are naturally being enhanced, and we also help combat vertical rhytids, or smoker’s lines.” Building this stability in the lips helps delay said smoker lines, too, especially when performed in a series of six treatments one month apart. The treatment comes in a package of six, though a single session runs at $250 each.
Perfecting your pout is something that takes time, patience, and dedication. Fillers offer more instant and obvious results, while treatments like LipLase help develop lip beauty from the inside out. Then there are the little things anyone can do without going to a medical spa office, such as investing in a great plumping gloss or implementing a home lip routine with scrubs and masks. Whatever your preference and commitment level, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Professionals like Karen at Kiss Me Med Spa are eager to help you look and feel your best at any age. The combined efforts of filler and laser can make anyone appear younger when done correctly, making the road to uber kissable lips only an appointment away. So, pay yourself a little lip service.
Editorial Director Lauren Barisic
