Loving Your Luscious Lip Fillers?

So, are you loving your luscious lip fillers? They’ve certainly come a long way since the disastrous ‘trout pout’ days when lip fillers were first starting out. We were all horrified, for instance, at the swollen lips of much-loved Men Behaving Badly star Leslie Ash after her botched lip filler injections. She told later how the permanent treatment had involved wrongly using ‘industrial filler’ – something an accredited clinic would never use for such a procedure.

So, if it’s not ‘industrial filler’ (which, in this case, was silicone) then what is used in lip filler for beauty treatments? Well, the answer is, usually, hydraulic acid (HA). Why this is good is because it’s a substance already found in our body ie we produce it naturally. Like everything else though it reduces as we age – but that’s another story and today we’re talking about lip fillers!

Why lip fillers must be injected by a professional

Because HA is ‘natural’ ie it’s already there in our body, it is unlikely to be rejected or become allergic to it. Our body is also able to break down the large quantity injected in the lips in a few months. This all makes lip fillers sound incredibly safe. And they are – provided, that is, they are administered by a qualified professional. We’ve all heard of lip filler parties or spas that happily inject clients en-mass and the disasters that occurred. Don’t even think about going down that route. Ever.

For starters, should something go wrong, these party injectors or spa beauticians won’t know the first thing about medical procedures or administering medication. Not only that, but should you really, really, utterly hate your new plumped up lips, then a doctor can instantly reduce them by injecting another substance, such as hyaluronidase. This is also what he or she would use should you get an allergic reaction or suffer some other trauma during the injecting. This is only licensed for medical professionals so, let’s see a beautician do that, eh? Impossible!

Some lip filler statistic I found out

Meanwhile, here’s a statistic to chew over: In 2016 the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' reported an astonishing 60 per cent increase in lip augmentations for 18 to 55-plus-year-olds from 2000 to 2017. How our lips have grown! And, of that figure, five per cent was between 2016 and 2017. The biggest rush for lip fillers though was back in 2015 and kicked off by a comment made by Kylie Jenner in Keeping Up with The Kardashians. The then 17-year-old let slip to her sister that her ‘full-looking’ lips were down to fillers. The result was some clinics – both in the US and UK – reporting a 70 per cent surge in enquiries within just 24 hours of the TV series going out.

So, anyhow, like the guinea pig that I am (earlier this year I tried Botox which, much to my delight, got rid of my between-the-eyebrows frown line) I set out to have a little try of this lip plumping procedure myself. If it’s good enough for Kylie Jenner, after all… Only, I didn’t get it done by an LA plastic surgeon. Instead, I opted for the Omniya Clinic in London’s upmarket Knightsbridge district. And I’m glad I did.

Is it a case of ‘no pain, no gain’? Not necessarily…

So, what did it feel like and, crucially, was it painful? Well, I can honestly say the answer to the second question was – a little. But if you can handle getting your eyebrows threaded lady, then you can definitely get down with this. And anyway, you get a local anaesthetic so any pain during the actual procedure is muted.

Interestingly, I was advised to come in for treatment (which happened to be in the middle of my menstrual cycle) if I could manage it. It turns out apparently, we are most sensitive to pain either the week before or the week after our cycle. Who knew?? Not me! I do now though! At the end of January I was due to meet with Dr Thu Linh, following an initial consultation in which I decided she was lovely and totally to be trusted. She's a registered medical professional and has fab referrals.

The consultation...

During the consultation she had asked me what I’d like done to my lips. I’ve always had a ‘generous’ bottom lip but my top lip – not so much. So, I’d asked if she could perhaps plump it up more to resemble the fullness of the bottom lip. This, she reassured me, wouldn’t be a problem, but was I aware that it was standard for the bottom lip to be the fuller of the two? Incidentally, I was aware of her staring at my lips as I spoke and afterwards she told me this was because she wanted to get an idea of the changing shape of my lips when conversing. She also said he was more interested in producing a ‘natural’ pout rather than comic-book lips. I was quick to agree! Betty Boop may be a cutie, but it’s not a look I was willing to tout around personally.

And post-plumping…

After I’d have the lip filler I regularly applied a cold pack on my lips in order to quell the swelling. I felt it was obvious, even though it wasn’t much. I could also feel bumps where the injection had gone in, but these only lasted for a few days as well. What I did feel though, was great. It was exciting to head out with what felt like a new pair of lips. Like having a brand-new radical hair style, but better. Some colleagues thought I looked happier than normal; others could tell I’d had something done but not what. I kept them guessing for a bit before finally spilling. And guess what? They all thought it was a great idea and made a difference. In fact, judging by their keenness to get it done themselves, it seems I’ve unwittingly become the poster girl for lip plumping. Kylie, step aside, there’s a new kid on the block. And it’s me. Apparently!

I hear you asking, are you loving your luscious lip fillers? The answer is a resounding yes!