What is Beauty? – Part 3 Lucious Lips

This article appeared in

Prestige Magazine (08) – August 2009

What is Beauty? – Part 3

Lucious Lips

By

Raye Toscano

In my last two articles we covered techniques for enhancing your own natural beauty.  We mentioned some ways of reducing lines and wrinkles that point toward the nose and some advanced techniques to draw attention toward our most interesting facial assets, our eyes.  If you missed these two helpful articles, go to RBMedispa.com and click on Articles/News button and then on Raye Toscano’s Prestige Articles.  The series on “What is Beauty?” starts with Number 06.

This month, we want to focus attention on those luscious lips.  Eve Glicksman writes, “Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one’s breath.”

So how do we make our lips more noticeable, more desirable and more luscious without going too far?  The key factor, I believe, is subtlety.  Many women are reluctant to try fillers because they’ve seen friends who have been injected with so much volume that shape and detail are gone.

Here are some guidelines.  First, start with the vermillion border, that fine line that separated the lips from the skin.  A tiny bead of filler along this border erases vertical lines that cross the lips (smoker’s lines) and emphasizes a pleasant “Cupid’s Bow” outline.  Only once this outline is perfect, symmetrical and pleasing to the eye can attention be turned to lip volume.

The lower lip should appear to be between one-half and two-thirds of the total volume of the lips.  If it appears that the lower lip has lost some volume, a tiny amount of filler can be placed just inside the lip to produce the proper proportions.  Commonly, some volume may also be missing underneath the two peaks of the upper lip.  Again, this can be plumped with the tiniest bead of filler.

That’s it for the filler.  Don’t overdo it.  Unless there is a specific wrinkle or defect that needs to be corrected, trying to produce a full “Hollywood pout” will usually look fake.  If someone looks like she’s just had her lips “done”, then I think her doctors have failed.

Before we finish our discussion about luscious lips, there is one more technique that deserves to be mentioned.  As we age, the muscles that pull down the corners of our lips become over active.  This can cause even nicely shaped lips to appear to be frowning a lot of the time.  A small amount of Botox in just the right spots can turn that frown into a gentle pleasant smile.  Not all Physicians who use Botox have been trained in this advanced technique.

I am grateful that our physicians at REDBAMBOO Medi•Spa have been trained in Botox and Facial Filler techniques by one of the best in the country.  Their aesthetic artistry produces results that I believe are superior to anyone else around.  For those of you concerned about discomfort, we either mix the filler with some anesthetic or perform a dental block so that the whole experience is painless.

Next month, the fourth installment – erasing blemishes and smoothing complexion.