By Andrea Goto
Lindsay Lohan has made a few mistakes in her life, one of which was a procedure that overfilled her lips to the point that she looked as if she was stung by a jellyfish while trying to kiss it. To avoid an “inflategate,” it’s important to choose the right treatment and have it administered by a highly-trained, board-certified facial plastic surgeon.
Let’s deal with the former first. Prior to 2000, injecting the lips with collagen was all the rage. In theory, it made sense: as we age, we lose collagen in our face and lips, so why not just replace what once was? As it turns out, injected collagen just doesn’t have much staying power—the body absorbs it pretty quickly. Then, there was injecting silicone. While providing permanent results, those results were pretty freaky if not done correctly, which many aren’t. (Recall the woman who wanted to look like a cat? Yeah, she likes silicone. A lot.)
The sign of a good cosmetic procedure is that it isn’t obvious. You want people to think, “Hey, you look really refreshed!” not, “You look as if you’re experiencing a severe allergic reaction.” Consequently, today’s facial plastic surgeons tend to favor the non-surgical procedure of injecting fillers such as Juvederm or Restylane into the lip and lip area to create a more subtle and natural-looking plumping effect while also diminishing any fine lines around the mouth. The fillers are safe, the procedure takes only about 15 minutes and requires no downtime, and the effects—which are immediate—can last anywhere from four to nine months.
Best of all, no duck lips.
Which brings me to the latter half of the equation: you can’t trust your kisser to just anyone. Only a highly-skilled facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon should be behind the needle when it comes to lip injections (or any cosmetic procedure). I mean, one rogue injection and you’re suddenly a candidate for “Botched”—and while I’d liked to be famous for many things, an overinflated lip isn’t one of them.
Bottom line, don’t fear a lip enhancement because of the scary stuff you’ve seen on TMZ. Whether you’ve inherited a thin lip or it’s developed over time, there’s a safe, natural-looking and quack-free way to subtly give your lips a fuller shape again.
