Without realizing it, every day you see celebrities with beautiful lips. They may be on Instagram, on TV, or even on the front cover of magazines you browse through while waiting in the grocery store checkout lanes. Behind the secret to these lips are cosmetic procedures that add shape and fullness to the lips to make them more sensual and aesthetically pleasing, especially as they enhance the smile.

What you may not realize is that lip enhancement, also known as augmentation, isn’t reserved only for the rich and famous. It’s something you could consider too.

Before long, you could be showing off a dashing smile made even better by having perfect lips! The benefits of lip enhancement include a boost to your facial appearance by modifying the shape of the lip contours, the structure or form of your lips, and the volume, or plumpness. All of these result in fuller, more sensual lips.

However, be wary of the techniques you might come across on YouTube and other social media platforms. Sure, exfoliating your lips or using a sophisticated ‘lip plumper’ might get you perfect lips for that Instagram selfie. Still, the results won’t last much longer than 30-minutes before your lips return to their original size and shape, hopefully without any bruising.

Your lip augmentation treatment options depend on your natural lip form. But before evaluating your ideal lip pattern as well as the surgical options with your surgeon, let’s explore the complicated psychology behind the explosion of not just celebrities but sisters, wives, daughters, and girlfriends, all pouting and blowing kisses in a variety of shades of pink and red.

What’s Behind Society’s Obsession with Full Lips?

Kylie Jenner, with her cosmetically enhanced lips, might have sparked interest in today’s trend. However, the real trend could have started in the ’50s, right around the time when Marilyn Monroe reached bombshell status with her signature over-lined red pout, part of a beauty look so iconic of the times. 

We’re now living in the age of the ‘lip job,’ with the number of Google searches for lip fillers and augmentation constantly on the rise with an increase of 60 percent between 2000 and 2017.

Theories abound as to why full lips, Hollywood lips as some call them, have become such a sought-after beauty trait of our day. Sensuality is, no doubt, a keen aspect of the equation. They are the source of expression of love, intimacy, sexuality, and all types of human communication.

Full lips signal both youth and vitality. When an adult possesses child-like facial features, such as big eyes, full lips, and cheeks, we instinctively warm towards them as we would toward a child. Baby-like features elicit positive care-taking responses from others.

The youthful, full lips and overall lip style you desire and agree upon with your surgeon will determine the type of procedure that will get you there. During this process, you’ll learn that lip augmentation procedures may be either temporary (usually achieved with minimally invasive injectable dermal fillers), or permanent (which involves a more detailed yet usually outpatient procedure).

Injectable Dermal Fillers

Temporary by nature, lip augmentation with injectable dermal fillers, volumizers, or implants that plump the lips are the most commonly used approaches and all enhance the appearance of the entire face. 

For people whose lips that have thinned with age or have naturally thin lips can especially benefit from lip enhancement. There is a wide selection of these injectable volumizers available, since not every type of filler is right for every person or situation. Dr. Amato, with her extensive knowledge of facial anatomy, will determine the most appropriate fillers to inject into the precise places to create natural-looking results. A volumizer might be all you need to get your Hollywood lips!

Vermillion Lip Enhancement

For a solution to lip enhancement that is more permanent, you may opt for a surgical lip augmentation procedure. Depending on your suitability, your surgeon could suggest either a Vermillion Lift Enhancement or a Lip Lift. 

Vermillion is the name given to the colored portion of your lips. The tissue here is thin and enriched with many blood vessels. The line just above and below the colored part that connects the lip tissue to the rest of your face is known as the vermilion border. 

By removing a section of skin between the vermillion border and the nose, you can get a shorter, more volumized, and rolled-out upper lip. Known as the Vermillion Lift, this procedure increases the prominence of the vermillion border.

Lip Lift

Closely allied to the Vermillion Lift is the Lip Lift, which has several techniques to consider. With this lift, doctors use different incisions and strategies to give your lips a new shape, a new position, and perhaps also add some extra fullness. Popular types of lift lips include Direct lip lift (or gullwing lip lift), Subnasal bullhorn, Italian lip lift, Corner lip lift, Modified upper lip lift, and the Central lip lift.

Using any of the above lift techniques, your surgeon will craft you the perfect lip style. The popular Hollywood style is ideal for women who are seeking to enhance their lips without artificially exaggerating the form of their upper and lower lips. This lip style is seen frequently in film and entertainment personalities. Other lip style variations include the Classic, Angelic, Eve, Rubina, Pearlique, Cupid, and for a more masculine lip shape, even the Adam style.

The Keyhole Pout for That Perfectly Pouty Look

Different to the techniques described above and gaining in popularity is the style of an ample, upturned mouth revealing the front teeth. A look that has generated this new trend is known as the Keyhole Pout. This non-invasive surgery creates a small round gap (the keyhole) centrally located between the top and bottom lips. This method creates a subtle divide on both the lower and upper lips, giving you the perfect sexy pout.

As an experienced board-certified facial cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Amato uses her fellowship-trained knowledge to provide you with outstanding results. View our before-and-after gallery, then schedule your consultation with Dr. Amato to discuss your candidacy for your procedure. 

Call our Austin medical spa today at 512-501-1010 or reach out to us online. We look forward to hearing from you!