How to get Perfect Lip Augmentation Results

Dr. Jeff Barczak from California Cosmetics was kind enough to share his top tips on how to get the perfect lip augmentation results every time! Find a comfy spot, put your feet up, and enjoy…

When it comes to lip augmentation, most of my clients ask what they can do to make sure they get the lip filler results they desire.

My goal with a lip augmentation is to maximize the outcome in terms of my clients’ expectations of a cosmetic result followed by alleviating some of the aftercare (such as bruising and swelling) so that we minimize their “social” downtime and achieve their desired results sooner.

Unfortunately, it is not only up to us as injectors to ensure that beautiful results are achieved.

How a patient prepares for the lip augmentation in addition to aftercare can influence results.

So instead of asking what you can do after your lip augmentation to help achieve the results you want (which is the most common question asked), what can you do PRE-lip augmentation to maximize your result is probably the more important question.

BRUISING AND SWELLING SHOULD NOT BE YOUR MAIN CONCERN:

Some clients are concerned with bruising and swelling post-lip augmentation, but most of them know that this is often part of the process.

Most lip augmentations include quite a few “pokes”, especially with the latest technique which has become extremely popular at California Cosmetics.

What our clients (and our injectors) are more concerned with is the long-term outcome: getting the best possible results.

We want our clients to achieve their desired results as fast as possible as well as enjoy the results for as long as possible.

Bruising and swelling might only last a few days, but a lip augmentation result will last for up to a year.

We are therefore more focused on what we (and our clients) can do to maximize that result.

What our clients can do to help achieve the lip filler results they want starts long before their lip augmentation appointment. Let me explain…

The condition of your lips when you arrive for your lip augmentation procedure has a high impact on your result.

If you come into the clinic with dry, flaky, or dehydrated lips, you are most definitely going to have a more technically challenging lip augmentation.

For the best possible results, we encourage you to arrive with well-prepared, properly hydrated, and soft lips.

Simply packing on the lip balm before your appointment will not do the trick.

WHY IT IS GOOD TO PREPARE YOUR LIPS BEFORE A LIP AUGMENTATION:

The top layer of the skin (including the lips) is simply a bunch of dead skin cells packed on top of each other and if this layer is rigid and dehydrated, there will be increased resistance to tissue expansion when injecting the lip filler.

This resistance against the filler being injected can impact your cosmetic result.

You, therefore, want to ensure that any excess, flakey dead skin on your lips is removed in advance of your lip filler appointment.

Prepping your lips for coming into the treatment should not only include removing the dead, flakey skin from your lips but also proper lip hydration.

In removing the dead skin first, you are able to better hydrate the underlying lip tissue, a layer which, when properly hydrated, will expand better to accommodate the filler allowing your injector to achieve a beautiful result easier.

(Professional tip: When it comes to the pre and aftercare for your lip fillers, we have found that ARMEE’s Lip Hydrator containing hyaluronic acid sufficiently preps the lip by creating an outer layer that is soft, hydrated, and much easier to expand. This in turn allows for an improved result than with dry, dehydrated lips. Also check out ARMEE’s Lip Scrub to help remove that dead, flakey skin. Our clients love these products as they enhance their lip filler results). 

In addition to the best results, using these two products in advance of your appointment will certainly make your injector’s job so much easier!

THERE IS A LOT OF VALUE IN LIP AUGMENTATION PREPARATION:

Injectors see patients with unprepared lips all the time!

Unfortunately, this can contribute to having to do lip filler revisions on clients from other clinics where patients were not educated on how to prepare their lips pre-augmentation.

For example, when a lip is on the smaller side, one of the biggest issues you can have is something called filler migration.

This is where the internal pressure of that small lip rises very quickly when injecting filler and can cause the filler to hydrodissect further than anticipated often leading to puffiness above or below the lip border.

Hydrodissection is where the filler spiderwebs in all directions away from the tip of the needle in the tissue and spreads above or below the lip borders.

This can result in a fake look or what people refer to as “ducky” …

If these lips were better prepared in advance, it could have significantly reduced the amount of filler traveling above or below the lip borders giving a more natural and beautiful result.

It would have helped to decrease the pressure by having lips that are soft and hydrated and therefore easier to expand, allowing the filler to stay where we need it to.

In the same breath, if you have a lip that has more resistance (by simply being dry, dehydrated, and covered with dead skin), the filler might also want to hydrodissect further into the tissue.

The filler will more likely escape the lip and move across the lip border making the area above the top lip (where a mustache would be) or below the lower lip, look puffy.

You do NOT want this.

When it comes to lip revisions, the problem is that it does not only take one appointment to finally get the lips you want.

Clients will first need to come and see us to dissolve the original filler, then heal from this procedure before coming back for another appointment to re-inject the filler into properly prepared lips.

Had they taken care of their lips pre-augmentation by preparing properly, they would more likely not have had to go through this whole process in the first place (depending on the experience of their original injector of course…).

SO HOW DO YOU GET PERFECT LIP AUGMENTATION RESULTS EVERY TIME?

Please take my advice… choose your injector wisely and take the time to prepare your lips in advance of your lip augmentation appointment so you can maximize your chances of achieving the results you desire!

By Dr. Jeff Barczak - California Cosmetics