When you look in the mirror, do you see a couple of pale, thin, lifeless lines when you smile? Or do you see pillowy, luscious, well-defined lips? Unfortunately, most of us weren’t blessed with Angelina-worthy smackers. Like most people, the first description fully defines your lips. Take heart – you can the lips you’ve always dreamed of, and just in time for spring break!
Allow me to introduce you to your new best friend, Juvederm. This product is a natural-based, cosmetic dermal filler that is most commonly used for lip augmentation. Juvederm plumps and creates volume while giving you that, glamorous smile you’ve always wanted. Luscious lips with more definition? Yes, please!
Now meet Volbella. This similar filler is slightly newer and even thinner than Juvederm. Created to treat the lips and lines around the mouth, it gently restores your natural looking lip volume. Volbella also smooths the fine “barcode” lines around the lips and enhances the “cupid’s bow” of the upper lip.
Show me the science – hyaluronic acid
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Both fillers are made with hyaluronic acid, a substance naturally found in the skin that provides moisture, plumpness, and firmness. Since your body produces less hyaluronic acid over time, these fillers give volume back in the very natural looking ways. Hyaluronic acid’s main super-power is that it attracts water to the surface of the skin, thus keeping it fresh, plump, and supple. Some research also shows that repeated injections may help stimulate your own production of the skin-firming protein collagen. There’s reason enough to get one of these fillers!
Why do our lips lose their volume?
With age, the level of hyaluronic acid in our skin decreases due to exposure to pesky free radicals. It’s been proven that women over 50 possess half the hyaluronic acid of when they were young. Hyaluronic acid binds to water like a sponge absorbs water and is responsible for retaining moisture in the skin. This is what enables it to fill the spaces between the collagen and elastin fibers in our skin, making it look and feel more plump and youthful.
Hyaluronic acid is powerful any way you look at it. However, when injected and used as a filler, it helps to restore volume to the lips (and add structure to the face) at a much faster rate than when used inside a cream. Because of this, the demand for these types of fillers has increased, leading to the development of new ones with a variety of capabilities to treat different areas of concern on the face.
How long do the treatments last?
We all know that nothing lasts forever. The real question is, how long will these treatments keep my lips looking their best? Of course, the answer to this question always varies, because no two people are exactly the same. However, Juvederm often lasts between six to twelve months. Alternatively, Volbella lasts longer, between one year to 18 months. Thus earning Volbella the role of the longest-lasting lip filler on the market.
In general, most patients return for maintenance before the product completely disappears in order to optimize the overall contour and look. Both fillers require a maintenance of one to four times a year, depending on patients’ preferences. You most likely want to know what happens if I don’t return for another treatment. If you don’t get the treatment after year’s time, your lips eventually return to their original state.
Don’t wait too long, while continuing to hide your lips. With proven science, and the help of products like Juvederm and Volbella, you could have full lips once again. In just a couple of hours, you can get kissable lips just in time for spring break.
