Photo courtesy http://www.medaesthetics.com.au/surgical/lip-lift/
It took me a while to figure out why tight jawlines, filled out cheeks, foreheads injected with Botox and poreless, lasered faces didn't make most women look younger.......and then I realized it all starts with the upper lip.
For the longest time I hated when women would fill their nasal labial lines (laugh lines) because they all ended looking like some version of the cartoon character Homer Simpson. Doctors have improved immensely over the years, but you still see it everywhere.
As we age the distance between the vermillion/pink of our lips and the nose grow as we age. Some of it in part is from gravity. Another reason is because our lips and skin lose a little volume each year. Sometimes collagen breaks down and thins in that area from waxing the upper lip (I NEVER wax just because of that). Dental health- teeth shifting is a big culprit. Jawlines and bones shrink from calcium depletion. And from the hundreds of photos that I have taken with the Beau Visage, which measures 2mm below the skin, the upper lip loses blood flow in that area as we age. Without blood flow nutrients don't get to the cells as they might on other parts of the face, which results in cells dying faster.
To make that upper lip line worse some women wrinkle faster in that area because they tense up their mouths giving them a "smoker's mouth". The impact of sun in the past only separates the collagen more giving deeper wrinkles from expression.
There are a few ways to help prevent or reverse this problem:
1. The easiest solution is SMILE. When you smile the zygomatic muscle, which runs from the lip through the cheekbone lifts that skin up and you instantly look 10 years younger!
2. See an orthodontist and see if they can widen your mouth with invisalign or other solutions. Again as we age the mouth narrows and this will correct the skin from hanging as much.
3. Increase circulation. The blood flow above the upper lip can be stimulated with tools like high frequency. There is a product called the dermawand that is perfect for the task. You have to do it daily, but watch it plump the lip and help fill in the laugh lines. It's also great for lifting eyelids.
4. Get a Lip Lift. Plastic surgery in this department still has a long way to go. Doctors have had a hard time reducing the scarring around the nose where the excess skin is taken off and lifted. During this procedure doctors will also try to manipulate the cupid's bow and plump up the lips as demonstrated in the photo above.
There are several Asian advancements that have not yet made their way here yet in the US that involve an internal scaffolding, which will be a post for another time.
In the meantime SMILE- It won't mess up your hair!
