A perfect smile often involves having “perfect” lips. But like all other aesthetic aspects, the idea of perfect has gone through its own stages of evolution.
More recently, the trend has shifted from the full-volume Angelina Jolie-like pout, to a more natural look.
“At this stage, we’re embracing natural beauty,” says Dr Nerina Wilkinson, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
She says that with all the medical advances, when enhancing lips, there is a fine line between science and art.
Speaking at the launch of the Allergan Signature Smile campaign, Wilkinson says that when using fillers, doctors are able to make fine adjustments, leaving clients looking more youthful without looking like they have had work done.
Wilkinson says various eras have defined women’s smiles.
In the 1920s the heart shape was fashionable. Women were “cheeky” and a bit naughty. Think The Great Gatsby.
By the 1930s mouths were stern and turned down. This was the Great Depression, and lips reflected this.
In the 1940s, women were self-assured. While the men went off to war, they worked in factories. They wore overalls, but highlighted their lips with bold red lipstick.
Post-war, softer, voluptuous pink lips were trendy. Think Marilyn Monroe.
When the 1960s rolled around, fashion icon Twiggy emerged. Her lips were light and understated. This was when women were rejecting the idea of being sex symbols.
The 1970s was marked by disco. Women were again filled with confidence and wore bright colours.
Then there were the 1980s, the “anti-beauty” era with reverse gender roles. Women looked harsh and masculine, while male bands popularised men wearing lipstick and other make-up.
In the 1990s, the era of Cindy Crawford, the trend was for a more natural look.
At the height of Jolie’s popularity in the 2000s, everyone wanted full-volume lips – or, as Wilkinson refers to them, “sausage lips” or the “trout pout”. There was also a brief appearance, in 2008, of what the doctors called the unilip. These lips were thick and rounded on the top and bottom. There was no cupid’s bow. Instead, the top lip was shaped like a rainbow.
Wilkinson and dermatologist Dr Izolda Heydenrych breathe a sigh of relief that the sausage and unilip era are behind us.
Heydenrych, who is the co-founder and director of the Cape Town Cosmetic Dermatology Centre, says women need to do research into the type of injectable fillers their doctors use. The golden rule, she says, is to not compromise on the quality of lip fillers. With several products on the market, people need to make sure the filler they are using is US Food and Drug Administration-registered and that doctors open the product in front of them.
The fillers are composed of hyaluronic acid, a type of sugar that occurs naturally in joints, eye fluid, and the skin. As we age, the naturally occurring hyaluronic acid is diminished, along with its moisturising and plumping effects. Injectable hyaluronic acid is used to restore lost hydration and improve the skin’s volume and texture.
Heydenrych says most lip fillers can last up to six months. The new Allergan product, Juvederm Volbella, lasts up to 12 months, and costs between R2 000 and R4 000 a treatment. In the event that the client is unhappy with the outcome, an enzyme is injected into the lips that immediately dissolves the filler.
Heydenrych says there is much more to the treatment than adding volume to the lips. The product can be used for contouring and angling of the mouth, removing fine lines and rehydration of the lips.
Dr Alek Nikolic, a general practitioner, specialises in aesthetic medicine. Performing a demonstration of a lip-filling procedure at the launch of the My Signature Smile campaign at the Cosmetic Dermatology Centre, he showed how a mouth could be transformed with a few needle pricks.
Nikolic says that with age, the support structures in the face weaken. This can lead to a down-turned mouth. By injecting filler near the corners, the line immediately starts pushing up, creating a straight line.
Because the muscle in the lips thins and weakens, the lips start appearing deflated. Nikolic then slowly starts injecting the vermilion (coloured part of lip) border, starting at the corner. The filler contains aesthetic, so he starts in the corner, working his way towards the most sensitive part of the lips – the cupid’s bow. Throughout the procedure, the client, 41, describes the pain level as one, on a scale of one to 10. Lines above the lips – bar code wrinkles – are also filled out.
Lastly, Nikolic fills out the wrinkles in the lips themselves, instantly giving them a more supple look.
The entire procedure lasts less than 30 minutes and at the end there are no obvious signs that the patient has had work done.
The doctors all agree that there are not many black women who ask for lip fillers, as traditionally, their lips are fuller.
While they do come for other types of augmentation, there are fewer black women who need wrinkles filled. The doctors ascribe this to many black women having bigger mandibles and the type of bone structure that helps support the mouth.
Nikolic says the key to sculpting lips is to find a good injector. The person performing the procedure must inject slowly to avoid lumps. Nikolic says that after a year, clients can have maintenance done. But the procedure does encourage the body to produce more of its natural fillers.
What are the perfect lip shape and proper proportions? The doctors agree that the divine proportion 1:1.618 applies.
This means the bottom lip is slightly fuller than the top, not the other way around. If there were an invisible line from the tip of the nose to the chin, the lips should extend no more than two to three millimetres beyond it.
“The divine ratio is precise. Lip injections should be too,” Heydenrych says.
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LIP FACTS
* The skin on lips consists of three to five cellular layers, while most facial skin is thicker, and composed of 16 layers.
* Lips appear reddish because the skin is so thin, making blood vessels more visible. People with darker skin have more melanin, so their lips are darker.
* Lips do not have sweat or sebaceous glands, so they have no protective layer of sweat and body oils that help keep skin smooth and regulate warmth. That’s why it’s important to use lip balm to keep them hydrated.
* The bottom lip has more sensation than the top lip.
Sensitivity in the lips is estimated to be 200 times higher than that of fingers.
Source: the Allergan Medical Aesthetics Academy
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5 KEY TYPES
* Apple: Rounded, high volume centrally located in the lips, soft cupids bow – Rihanna.
* Bow: Smooth, long and wide shape, medium volume, broader cupid’s bow, slightly more volume on the bottom lip – Gwyneth Paltrow.
* Ellipses: Full volume lips, highly pronounced and project forward – Angelina Jolie.
* Heart: Archetypal lip shape, highly contoured, defined cupid’s bow shape, average volume – Megan Fox.
* Ribbon: Thin, smooth in appearance, low volume, slightly increased volume on the top lip – Demi Moore.