BEAUTY: FILL ‘ER UP!

As you prepare for a brand new year ahead, now might be the time to consider trading your year-end, stressed out and ageing looks for a fuller and more youthful face that will take years off your age.

Ageing has a profound effect on the appearance of the mid face. There may be significant atrophy of subcutaneous fat, leading to a loss of volume and decreased support for facial features, as well as a loss of the skin’s elasticity.

The consequences of fat atrophy in the mid face include a loss of prominence in the cheek area, accentuation of hollow cheek bones, and the presence of excess skin around the jaw line . In addition, the area below the cheek bone, known as the buccal cheek area, will often become more indented.

This can create a ‘gaunt’ or aged look. Ageing cheeks can even cause a hollowing effect around the eyes, especially if eye surgery with fat removal has been performed. Volume loss is one of the most significant contributors to facial ageing.

Restoring volume to the upper face has many benefits:

• It can help fill in sunken areas under the eyes when used correctly and can also help mask and contour eye bags under the eyes. In many instances, the appearance of dark circles under the eyes is also diminished with these procedures.

• It provides a fuller, more youthful and convex appearance to the cheeks which then can reflect light and give the face a “glow”.

• It has a lifting, pulling effect that counteracts the appearance of shadows and folds in the mid and lower regions, softening the jaw line.

Around the mouth, a gentle and subtle lift of the corners of the mouth can improve the permanent “mouth frown” that occurs with ageing and a natural, happy look can be restored in many individuals. For a natural appearing mouth area, the body of the lip should be slightly plumped as well to ensure a fuller, yet more natural, shape.

Lips should not be over-filled and with proper techniques they can be made fuller, yet still look natural. Natural lip rejuvenation requires the expertise and experience of the doctor as the result depends on the doctor’s technique. Do your research well to ensure that the doctor you choose for a natural lip rejuvenation procedure performs numerous such treatments each day.

Filler procedures are not invasive and they don’t require much recovery time. Restylane with Lidocaine is a dermal filler made of a biodegradable, non-animal, stabilized, hyaluronic acid (NASHA), which is a natural substance found in all living organisms and provides volume and fullness of the skin.

The small amount of added Lidocaine (0.3%) helps to minimise the discomfort of the procedure and make the procedure almost painless. Restylane Perlane™ with Lidocaine is used for the correction of deeper wrinkles and is a powerful tool for correcting volume loss in the cheeks, chin and jaw line area, without much discomfort to the patient.

Instantaneous, painless mouth rejuvenation and cheek volumising at specialist practitioners such as Skin Renewal will ensure that you look fantastic as you face the challenges and joys of a new year.