Want to look younger? Start with the lips!
Women with fuller and younger lips seem younger than they really are. This is the conclusion of a study funded by Unilever Co. in England. The study analysed the faces of 102 pairs of white Dutch female twins aged 59-81 and 162 individual British white women aged 45-75.
The study found that wrinkles, and age spots were equally influenced by genetics and environment. However, a receding hairline, greying hair, and most markedly lip volume was determined by genes. Interestingly, both men and women reach their maximum lip volume in early adulthood. The lips begin to shrink between the ages of 30 and 40. There was a large variation of the lip size among the study subjects.
The study author, David Gunn, said there was little to be gained by thin-lipped middle-aged or elderly women seeking lip augmentation. That’s because full lips on a patient with wrinkles and sagging skin will look out of place and unnatural.
The take home from this study is that conservative lip augmentationcan be very useful in enhancing the face in younger women. In my practice, I favor injectable fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm for this purpose. I have found fat transfer to be unreliable in terms of effect and longevity. Facial rejuvenation in middle aged and older women will require attention to all facial features and not just the lips.