Common Lip Shapes and Complaints

Lip shapes are like fingerprints – no two are exactly alike. Unlike with fingerprints, however, it can be said that there is a certain standard set that dictates perfect lip shape. Think full, think lush, think cupid's bow, turned out just so.

It's a fact of life that not everyone is blessed with that ideal set of full lips. Most of us fall into one of the common lip shape categories, which we will cover along with their perceived shortcomings. But we can console ourselves with the thought that the beautiful lips that we conjure up in our minds are within our grasp, thanks to a plethora of lip augmentation procedures.

Lip Shape Categories

Thin, flat lips: Some of us have very thin lips with little or no definition. This may be due to genetics, aging or smoking. Tissue degrades as we age and definition is lost over the years. All around lip augmentation is usually necessary to change them.

No upper lip: The upper lip is always the first to lose volume. As the volume diminishes, less and less vermilion shows and the nose to lip ratio becomes even longer. This development can severely age you. The good thing about this shape is that you usually only need upper lip augmentation. However, if augmentation doesn't do the trick, a lip lift will more than likely be necessary to restore balance.

No bottom lip: This condition is extremely rare. I have never seen this, unless there was also no volume in the top lip. Nonetheless, bottom lip augmentation is, by far, the easiest to do and is usually far more natural looking than upper lip augmentation.

Irregular vermilion border: I have this. The right half of both my upper and lower lips is smaller than the left. I usually have to get more filler on that side to turn out the lips and also use nude lip liner to even it out. The only solution is filler and possibly micropigmentation (cosmetic tattooing). Lip liner can also help to correct the vermilion, but if it's significant only a filler and possibly tattooing will help. You can get a lip lift in extreme conditions, but usually this causes an irregular “pulling” appearance and can make the lip look even worse.

Too large, or overblown, “fish” lips: The approach depends on whether the condition is caused by natural volume or augmented volume. If it is natural volume, a lip reduction surgery is usually the solution. If it is augmented volume, then the treatment depends upon the product. If a catalyst injectable triggered your own collagen overgrowth, then you can get either Kenalog or 5FU injections, or undergo the surgical removal of a strip of tissue. If the volume is due to a micro-implant, usually surgical excision or aspiration is necessary. This is why I always stress go slow when it comes to lip augmentation.