Bigger lips have been all the rage over the last few years. It would be hard not to notice the trend with headlines regularly in the media about celebrity lips and do-it-yourself plumping techniques gone wrong. If you haven’t heard of the Kylie Jenner lip challenge that made the rounds in 2015, let’s just say it involves using a shot glass to try to plump one’s pout – and it didn’t end well for many teens. For the record, the celebrity herself had nothing to do with the idea other than getting lip injections that left many young girls wanting to replicate the look at home.
The good news is there are many safe ways to achieve your goals. But first, why do so many of us want bigger lips?
Are Celebrities to Thank for Our Lip Obsessions?
There’s certainly a popular consensus that celebrities like Jenner who have been very open about their cosmetic lip enhancements have helped fuel the desire for bigger lips. Their frequent connection with fans through images and videos on the internet mean we often see more of their faces than those of our own real-life friends. It’s not just the celebrities themselves, though. Social media channels and the internet as a whole have given us 24-hour instant access to a wealth of information and images.
We also look at ourselves a lot more than we did in the past thanks to smart phones, cameras, social media and the always-popular selfie. In fact, this has become sort of the era of selfies, and because many are obsessed with taking the perfect selfie, we may start to notice what we perceive our imperfections more than ever before. We’re also comparing them to the hundreds of selfies of others we see each day, often of celebrities with bottomless bank accounts and ample recovery time for plastic surgery procedures.
Lip Fillers Aren’t the Only Option
Although injectable lip fillers have been in the spotlight when it comes to achieving fuller lips, they aren’t the only way to achieve your goals. A more permanent option, lip implants, has risen in popularity by over 50 percent since 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
“One reason for the recent surge in popularity is that medical advancements have allowed for new implants that are softer and more flexible than before, resulting in more natural results and quicker recovery time,” said Dr. Christy Walker, a cosmetic surgeon in Plano, Texas.
Although the procedure is more permanent than injections, the implants can be removed if the patient decides they no longer want them.
Lip Fillers Can Be a Great Option
If going under the knife is too big a step toward achieving fuller lips, injectable fillers can be a good alternative. They do have to be redone on a regular basis in order to keep the desired results, though.
“Many women start off with fillers to see how they feel about their lips in a fuller, more volumized state,” Walker said. “After they’ve had some time to evaluate, many patients will choose the more permanent solution with implants.”
