Thin,
lacklustre lips can make you look older than
you are – or feel. As we age, the skin
above the lip tends to elongate, diminishing
the vermillion, or the pink part of the lip.
This affects nearly 80 per cent of the aging
population. What’s a girl – even
if she’s a grandma – to do? The
answer lies in a lip augmentation procedure
called cheiloplasty.
First developed in Switzerland
in the early 1960s by plastic surgeon Rudolph
Meyer, the procedure can increase the pinkness
of the lip or reduce the size of your lips.
“We make the lip look larger without
actually increasing the size because it’s
showing more pink,” says Dr. Lloyd Carlsen,
a cosmetic surgeon in Toronto, who has been
performing this specialized technique for
more than 25 years. “We can also use
the patient’s own tissue to increase
the bulk of the lip.”
It’s an ideal procedure
if you’re over 50. “In the lower
age group you could get a scar,” cautions
Dr. Carlsen, adding that “the darker
the skin, the more risk of a scar.”
The procedure takes about an hour under local
anesthetic. Stitches can be removed after
three days, but you should eat soft foods
for about a week.
Cost: $750 per lip. WHO
TO CALL & WHERE TO GO:
Dr. Lloyd N. Carlsen, 905-851-7701, cosmeticsurgeryhospital.com
• Tina Davies, 416-922-2868, torontomakeup.com
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DON’T
WANT SURGERY?
TRY PERMANENT MAKEUP
A
non-surgical alternative to cheiloplasty
is permanent makeup. “We pre-draw
on the lip so it’s exactly the
shape that you want,” says Tina
Davies, a permanent-makeup artist
in Toronto. Then, you can permanently
tattoo just the lip line or fill in
the entire lip with colour. Davies
cautions that this procedure is painful,
but a topical preparation or dental
block is available to numb the lips.
Side effects may include an eruption
of latent cold sores and allergic
reaction to pigment. Typically, results
last five years.
Cost: $900 for liner; $1,200 for liner
and lip colour.
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