That's right: the original Nurse Shara Lip Flip is a stand-alone treatment for the top or bottom lip that doesn't call for additional lip fillers.
A lip flip is a cosmetic procedure that uses Botox to enhance the appearance of your lips, specifically your top lip.
The Botox lip flip involves injecting 4-6 units of Botox above the upper lip at the center (near the cupid's bow) and near the corners of the mouth.
With lip flips, your lips only appear plumper. The actual volume of your lips doesn't increase. Instead, it gets rearranged to make your lips look full and natural. During a dermal filler, your lips are injected with a substance made from hyaluronic acid, which creates a structured and hydrated appearance in your lips.
About two to three days after a lip flip, patients will notice that their upper lip appears larger as the muscle relaxes. The maximum results are evident a week to 10 days after treatment. These are not drastic results, but they are noticeable to patients, especially when comparing pre- and post-treatment photographs.
If you already have a decent amount of volume in your lips but would like to alter the shape, a lip flip might be the better choice. If you want added volume and longer-lasting results, then lip fillers may be what you're looking for.
The lip flip amplifies the natural shape of your lips, without exaggerating, for an all-natural effect. It's a less-invasive option for lip enhancement. In fact, it's considered to be one of the safest and most widely used injectables on a global level. It's not as expensive as a lip filler.
What is a Botox Lip Flip? The Botox lip flip involves the precise placement of just a few units of botox along the upper lip muscle, near the border, to relax and "flip" the lip to make more of the upper lip visible. This creates a fuller, plumper, but natural-appearing upper lip.
Done incorrectly or performed on unsuitable patients, a Botox lip flip can easily impact the integrity of the lip structure and affect how you talk, smile, etc.
Normal lip flip side effects
Your skin should return to normal within a few hours. Bruising is also possible, but uncommon, with proper technique. It is normal to feel a sensation of heaviness as the Botox lip flip takes effect.
Lip flips have no impact on kissing, and your partner will not be able to feel any difference in the texture of your lips aside from the more “flipped out” lip position. Though any impact on oral sex will be extremely minimal, it may become a bit more difficult to cover your teeth with your lips.
In actuality, you can get both—and many clients do! These are two totally different treatments, but they both use injectables to achieve the results you want. Let's take a look at what they do. Lip fillers are pretty familiar to everyone, even if you've never had them before.
Hyaluronic acid, or HA, naturally occurs in the body and not only attracts moisture (and volume) to the lips but also stimulates the lips' own ability to produce more collagen. This means you get immediate, natural-looking results and you also see a gradual improvement in your lip area as collagen increases. Dr.
Shah says, "An ideal candidate for a lip flip would be someone who has a thinner upper lip and is interested in making the upper lip look slightly bigger. Also it's ideal for someone who is not ready to have fillers injected and wants only a natural and subtle look."
Just as with traditional facial Botox, lip flip results take time. While some patients see the results in as early as three to four days, you'll get the full lip flip look 10 to 12 days after your injections.
The Russian technique accentuates the cupid's bow to resemble a heart-shape by injecting additional volume and lift into the center of the lips, while the sides still remain relatively in line with the face. The result is doll-like while still appearing naturally full and plump.
To perform a Botox lip flip, our injectable specialists make a series of injections just above the upper lip, into the orbicularis oris muscle, which encircles the mouth.
The upper lip's skin and the nose's base are very closely linked. As such, if a plastic surgeon doesn't have the appropriate skills or experience, a lip lift can distort the appearance of the nose, particularly the base and the nostrils. However, this only occurs when a lip lift is done poorly.
Getting a lip flip poses some risks, including: The effects don't last as long as lip fillers or other lip augmentations. The muscles around your lip may relax too much. You may drool, have difficulty drinking and struggle to speak if Botox injections are too close to your mouth.
As with any surgical procedure, not everyone's smile is suitable for a lip flip – even those who may be good candidates for lip fillers. "The ideal patient is someone who has a hyperactive muscle around their mouth that causes their upper lip to turn in or pull up dramatically when they smile," Dr. Amalfi says.
Answer: Gummy smile versus lip flip
The location to fix a gummy smile is typically near the nose to lower the lip, while a lip flip is injected directly about the pink lip to evert the lip.
While dermal fillers increase lip size, a lip flip only creates the illusion of a larger lip without adding volume. Lip flips are less invasive and expensive than dermal fillers. However, they have a shorter effect than dermal fillers, which last between 6 and 18 months.