Had a girls’ night last week: the three of us had planned to watch Wonder Woman but only got about halfway through because we were too busy talking and being silly. We drank wine, and tried on jewelry and makeup like we were in middle school (well not the wine part). The woman whose house we were at is super girly and her whole bathroom is like Sephora. Very fun! As we chatted and put on cream blushes and glitter eyeliner, my other friend kept saying she wanted to fill her smile lines. She touched them and said, “I want someone to treat these. How much is it to fill these lines?” I said, “That’s not how you treat those. You need cheek filler.” She looked at me like I was crazy so then I had to explain to her that as we age the fat pads in our face begin to slip downward and we also begin to lose volume, and that restoring the volume in the mid and lateral cheek area gives the entire face a lifted appearance. Then she said someone told her she would need Botox to fix her smile lines. I said: “Botox doesn’t fix static lines…you need filler in your cheeks!”
Then she pointed to her under eyes and said, “What about this?” She had a little puffiness and some unevenness. I said: “Tear trough filler!” Then we spent some time talking (complaining) about how our eyes change as we age.
Through our tipsiness (I’m not sure how much of what I said got heard :)) I told her that our bones, just like the fat pads in our face, lose volume with age, and the entire shape of our skull changes.
Here’s a great explanation I found awhile back on Live Science: “As we grow older, our facial bones including our eye sockets, nose and upper jaw continue to change. For example, our eye sockets enlarge, and the angle of the bones beneath our eyebrows decreases…Aging also affects the bones of the middle part of the face. The researchers found reductions in the angles of the brow, nose, and upper jaw bones. The length and height of the lower jaw decreased, as well.”
This explanation transitions nicely into her last question and that was, “What can I do about all this??” She started pulling on her neck and touching her jawline. Although I didn’t get into this explanation that night, I’ll throw in this why and how refresher here to explain jawline enhancement:
A youthful jawline is an L-shape, from the ear to the chin. As we age, our L becomes an I. To achieve this “L” shape with jawline enhancement, there will typically be three injection sites: one at the L- shaped jawline, one between the jowl and chin, and one at the cheek. This L shape not only gives definition to the jaw but also creates the appearance of a slimmer, more elongated neck. Enhancing the jawline is actually a pretty quick treatment and can lead to enhancement of other features: lifting of the neck, correction of marionette lines, and can mask a double chin. This enhancement usually involves a minimum of 2 syringes of Radiesse or Lyft, up to 6.
After we were done with all the questions and explanations she said, “I just want a skinectomy.” Bahahaha! She said a plastic surgeon told her that isn’t a thing. I said, “Well it should be!” We should be able to just pull up all that loose skin and cut it off! Unfortunately, we will just have to settle for fillers to restore the lost volume and re-inflate our skin. Personally, I am incredibly thankful for those fillers…and Botox, and laser procedures, and skin care products, and well, everything that is Body Tonic!
Happy New Year everyone… I hope you made it through the holidays safely and here’s hoping for a better, safer, calmer 2021!
