Beauty Blog

The reason we get smile lines (aka nasolabial folds or NLF) is because the fat pads that were held up higher in our face when we were younger now have begun to drop down thanks to gravity, collagen loss and laxity of the supporting ligaments. As such, you now have TOO MUCH volume around your mouth, creating the shadows and folds you so dislike. Adding filler is just adding volume to a volume problem. The real fix is lifting the fat pads back up and restoring some of the collagen of your youth. You know what happens when you put your fingers in front of your ears and pull back on your skin? (Don't even pretend you haven't done that.) Well, that is what we need to recreate. We can put a little filler (hyaluronic acid or biostimulatory) in front of your ears and/or along your cheekbones or we can rebuild the collagen (or both!). My favorite, dreamy combo is Morpheus8 radio frequency microneedling to tighten and lift followed by Sculptra to build collagen and replace generalized volume loss. Tighten first, then replace volume. Let's say it together: tighten, then volume. It's a lovely, natural-appearing way to turn back the clock.