Ultimate guide to lip surgery for that perfect smile

You might not be aware of this but your smile is one of the defining features of your face that expresses beauty and expression. And there are two major factors that determine how attractive your smile is – your teeth (that can be fixed by your dentist), and your lips.

You see all these beautiful lips featured in magazines, lipstick ads, and on your favorite celebrities – Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian, Scarlet Johansson. So many attractive smiles but which one suits you best? What is the perfect ratio for the perfect lips?

What is the golden ratio for Korean lips?

The key to beautiful lips is finding the ideal balance between your lips and other features of your face. Here is a guide to your ideal lip ratio:

1. Corner of lips should be vertically inline with midpoint of pupil.
2. Fullness of lips start from the center and gets thinner towards the end.
3. Lips should be symmetrical.
4. Ideal thickness for lips is 1:1.615. Meaning the size of your top lip is 1/3 the size of your bottom lip.
5. Ideal degree for the slant of your cupid bow is approximately 10°.
6. Ideal degree for the slant of your inner lip curve is 5°.

There’s no doubt that rosy and luscious lips are one of the most appealing features of a woman’s beauty. And says who you can’t have them if you don’t have them? Here are some ways to plump up and beautify our lips.

What is lip surgery or lip augmentation?

Lip surgery is a cosmetic surgery procedure that can alter the shape and appearance of your lips to transform your ugly smile into that sexy attractive smile that you have always dreamt of.

It is popular among those who seek to:

• Reduce length of philtrum (space between tip of nose and upper lip)
• Contour their cupid’s bow
• Lift droopy mouth corners or marionette lines
• Correct asymmetrical mouths
• Fix downturned lips

Because there are several types of lip augmentation procedures, depending on your current lip shape and appearance, sometimes you might need to undergo more than one type of surgery in order to achieve your ideal lips. 

Types of lip surgery

1. Smile lift surgery

Smile lift surgery, aka corner lip lift surgery, reshapes your lip corners and lifts sagging mouth corners to an ideal position. These lip lifts can be adjusted according to your preferences, so if you really like joker-like lips, you can actually achieve it. Smile lift surgery is suitable for those who want to correct:

2. Cupid’s bow surgery

Cupid’s bow surgery in Korea is all about contouring that V-shaped area in the middle of your upper lip to get that pronounced M-shaped inner curve on your lips. Because having that M-shaped lips give you a sexy yet more youthful appearance. Cupid’s bow surgery is suitable for those who want:

• Fuller and perkier lips
• To give flat lips a pout
• To enhance the inner curves of lips

3. Philtrum reduction surgery

Philtrum reduction surgery, aka upper lip lift, shortens the distance between your nose and your upper lips. In fact, the angle of your upper lip, its fullness and length determine the visibility of your teeth and the beauty of your smile.

This procedure can lift your upper lips, resulting in fuller and poutier lips. In addition, it can also allow your teeth to be more visible when smiling too, giving a somewhat cute, yet sexy and youthful appearance. Philtrum reduction surgery is suitable for those who have:

4. Lip reduction surgery

Having larger-than-average lips disrupts the overall proportions of your facial features, and even make you self-conscious. In such situations, lip reduction surgery is definitely worth a consideration.

Lip reduction surgery is a surgical procedure that reduces the size of your lower or upper lips by removing excess skin and tissues via an incision inside your mouth. This procedure can help:

• Reduce volume for naturally large lips
• Fix asymmetrical lips
• Decrease overall size of lips

5. Lip fillers

Lip fillers are one of the most popular non-surgical lip procedure. And the most popular types of fillers are hyaluronic acid-based fillers due to it ability to be readily absorbed by our body and its ability to reverse mistakes and unsatisfied results with a simple injection.

The most important thing is to get a qualified and skillful dermatologist or doctor for filler injections because results are very dependent on the doctor. Only skilled doctors fully understand the characteristics of fillers, and will know how to control the amount to inject in order to sculpt your lips to get your desired results.

Lip fillers can help:

• Soften deep smile lines
• Volumize lips
• Smoothen marionette lines at mouth corners

6. Lip fat grafting

Fat grafting, aka facial fat transfer, is a cosmetic procedure where fat tissues are extracted from other parts of your body (usually the back of your thighs or belly or buttocks) and injected into the areas of your lips which requires volume. Lip fat grafting can help:

• Address wide and deep smile lines due to sagging
• Create volume to plump up your lips
• Fill in and soften the deep creases and marionette lines

Results usually lasts 5~10 years but fat extraction involves a small surgery to be done on another part of your body.

Benefits & risks of lip surgery

Needless to say, the benefits of lip surgery include sexy beautiful lips, increased self-confidence and self-esteem. To be honest, most lip surgeries are ‘wants’, and not really ‘needs’. But hey, if it makes you feel good, why not?

That said, one of the major downside is that scarring is unavoidable, but the good news – scars fade over time. Well, good stuff is worth waiting for, right?

How long do results of lip surgery last?

The results of lip surgery are mostly permanent and lasts for a lifetime. For most lip surgeries, you can’t reverse the procedure, so make sure that you need or really want the surgery before getting it.

Do take note that the success of your lip surgery not only lies in the hands of your surgeon but also how you well you recover after surgery. So learn how to properly care for your lips during the recovery period by reading our article on lip surgery aftercare and post-op instructions.

Conclusion

Everybody is born with a different lip shape, and have different views to how beautiful lips should look. Not everyone want lips like Angelina Jolie (really?) or Kim Kardashian right? But if you want, says who you can’t have lips like theirs? 

Just know that most lip surgeries are irreversible (except lip fillers) so make sure that you really want the surgery before getting it, and do not to overdo them.

And the most important thing is to get an experienced and qualified doctor who is skilled in lip surgeries. Because only skilled lip doctors will know what is needed in order to sculpt your lips to get your desired results.

Originally published on 2020 March 4