Here at Luxuriate we firmly believe ‘less is more’ when it comes to getting work done.There’s no harm in a little tweaking to give yourself a confidence boost or to try something new and with the cosmetic surgery industry now worth £3.6 billion in the UK, its big business.But in a time when we are bombarded with different treatment offers it can be difficult to choose the right procedure or practitioner.However, one of the stalwarts of cosmetic surgery is lip augmentation. Even as far back as 1900 surgeons strived to achieve fuller lips using paraffin. But that method was soon abandoned because guess what, injecting paraffin wax into your lips isn’t ideal.Thankfully cosmetic surgery has made some advances since then and the most common products are Juvederm and Restylane that are safe, non-permanent and made from natural substances.Despite this though, lip filler is often associated with ‘trout pout’ or certain celebrity ‘botch jobs’ with enormous pillow lips. Not a great look, in our opinion.But as we age, our lips can get thinner and the Cupid’s bow on the top can become blurred so a teensy bit of plumpifying can be just the ticket.But who to trust? Luxuriate is big on quality and not taking short cuts when it comes to beauty so only the best will do.I met Dr Pradnya Apte AKA The Lip Dentist at her clinic in London Bridge, London. With years of experience as a facial aesthetics practitioner and because she is also a dentist, Dr Pradnya had a very impressive knowledge of facial anatomy and the science behind non-surgical procedures.Lip filler experts who also double as dentists are much more skillful with a needle generally, which is incredibly important when it comes to technique and pain management.We discussed the look I wanted and what she thought the best procedure for me would be. She recommended even-ing out my lower lip and pushing the vermilion border on the top up a fraction. Overall, a subtle, sexy look that would make my lips a bit fuller and more generous-looking. Perfect.The next question inevitably was ‘how much is this going to hurt and please don’t lie to me’.The answer was: ‘I’ll make it as painless as possible’. Hmm.To begin, Dr Pradnya gave me three very quick injections of local anaesthetic in my upper gums. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was speedy and I started to feel the effects almost immediately. She then applied lots of numbing cream.After about 20 minutes she began work on the top lip. I didn’t feel a thing. The sensation of a needle going into your lip is strange and when she injected in the middle area of my top lip, which is extra sensitive, I felt a slight sting but that was it.For my bottom lip Dr Pradyna inserted a cannula so that she could administer and feed the filler in like that instead of multiple insertions.It was fine. Not the most comfortable feeling but I was given a stress ball to squeeze and the more you relax, the easier it is.Then it was done. The actual treatment took about 10 minutes and the results were instant. My lips looked terrific, perfectly even on the bottom with a film star’s little pout on the top.And the best thing, absolutely no swelling or bruising, a testament to Dr Pradnya’s skill with a needle.You could have done this on your lunch break and gone back to work with no problems.Dr Pradnya’s used 0.7 mil of Restylane Kysse filler to treat my lips.Her experience as a dentist meant she was used to treating clients that are nervous like myself and she is warm, engaging and puts you at ease expertly.And as you are a walking advertisement for her work we agreed that the puffy duck-lip look is not something she would ever be comfortable doing.I left her clinic smiling widely with my new and subtly enhanced lips – we highly recommend and will be back.Dr Pradnya can be found at Skin South West in Exeter, Devon, and at the Harley Street Dental Group. Back to our blog
