Keeping lip treatments simple for those patients who prefer a natural look
The trend for ‘Russian Lips’ has risen in popularity through reality stars and social media influencers on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok and TV shows like Love Island.
In a recent webinar, Dr Dan Shaffer led a round table discussion with Ron Myers (Consulting Room), Emma Davies (Save Face) and Dr Brian Franks (Dr Brian Franks Training School) entitled ‘Lips Kept Simple’. They explored the trend for larger lips discussing safety, personal preference, and patient satisfaction and whether or not this trend has given more mature women a skewed perception that lip fillers are always unnatural. The panel suggested there were two distinct patient groups – those who want to fit in with the Instagram crowd and those who simply want to restore and maintain their natural lip shape. However, while the panellists were championing the natural look, they were keen to stress that, it came down to individual choice and preference and that well tolerated treatment always remains the central priority. Another interesting topic discussed was how and when to confidently say no to a patient’s desired treatment, if this was deemed as unsafe or aesthetically impossible post- assessment of the patient.
“It’s all about the biological variability of the individual. Everybody is different, and all treatments should be tailor-made to each patient.” Dr Franks stated.
The lips kept simple concept
The concept of lips kept simple is to reshape and enhance the way the lips look in a beautiful and natural way.
Dr came up with the idea in response to concerns being raised by women he was speaking to while recruiting training models for his courses. He was looking for female models aged between 35 and 60 and found nearly all patients did not want ‘unnatural lips’.
He said, “It’s the practitioner’s duty of care to educate the public that there are many highly skilled practitioners out there who can deliver natural looking lips and natural looking treatments safely. They don’t have to be over-done. You can make lips look younger, not just bigger.”
Dr Franks added, “We found there were many people not having their lips done because they thought there was only that alternative. The message needs to be there are alternatives. And one of those is that you can have less as well as more.”
Reframing the way we talk about lip treatments
Emma Davies highlighted that many of her patients prefer the idea of restoring the lips to a natural youthful appearance. The consensus was that we should be talking less about just filling lips and more about the shape and contour as the term ‘lip filler’ could wrongly imply that enhancement always equals more volume and this could be preventing some patients from wanting to explore the benefit of lip treatments further.
The panel agreed that the way forward was an artistic and holistic approach from healthcare professionals and to educate the public about what they’re buying, why they’re buying it, and who they’re buying it from, moving them towards going to experienced practitioners who can look at them from an anatomical perspective. “It’s that beautiful enhancement that everyone really wants and what every practitioner wants to provide,” said Ron Myers.
The concept of lips kept simple is to reshape and enhance the way the lips look in a beautiful and natural way
Medical aesthetic training
Dr Franks has been providing non-surgical medical aesthetic training courses since 2010 and has co-produced an MSc in Specialist Practice of Clinical Aesthetics Non-Surgical Intervention, University of Bolton of which he is currently the Programme Clinical Director. Having been a medico-legal expert witness for more than 20 years, Brian’s central focus is to ensure students are trained to consider safety and risk management from the outset of any consultation or treatment.
