We’ve all seen overfilled, perpetually pouty lips that clearly are not a product of genetics, but spotting good examples of lip injections can be more challenging, and rightly so, since the goal for many is to maintain a natural, you-but-better look. And it can be even harder to discern a good injector or injection technique when you’re working off photos alone: “It’s very difficult to take photos of the lips that accurately reflect how they look in real life,” says New York City board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich. If the camera adds 10 pounds to the body, then the opposite holds true for the lips; in real life, lips can be up to twice as large as they appear in photos, he says. So what are some telltale signs of good lip filler? Ahead, five important things to look for in lip filler before and afters.
1. Consistent lighting and no makeup
While this is a universal rule for any type of cosmetic before and after photos, it’s especially important for lips. Lighting is the easiest way to enhance the appearance of anything on the face, including the lips, says Dr. Vasyukevich, so make sure the lighting is consistent in both the before and the after.
Similarly, make sure there’s no lipstick or lip gloss on the lips in either set of photos (you’ll be hard-pressed to find doctors who don’t add some sort of balm for the after photos, but the less shiny, the better). The reflection of the gloss can make the lips look more prominent, points out Dr. Vasyukevich. Dr. Samuel Lin, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Boston, adds that lipstick can camouflage any strange puckering or wrinkling as well as lumps or bumps that may be indicative of a poor injection technique. To that point, while they can be harder to spot in photos than in person, lumps and bumps are also a red flag, indicative that the filler has been injected too superficially, adds Dr. Lin.
Makeup can also mask the texture of the lips, another important thing to look at. Ideally, they should still appear soft and have some wrinkling to them: “Overly smooth lips are a sign that too much filler has been used and it’s pulling the skin too taut,” explains Dr. Lin.
2. A profile photo
Lip photos are most often taken from the front, head-on. However, both doctors underscore the importance of seeking out profile pictures as well. “Too much filler injected in the vermilion border results in a less natural-looking protrusion of the upper lip over the lower lip,” explains Dr. Lin. That very distinct ‘duck lip’ effect is blatantly obvious in person but is actually very hard to discern in a frontal-view photo, notes Dr. Vasyukevich. You’ll want to see how the injected lips look from both the side and the front.
Related: 4 Reasons to Get Lip Filler—Even If You Don’t Want Big Lips
3. The contour of the lips
Good injection technique revolves around using filler to increase the volume of someone’s lips—but not so much that it starts to migrate outside the natural border and alters the shape of the lips, explains Dr. Vasyukevich. “Look at not only how full the lips are but also the contour. If they’ve been overfilled, there will be a loss of the subtle tapering at the center or bow of the top lip,” he says. “We want to make the lips look fuller but without drastically changing the lips’ natural architecture. Compare the contour in both photos. It should look either exactly the same or just ever-so-slightly enhanced and defined in the after.”
4. A photo of the full face
While lip size does boil down to a matter of personal preference, both doctors agree that the most natural and aesthetically pleasing results occur when the lip size is proportionate to the rest of the face. As a general rule of thumb, fuller lips look best on those who have fuller cheeks, whereas those who have more hollow cheeks look better with slightly smaller lips, notes Dr. Vasyukevich. But you can only determine this by seeing a photo of the patient’s full face, both before and after lip filler. The lips may look fine up close, but when you pull back and see the entire face, it can quickly become apparent that they’re overdone, says Dr. Lin.
5. A time stamp
Swelling is a common side effect of filler injections anywhere on the face, but the innately vascular nature of the lips makes them even more prone to swelling. It’s why you shouldn’t freak out if your lips look far too large immediately post-injection; for the same reason, a good after photo shouldn’t be taken immediately afterward. “I’ve seen after photos where you can still see the injection marks. This isn’t an accurate representation of the long-term results,” says Dr. Vasyukevich. Ideally, look for B&As where the after is taken about two weeks post-injection, enough time for the swelling to fully subside.
