Lip Lift with Dr. Spiegel

My normal, beloved concealer (Mister Light by Givenchy) wasn't cutting it so I set off to Sephora determined to find a better solution. After looking at all options, I settled on Cicapair, by Dr. Jart, because it's designed to cover redness. It also contains sunscreen and healing ingredients. I was not about to start painting my scar in the store, with the sample that had been touched by an unknown number of fingers, so I just tested on a red mark on my arm. Two hours later and it still looks lovely! It's not caking or sinking into the pores at all, feels totally smooth and the redness is gone. I can't wait to try my new magic green cream on the scar tomorrow! I will report back.

These two seem to go together. My last update was written late on a Friday night when I was feeling a bit down because I was missing a fun party I wanted to attend-I still didn't feel I looked normal enough to go out and socialize. So, I treated myself to a couple glasses of good wine, took selfies and lamented my lack of tooth show. I was going to take down my rant about millimeters but decided to leave it to show that varying emotions are part of the process. At least for me. Do I wish it was a bit shorter and that I had tooth show? Yes. Do I think it's an improvement? Yes. Do I regret doing it? No. I know I'm still healing and this is not the final result so I'll try to be patient and positive. It is, after all, silly to get hung up on a couple millimeters.

Sorry I haven't taken time to update or respond to many emails. I've been quite busy with work (still hiding out in my home office) and life the past week. After I finally arrived home, I started to question my results and wonder if it was too subtle? As the swelling subsided, I found I had almost no tooth show! No more than before, anyway. This was disappointing because that's what I really wanted out of this surgery. I had told Dr. Spiegel I liked the results of his more dramatic philtrum reductions and thought that 11mm was perfect for my face. Prior to the surgery, I had spent time practicing what the lip lift would look like by drawing in lip liner 7-8mm above my actual lip to get a feel for the look. After I got my stitches out, the lip seemed to drop quite a bit over the next 24 hours. So I measured it...Maybe that was a big mistake? I was annoyed to find a measurement of almost 13mm. One of the primary reasons I chose Dr. Spiegel was because he seemed open to removing more than the typical 4-5mm that a lot of doctors do. I could tell from his drawing, compared to others I had seen, that it was a small amount of skin but just let it go thinking it would be fine. When I questioned it, he did briefly measure the amount of lip that would be left and said it was about the 11mm I wanted. It seems he only removed 4-5mm because I measure about 17.5-18mm with the same ruler. Maybe I'm being too picky and getting hung up on a few mm? I mean, we are talking millimeters?! I do think it would look much better a couple mm shorter but it is what it is and I won't be doing this again anytime soon-that I can tell you. I just really didn't want to take 2 weeks out of my life, have a visible scar under my nose and spend 8k (including travel) for a result that's barely noticeable and lip that's still too long. So, I've tried to keep busy and simply ignore it for a while and realize I'm still healing. Maybe as all swelling subsides the lip will somehow magically lift back up and I'll have a little more tooth show? I'm concerned about it dropping more as it heals based on other reviews I've read. I don't think I'll be happy if it drops to 14-15mm in a year. And hopefully the scar will disappear--it's still very red and noticeable. It's quite bumpy and impossible to cover with makeup and look normal. I have a laser appointment with my dermatologist on Monday to try and address the redness-hopefully it helps. My nose is also a bit distorted and I'm not liking how it looks at all. My nostrils seem somewhat flared and the overall nose feels pulled down towards my lip. One side of the columella and philtrum feels more swollen so the lip appears a bit crooked. I've also had a lot of swelling along the sides of my nose (probably what's causing the distortion) and a huge amount along my lower cheeks/jaw. I wasn't expecting this swelling but it seems to be diminishing in the jaw just as of yesterday. Presumably many of these issues will go away as I heal. It's only been 2 weeks so I'm really trying to be patient but I also think the varying emotions may just be a natural part of the healing process with surgery that alters the face. Plus, I have to travel and be in public a lot next week with people I work with and I'm not where I thought I would be--so I'm a little freaked out. The procedure itself was so simple but for me the healing process has honestly been worse than I expected. The real test will be when I have to appear, and speak at length, in several important meetings next week. Right now, I just look very weird when I talk and it's still very difficult to smile; however, I do still have some hope that I'll like it in the end. Right now? I'm obviously undecided if it was worth it. I still think Dr. Spiegel is great-I just wish I had been more assertive about what I wanted but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Until the next (hopefully happier and toothier) update...