Why your lips could end up looking worse, not better, and how to avoid the telltale signs of a badly done treatment
Lip fillers have earned themselves something of a reputation. Scroll through social media and you will find no shortage of overinflated pouts that scream ‘I’ve had work done’. Yet when performed correctly, lip augmentation can be one of the most transformative treatments in aesthetic medicine. The results should be utterly undetectable. Your lips simply look like they did a decade or two ago.
This distinction matters because mature patients often benefit most from lip treatments. As we age, lips lose volume. The consequence is a thinning of the lip body, loss of definition around the borders, and those frustrating lipstick bleed lines that make applying colour such a chore. A skilled practitioner can address all of this whilst ensuring nobody ever suspects intervention. The key word here is skilled.
Recently, a before and after image appeared on social media where a doctor had proudly displayed their lip filler work. The results were, frankly, shocking. Not because of any complication, but because every cardinal mistake had been committed in a single treatment. Here are the six errors that transform what should be subtle rejuvenation into an obvious cosmetic disaster.
Mistake One: Choosing the Wrong Product
All lip fillers (or the vast majority) contain hyaluronic acid, but the similarities end there. Enormous differences exist between brands and between different products within the same brand. The crucial factor is viscosity. Products that are too stiff or thick will produce unnatural results regardless of technique. When a practitioner selects an inappropriate product, they are fighting a losing battle before the needle even touches skin.
Mistake Two: Using Too Much Product
One millilitre does not always equal one millilitre. A thicker product will create far more volume than the same quantity of a softer, more liquid formulation. With a beautifully soft product, one millilitre can look completely natural. With a stiffer alternative, the same amount appears hugely overdone.
For naturally thinner lips, even less may be required. Sometimes as little as 0.4ml delivers the perfect refresh. This demands careful tailoring to individual anatomy rather than a one size fits all approach.
Mistake Three: Treating Lips in Isolation
Injecting filler only into the lips themselves is a common error. In clinical experience, results look far more natural when the surrounding skin area receives attention too. Without this, lips can appear oddly stuck on, lacking harmony with the rest of the face. The goal is seamless integration, not isolated enhancement.
Mistake Four: Ignoring the Upper to Lower Lip Ratio
Making the upper and lower lip the same size looks unnatural. Research confirms the most attractive lip ratio follows roughly one third for the upper lip to two thirds for the lower. This approximates the golden ratio and applies to Caucasian and Asian faces. In Black patients, the ratio tends closer to equal proportions, but perfect symmetry between upper and lower still appears off.
Mistake Five: Over-Accentuating the Lip Border
Some practitioners deliberately create a sharp, visible ‘step’ between the red of the lip and surrounding skin. This is known as accentuating the vermilion border. While it is true that lips lose definition with age (hence the increasing reliance on lip liner), young lips never display an obvious ridge. So why would anyone try to create one?
The definition restores naturally when lips are treated properly. Over-accentuation is simply overcompensation, and it broadcasts cosmetic intervention louder than any other mistake.
Mistake Six: Injecting Too Much Lateral Volume
When excess filler accumulates at the sides of the lip, particularly the lower lip, the result is a squared appearance. This is an immediate giveaway of poor technique. It destroys the natural tapering that youthful lips possess and creates a shape that simply does not exist in nature. Unfortunately, it remains one of the most commonly seen errors on social media.
The Takeaway
Here is the golden rule of lip augmentation: if you can tell someone has had filler, it has been done badly. The signature of excellence is invisibility. Lips should look refreshed and youthful, not artificially enhanced.
For those considering treatment, these six mistakes serve as a useful checklist when assessing a practitioner’s work. Ask to see before and after photographs. Look critically. Do the results appear natural? Can you imagine those lips belonging to someone who has never had treatment? If the answer is yes, you may have found someone worth trusting with your face.
Lip fillers genuinely offer remarkable results when performed with skill and restraint. The goal is simply to replace what time has taken away. Nothing more, nothing less. Your lips, minus fifteen years.
Whether you have a medical skin condition which needs treatment or simply want to look your very best, our specialised dermatology team will help you achieve the very best result.
