Lip fillers.Proportion over volume.
The single most over-treated area in UK aesthetics, done honestly. Proportion read first. Volume second.
- Session length
- 45 minutes
- Results settle
- 14 days
- Lasts
- 9–12 months
- Downtime
- 24–48 hrs swelling
Lip fillers at Skin Aesthetics by Krystian, Southampton. Considered enhancement of the lips with hyaluronic acid filler, prioritising proportion of upper to lower lip over volume. Session takes 45 minutes. Results last 9–12 months. Downtime 24–48 hours of swelling. Suitable for adults 18+ wanting natural enhancement. By appointment in Bursledon.
Pricing and booking are on Fresha, kept in one place so it is always current.
A hyaluronic gel. Mapped to your face.
Lip filler is a hyaluronic acid gel, injected at a precise depth into the lips to restore definition, proportion or gentle volume. It is the single most over-treated area in UK aesthetics, and the area where the gap between a considered, mapped result and an obvious, undesired one is the widest of any treatment on the menu. Krystian rarely goes above one millilitre in a session and almost always recommends starting with half a millilitre on a first appointment.
Proportion is read before volume. The lip is part of the lower-third of the face and the lower-third has to read in proportion to the middle-third and the upper- third. Krystian's first instinct in every lip consultation is to map the face, not the lip. If the chin has receded or the lower-third is short, lip filler in isolation will almost always read as filler, regardless of how skilfully it has been placed.
The honest answer for many patients who arrive asking for lip filler is that the lip itself is the symptom of a different structural read. A short chin, a flat philtral column, a thinned cupid's bow, or a poor upper-lip-to-lower-lip ratio. We treat the actual cause when the patient is open to it, and we treat the lip alone when that is what the face is genuinely asking for.
Every product we use is HA-based and dissolvable. If you ever change your mind, or if a result is read incorrectly at the fortnight mark, the filler can be removed. This is the single most important safety property of the modern lip filler category, and the one most worth understanding before any first appointment. We carry hyaluronidase on site at both clinics.
The patients who come back happiest after twelve months are the ones who left their first session asking why Krystian had given them so little. Lip filler ages on the face for nine to twelve months and the lip you build at half a millilitre, well placed, ages better than the lip you build at one and a half. Krystian will refuse to overfill a lip, full stop, and the consultation will tell you honestly which protocol fits.
Three things we read first.
Before any millilitre, before any product choice, before the needle comes out of the tray.
The lower-third proportion
Lip in proportion to chin, philtrum, and the lower-third in total. Most lips that look treated were treated without the face that surrounds them being mapped first. We measure the ratio at consultation.
Upper-to-lower ratio
The upper lip should be roughly two-thirds of the lower in profile. Most overdone lips break this ratio, almost always by overfilling the upper. We respect the ratio as the first non-negotiable.
What you actually use the lip for
Speech, smile, mouth-shape at rest. A result that photographs well in a static portrait can read badly in animation. The lip is the most-animated structure on the face and we treat it that way.
Forty-five quiet minutes, end to end.
What to expect from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave the studio.
Arrival and consent
Tea, written form, the consent walkthrough. We re-photograph the lower-third at the same angle every visit. Krystian asks what you've thought about since the consultation and whether your read has changed.
The structural read
Mirror in hand, the lower-third mapped. Lip in proportion to chin, philtrum, cupid's bow, upper-to-lower ratio. You'll see what Krystian sees. The plan is agreed before any product is opened.
Topical anaesthetic
A topical numbing cream sits on the lip for ten minutes. We use the smallest needle gauge in clinical use. The product itself contains a local anaesthetic, so the second half of the placement feels softer than the first.
Placement
Slow, deliberate, layered. Half a millilitre placed across mapped points, mirror up, the result read, then a decision on whether the second half is needed at all. Most patients stop at half a millilitre. The plan is the floor, not the ceiling.
Aftercare brief
No heat, no exercise, no alcohol, no straws, no kissing for 24 hours. Swelling settles within 14 days. A complimentary review is booked at the fortnight mark. We text you at day two and day fourteen to read the result with you.
The honest version.
The questions every patient is too polite to ask out loud. Read at your pace.
Will it look like filler?
Not in the work we do. The single most common reason a lip reads as filler is volume placed without the face that surrounds it being mapped first. We treat proportion before volume and refuse to overfill, full stop. Most of our patients are repeatedly told their lips look nicer rather than asked whether they've had work done.
Is it reversible?
Yes. Every product we use is a hyaluronic acid gel and can be dissolved with hyaluronidase in a follow-up appointment. We treat this as a foundational safety property of the lip filler category. If a result reads incorrectly to you at the fortnight mark, dissolving is on the table.
Does it hurt?
Most patients describe it as a quick pressure rather than pain. A topical numbing cream sits on the lip for ten minutes before treatment. The product itself contains a local anaesthetic, so the second half of the placement reads softer than the first. The needle gauge is the smallest in clinical use.
How long does it last?
Nine to twelve months for most patients. Lip filler metabolises faster than cheek or jawline filler because the lip is the most animated structure on the face. We track this against your own pattern over your second and third cycles, and most standing patients top up once or twice a year.
Where can I see the pricing?
Pricing and booking are on Fresha, kept in one place so it is always current. The reserve-your-consultation button on this page takes you there. The complimentary consultation is the moment to discuss plan and product, before any commitment.
What we tell you before we begin.
- Swelling for 24 to 72 hoursThe most common short-term effect. The lip is a vascular structure and reads swollen for the first day or two. The shape you'll keep is the shape at day fourteen, never the shape on the way home.
- BruisingCommon at injection points. Reduced by avoiding alcohol, blood thinners and exercise for 24 hours pre and post treatment.
- Tenderness on palpationNormal for the first 48 hours. The product is settling into the tissue plane and your own pulse will read on the lip during this window.
- Occasional asymmetryRead at the fourteen-day mark, never before. If we see it, we revise complimentary at week two.
- Vascular events (rare)The most serious complication of any HA filler placement. Krystian uses careful technique and carries hyaluronidase on site, every day.
- ExclusionsPregnancy, breastfeeding, active cold sore or herpes flare (we prophylax for known histories), active facial infection, autoimmune flare, prior allergic reaction to HA-class product.
Krystian will refuse a treatment if he reads any of these in your consultation. The complimentary thirty minutes will tell you honestly which route fits.
Reserve your consultation.
Thirty minutes, in person, in Bursledon. Krystian will tell you honestly whether lip filler is the right starting place, or whether something else is.