Full lips have always been a symbol of sexiness but they are also a symbol of youth. This is why so many women are putting too much collagen in their lips. They are not only trying to increase their volume but trying to look actually look younger. For the younger women getting collagen, the goal is typically to create fuller sexy lips like the movie stars have – Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie are famous celebrity examples. For older women the goal of lip enhancement is not only to look sexy but to fill in lips that are thinning with age and have wrinkles around them.

Collagen Enhanced Lips

You can have thin lips genetically but you can also develop problems with your lips as you age because they lose their plumpness. Lip wrinkles can also be developed over time if you have been a smoker or spend too much time in the sun. Smoking definitely increase wrinkles around the lips from all of the puffing facial movements. Smokers also have a propensity to develop more sallow thinner facial skin with collagen loss. As the skin around the lips loses elasticity you get more vertical wrinkles in the lips area. Thin lips, wrinkles around the lips, and a generally harsh look in the lip area are the main reasons that women seek out collagen injections.

A telling example of this is when your lipstick bleeds into surrounding harsh mouth wrinkles. Women absolutely hate it when lipstick bleeds into lip lines. Finally, many women develop deep grooves around the outer corners of the lips causing a downturn frown effect that they want to minimize or eliminate by filling with collagen. They also can get deep wrinkles and grooves between the nose and lips in the nasal label folds. All of these issues and factors contribute to the harshness of the mouth area that many mature women want to soften up by adding collagen to plump the whole area.

Most collagen is used for cosmetic purposes and the collagen is derived from cow tissues. The doctor applies a local anesthetic with a needle and then injects the collagen along the lip line for a better definition of the lip contour along the lip line and/or inside the lip area itself to increase volume of the lips. They can also inject it into the nasal fold lines that extend from nose to mouth. A month prior to getting the collagen they usually do a quick allergy test with a small arm test to insure that you aren’t allergic to the product. Because collagen is relatively painless and only takes a few quick minutes to get, the procedure is pretty much walk in and walk out. They may be slight swelling (which can be ameliorated with ice) and a small amount of bruising where you get injected.

Collagen Lip Money Pit

I personally thing that collagen is entirely useless because it is only a temporary plumping solution and it literally wears off within a few months. The collagen just gets metabolized into your system and after a while its gone. Then, you are addicted to the collagen and you have to go get filled again! Complications include skin infections or ulcerations, allergic reactions, asymmetrical results, swelling and bruising and trout pout. I doubt it is known as to whether or not there are any real long term health effects from repeated collagen injections. Trout pout refers to the common phenomenon where women get too much collagen because they think it looks good when in fact it looks awful and fake. You can also look like a “trout” immediately after getting the injections because the collagen along with the swelling is going to really increase your lip size abnormally.

I personally despise collagen and think it is a really bad money pit. I would piggy bank your money and save it for other beauty procedures that in the very least can have a longer lasting or permanent improvement in your appearance. If getting collagen in your lips and nasal lines costs 500 dollars every few months and you forego treatment for two years for example, think how much money you would save. Skipping only two years of collagen (say twenty treatments) could amount to a stunning ten thousand dollar savings. Do you want to see ten grand in your pocket or ten grand literally vanishing from your lips?

Celebrity Collagen Lips

Celebrities are often trashed in the gossip media when they are perceived to have gone overboard on the collagen plumped limps. Amanda Lepore is a famous transsexual model who is repeatedly trashed for her fish lips, as is the wealthy socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein who is known for her obsession with numerous cosmetic surgeries that entirely altered her appearance into a freaky cat like look with collagen lips of epic proportion. Shauna Sand is an ex playboy model who also is well known for having enhanced her appearance with blond hair extensions, tanning, and overstuffed lips. More famous celebrities known for excessive trout pout include Lisa Rinna, Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Porn Star Jenna Jameson, Lara Lynn Boyle, Melanie Griffith, Donatella Versace and model Janice Dickenson. It’s not about bashing celebrities, its about the fact that even celebrities fall victim to getting carried away with these lip injections in an attempt to look better themselves. They just happen to be famous so we make a big deal about it.

The fact that many of these celebrity women are so attractive in the first place (and clearly don’t really need collagen to be pretty) clearly demonstrates how very easy it can be for women to get carried away with the collagen. I don’t think they are purposely trying to top the list of top ten collagen users abusers (or are they?). Collagen is too temporary, too expensive, and too easy to go overboard on. The fast inflating and deflating effect of this product can make it both addicting as well as confusing leading to overfilling and ridiculously fake cartoon character looking results. There are newer products on the marketplace that purport to have longer lasting though similar effect as the collagen. Juvedern and Restalyne are collagen alternatives worthy of consideration if you are dead set on temporary lip plumping. If you must get lip injections, it may be a worthwhile investment to try out a few options and see what works best for you, lasts longest for you, and is most safe and cost effective. As a mature women you have to remember that your goal is to look beautiful and natural, not fake and plastic. If you’re over fifty and still asking the doctor for “Megan Fox lip injections” you may want to have a pow wow with yourself and figure out if you really look good with Megan Fox lips, and even more importantly, do you want to continuously break your piggy bank open to keep them once you them.