I decided to go to Nicole Frontera, an aesthetic nurse practitioner in New York who specializes in natural-looking injectables. We decided on a combination of both a flip and lip filler—more common than not—to add plumpness to my top lip and enhance my lip flip results even further. When it comes to presenting your doctor with a 15-second #lipfillercheck video to serve as the inspiration for your new pout, though, Frontera suggests leaving it at home.
You could allege that the rise of social media has contributed to a sharp uptick in aesthetic medicine, rooted in an overwhelming, vain self-awareness and constant bombardment of Instagram-style beauty standards. Like most 23-year-olds, I don’t often find that what I see online affects the way I feel about myself. It’s not that I’m easily influenced—on the contrary, I usually don’t have the brain capacity to constantly check up on every celebrity’s mouth—but I’ll try everything once.
“The most important thing is having the initial consultation [with a clinic]—not that you just heard it from a TikTok—and asking yourself if it’s right for you,” Frontera explains. “If someone comes into my office, and I know that they’re not going to benefit or see much change from the lip flip, then I’m going to counsel them to not waste their money and instead get a result where you really see a difference.”
Will I notice a difference with a lip flip?
The lip flip before and after depends on a few factors. “If someone has a lip that’s very visual and larger, they might not see a difference from the lip flip,” Frontera explains. “On the contrary, if someone has a smaller lip, and we struggled with them even having an upper lip to begin with, then I might give them a bit of lip filler in conjunction with a lip flip so the lip stays nicely open.”
My peewee-size lips were in the second camp, making me the ideal candidate for both a syringe of Restylane Kysse (a softer, milder filler) and four units of neuromodulators.
When you’re going in for any sort of cosmetic change, you have to manage your expectations from the get-go: When your face changes from one day to the next, it’s a large psychological change, Frontera explains. It’s important to have a doctor that will not only talk you through the expectations of what’s achievable for your face shape, but also personally analyze what would look best for you, regardless of what picture you bring in to show to them. My own results were too subtle for anyone but me and close family to notice.
Do lip flips look natural?
Most doctors agree that lip flips are a natural-looking lip enhancement. “Lip flips give the appearance of plumper lips, but they don’t physically increase the lips’ volume,” says Dr. Peredo. “They look slightly fuller and very natural.” However, if you want a noticeable lip look or a more prominent lower lip, Dr. King suggests lip augmentation. “If you want more lip volume, then lip filler or a combination of filler and a lip flip may be a better choice,” she says.
How long does a lip flip last?
According to Dr. Peredo and Dr. King, a lip flip will last about two to three months.
