I Tried “Lip Gloss” Filler For a Subtle, Hydrated Look

Ever since I moved to Los Angeles a year ago, I’ve become more fixated on my physical features than ever before. It sounds shallow, and I’m a little ashamed to even admit it, but it’s true. After getting out of a long-term – like, eight-year – relationship, I’ve been back in the dating game, simultaneously comparing myself to all of the younger, prettier single girls out there. Plus, I’ve learned that in Los Angeles, people are way more vocal when it comes to work they’ve had done. Injectables, lasers, plastic surgery – it’s all openly talked about. On any given day, it’s not uncommon for me to see someone who is obviously recovering from a nose job at the grocery store or witness someone who looks like they had the first layer of their skin lasered off casually out at a restaurant.

When it came to “tweakments” I was considering, I had been thinking about getting lip filler for a while but was on the fence because I already have naturally full lips. Half of my friends told me I should try it, and the other half warned me that I would probably hate it. When I heard about “lip gloss” filler from one of my coworkers, I realized it was the perfect way in for me. “Lip-gloss filler is a technique in which hyaluronic-acid filler is injected to provide hydration and reduce the fine lines and wrinkles that we often associate with [less elastic], more mature skin,” board-certified dermatologist Michelle Henry, MD, previously told POPSUGAR. The method isn’t meant for adding volume (which I already had), just hydration (which I sorely needed).

To try it out for myself, I visited Nancy Samolitis, MD, board-certified dermatologist and cofounder of Facile Skin. At my first visit, I was nervous as hell. I had heard from all of my friends that lip injections hurt like a bitch, and I didn’t want my lips to look bad. Fortunately, a few of my friends had visited Dr. Samolitis in the past, so I knew I was in good hands.

When I got to my appointment, we started off by numbing my lips. I couldn’t shut up about how nervous I was, so they put a lot of the cream all over my mouth. When Dr. Samolitis walked in, the first thing she said to me was, “That’s a lot of numbing cream.”

My Results With “Lip Gloss” Filler

Before we started, I had a lot of questions about what product we were using and how it was going to help me achieve the look I wanted. “We’re using Restalyne Refyne,” Dr. Samolitis told me. “It’s a hyaluronic-acid filler, and while a lot of the fillers we use are made of hyaluronic acid, the way the molecules are linked together makes them a little bit different. We don’t want it to create stiffness or bone-like structure, we want it to be soft and flexible. The flexibility of Refyne is one of the things that makes it one of my favorites for lips.” She continued to explain how some of the older fillers didn’t have the same flexibility, which is what could lead to the lip looking stiff, firm, and unnatural. She said that since I already had fuller lips, we’d be using a small amount to add hydration without volume.

After answering my millions of questions, it was time to get to it. The process actually didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would – there was a slight pinch every time the needle went into my skin, but the numbing cream and an ice pack helped significantly. I didn’t bruise at all and only had a tiny bit of swelling. I left the office with my lips, just better. They weren’t any bigger, but my fine lines were less noticeable, and in the days to follow, my lips felt more moisturized.