Half vs Full & Building
half syringe fully healed kysse+ ashton
Half Syringe Fully Healed
Many people want to start with a half syringe because they are nervous. That is totally fine, but I want to help set the expectation of what you can realistically accomplish with a half syringe. It is super subtle, almost not noticeable. The net result of a half syringe on a first-time patient will be a hydrating effect and a little shape, but it is not enough product to work on asymmetries, and it is not enough product to give you any real volume.
If you want to try it out but you also want to see a “noticeable difference,” then a half syringe is not for you. You will be disappointed.
The most significant benefit of starting with a half syringe, when you can do a full, is the swelling! You get to go through the rainbow of sizes and “try them on” without having to commit. Depending on which day of the swelling you like the most, it will help me figure out how much more we need to add to get you where you really want to be.
The majority of the half syringe will go towards building in your base to give us a foundation to build on, which is why you see more in the texture of the tissue, looking more filled out vs. any real outward volume gains.
A half syringe will last about 6 to 8 months.
Fully Syringe Fully Healed
full syringe fully healed - kysse + ashton
Here is an example of a fully syringe fully healed. You can see that her tissue is better filled in with more of a hydrating effect, and she has gained some visible volume. It is still very subtle and natural, but this is a great result for a first-timer doing a full syringe. We were able to give her a beautiful lip lift while building out her tails on top to create a longer full lip. We then pulled down her bottom into a round pouty shape with an overall 45/55 ratio between top and bottom.
You can also see how much more defined and detailed her shape came out with the full syringe vs. the half syringes above. The full gives me more product to work with the lay the foundation and create the base structure. From here, building with halves is easy as I can continue to work on the trouble spots of key elements to continue to improve the shape. When working with a half, I can only hit the bare minimum in structure and symmetry, but as we build over time, I can work on other elements. Often people ask if I can do less than a half - the answer is absolutely not. I can barely cover the basics with a half; with anything less, I would spot treating and leaving you more asymmetric than when we started.
A full syringe will last about 10 - 12 months.
Building for Shape
From here, she decided to build with another half. The second photo is immediately after, and she is 30-40% more swollen than she will end up being.
You can see how much more the additional half shows than the primary half pictured above. We were able to get even more out of her beautiful shape the second time. You can see her lip lift came up even higher. This is important because it shortens the distance between her cupid’s bow and the base of her nose. By shortening this, you can create a much more youthful appearance to the face overall. We were also able to fill out her top lip better, creating a straighter wet-dry borderline. The contour of her vermillion border is even more defined, and her bottom lip built up a little plumpy fullness.
When building for shape, you are generally better off building with halves and giving it as much time as possible in between sessions. The soonest you can build is 4- 6 weeks, but if you can give it 2-3 months, your results will be even better. This is especially important when you are working on your lip lift. Besides surgery, this is the best way to create a lip lift, and the slow and steady build is the best way to get there.
3 syringe progression - kysse + ashton to russian
Building for Size
This patient built these babies up over a good 6 months. Building a good size takes time to keep a good shape and avoid migration. The top photo is fully healed after a full syringe, you can see how the tissue is filled out in a soft natural way, and she gained some nice detail to her shape.
In the second photo, she waited 2 months to add a second syringe, and this photo was taken at month 4 after they were fully healed. You can see how the tissue filled out even better; her shape is even more defined and contoured, and she has enough volume to see her keyhole pop out.
The third photo is taken immediately after, and she is 30-40% swollen. You can see how much plumper her lips are from the additional volume. The shape is even better with an epic lip lift and a nice defined cupid’s bow. Her tails are nice and full, with her medial tubercles pillowing out to create an even better keyhole pout. Her bottom pulled down even more into a longer rounded shape with an overall 50/50 ratio. This last round was switched from the natural-looking Ashton technique to the Russian technique to create a more dramatic look.
If you notice, over the evolution, the techniques gave us more surface area and pink overall. The trick is to stretch the tissue slowly using the filler, like a tissue expander. This is not a process that can be rushed, but over time will create more surface area for natural-looking, fuller lips. Everything we do is designed to lift up and avoid forward projection.