Injectables
Lip Filler
Reliable and reversible for modest volume and vermilion definition. Almost every bad outcome you have seen is volume, not technique.
Also called: lip injections · lip augmentation · russian lips
Verdict — mixed
Real in part — the claim outruns what it actually does.
Evidence grade B
At least one good randomised trial, or consistent findings across controlled studies.
Mechanism
Hyaluronic acid placed in the vermilion body adds volume; placed at the vermilion border it defines the outline; placed at the philtral columns it changes the upper-lip shape.
Citations
- Hyaluronic acid lip augmentation: a systematic review of efficacy and complicationsAesthetic Plastic Surgery · 2019
The full read
Small volumes — half to one millilitre — reliably improve lip proportion and are reversible with hyaluronidase. The failure mode is cumulative: filler migrates above the vermilion border over repeated sessions, producing the shelf that no amount of further filling corrects, and the tissue stretches so the baseline drifts. For men specifically, note that lip fullness is a sexually dimorphic feature — added volume reduces masculine read, which is usually not the intended direction on a male face. Bruising is near-universal for a few days; vascular occlusion in the labial artery is the rare serious risk.