Actresses Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson have them. Pouty, beautiful lips. Now, some South Texans who don’t have that look naturally are buying it in the form of new lip implants.
31-year-old Keri Gold wanted a new look. She craved fuller lips and was willing to pay to get them.
“In the past, I’ve done fillers,” Gold said, “which you typically have to get twice a year and they’re pretty painful. This is a one-time procedure that will give me the fullness that I wanted.”
Gold opted for an in-office procedure, a permanent implant of a silicone lip enhancement.
“They are solid silicone which is really, really nice,” explained Dr. Daniel Leeman, a plastic surgeon. “You don’t have to worry about these rupturing or leaking or anything like that.”
At New U Plastic Surgery in Austin, Leeman is the specialist who performed Gold’s lip augmentation. Over the past six months, he’s implanted about 50 people with this SurgiSil device made in Plano. That patients are awake and he works under local anesthesia.
“We make tiny incisions on the inner aspect of the lip so they heal inperceptibly,” Leeman explained.
The doctor creates a small tunnel along the wet/dry line of the lip. Then he pulls the implant through with a special tool. He places a couple of dissolvable stitches to hold it in place. The entire process takes about 20 minutes.
The implants come in small, medium and large and different lengths, so they’re customizable.
Leeman says he’s implanted fuller lips on women of all ages. And they’re not the only ones who like the results. “The feel is very, very natural,” he said. “And the feedback I’m getting is phenomenal, particularly on the spouse side. They’re actually enjoying the more kissable lips now.”
Gold will have some swelling and bruising for a couple of weeks. After that, her lips will feel normal to her.
“It looks voluptuous. And sex appeal,” she said. “I just think that it’s glamorous. I just think it’s a pretty look.”
The lip implants cost about $2500. Since they’re one piece, Leeman said if people aren’t satisfied with their new look, they can have them removed.
