Juvederm vs Restylane vs Aquamid for the Lips

I went in for a consult today and told them I wanted to try Juvederm primarily for my upper vermillion border but I also had a smile line I wanted to smooth out. I was very surprised by their recommendation and wanted to confirm this with you. I was told that Restylane is better for the vermillion border given that it is more firm and Juvederm is more liquid which makes it harder to accentuate this area properly. She said her clients who started with Resty and switched to Juvey were not as happy.

Then when I told her I wanted to fill my left smile line, she had me smile to look at it better and said that because it is an expression line and not in the NL fold, that it doesn't fill well. She said it often looks too puffed up and unnatural when filled. We also discussed 8 units of botox all the way around my mouth since all of my lip lines are from expressions and she plans to put another 2 units in my left cheek area to help with the smile line.

Needless to say I left there totally confused. I have heard people generally like Juvey more than Resty and also that it lasts longer and has helped them build collagen. I had hoped the Juvey would last long enough on me that by the time it wore off Aquamid would be available as I would really rather have something long-term. And I had never heard that smile lines aren't good to fill. Can you clarify on all of this? And if I could have any filler on the market right now, given that we know Aquamid is not that far away, what would you recommend for my lips?

Thank you!


hi,
well, first off, aquamid is still a year or more away, unfortunately.
i use juvederm in the vermillion border and have not had any problems - people like it just fine and i have not had complaints, but that's just my experience.
i think that, as long as you don't put too much into the smile line, even expression lines get better with filler. the key to natural results is that you don't put too much in. i use juvederm there and get good, consistent results. botox around the mouth is a good idea, but the 2 units for the smile lines i do not like doing because it can drop the top lip down a bit.
both juvederm and restylane will encourage collagen growth. i like juv. a bit better because it seems to last a bit longer, you can inject it deeper, so there's less of a blue streak effect and it tends to lump up less. for a longer effect, i would use juvederm ultra plus.
hope that helps