I was delighted to be asked by a dear friend and wonderful facialist Katie Collier to be a model for a lip filler advanced course.
Katie, is a Dental Hygienist & Therapist and started her facial aesthetics training in 2011 and has since been working professional at Aestha, a London based cosmetic clinic off Harley Street. Katie also works in clinics in Esher Surrey and Camberley Surrey.
Proficient at various cosmetic treatments Katie was looking to expand her skills in an ever progressive industry with new products and skill sets coming out each week. I happily modeled for Katie at an advanced filler course run by celebrity facialist and cosmetic doctor Sarah Tonks in a Chelsea clinic.
Dr Sarah Tonks is well respected in the industry due to her second to none qualifications in medicine and dentistry. Dr Tonks run The Lovely Clinic, a King’s Road favourite with celebrities and has been seen on a number of TV shows offering expert advice.
The advanced course that I attended as Katie’s model began in 2015 and was a result of endless requests to Dr Sarah Tonks for expert training.
I have attended many training courses for a number of treatments as a model and have seen the good and bad side of so called professional courses. These courses cost a small fortune to the delegates but the possibility to make your money back and some are huge.
Not all courses are value for money and I have attended some with too many students, not enough practice time or simply to general to give enough experience for new students to be let loose.
I have to say I felt totally at ease on this course. I was greeted into the clinic and asked to complete some forms which were detailed but easy to do. In my own time I was then welcomed to the consulting room which after a hot afternoon on the London underground was a cool and refreshing relief!
The training group was small and each delegate had a model they could practice on to allow them to see the full result start to finish in their own work.
I advised the team that I usually have more volume in my lips rather than contouring but ultimately let them decide as the experts what I needed. After all this was an advanced course for lips and all delegates are either dentists/doctors and/or dermatologists had previously been injecting cosmetics so I felt in safe hands.
Katie advised that the upper lip could do with some increased volume, while keeping the ratio with the bottom lip. The general rule is that the bottom lip is 1.16 times fuller then the top.
To start Kate worked on the contours of my lips to increase definition and make my cupids bow appear more defined. Personally I love the cupids bow look and detest the sausage lips that over filling can give where the lip has no real bow but just a curve.
Kate is incredibly gentle, I hardly felt a thing and she went slowly while keeping me informed of each step. The filler does have numbing qualities so the more Kate injected the more numb my lips where becoming. The numbing is near instant and apart from the sharp scratch of the needle in the start the process is painless.
Katie then went on to increase the volume above my lip and define the philtrum. This was a treatment I had not experienced before and I am now converted. Kate injected into the philtrum from the lip area up to the nose direction making the groves more defined and enhancing the cupids bow. She then took a tiny cannula (tube) and inserted by the lip corners over the top lip to the centre where she slowly released filler to boost the volume.
The result was a wonderful fuller mouth and the skin around the mouth looking youthful. The lips have more volume without the trout pout ledge or fake look and the bonus is it has made some fine lines vanish.
I highly recommend Katie Collier at Aestha Clinic. She does not just do lips but all facial rejuvenation. Check out their website, Facebook page and Instagram.