Recently I heard about a new injectables procedure that I had to share with you ~ it’s a new, cutting edge filler technique that’s being pioneered right here in the QC, at Charlotte Plastic Surgery.
Many of us would love to erase the fine lines around the eyes and lips that start in your 40s (or even the 30s for ex-smokers and ex-tanners) but don’t want to risk the dreaded over-plumped look that shouts FILLERS! I just left THE DOCTOR’S! Trust me, overdone fillers add at least 5 years to your face. It achieves the exact opposite of your desired result. None of us think…..wow, she has such young, fullsome lips!  We all just think…..wow, she must be much older than I thought ~ to have had to have so much done to her face.
So, when I heard the doctors at Charlotte Plastic Surgery referencing their new AIRBRUSHING filler technique at a recent bloggers’ meet & greet, I went right home and googled it, knowing that you’d want to be in the know.  And I found….nothing.  Apparently, this AIRBRUSHING thing is so new it’s not even on google?  So I set up a call with Dr. Kevin Smith at Charlotte Plastic Surgery last week to get the scoop. I’m paraphrasing my interview with Dr. Smith for you below:
Scoop: What is Airbrushing?
Dr. Smith: Airbrushing is new application of select hyaluronic fillers in the Juvéderm® family we developed based on learning from conversations we had last fall with well-known Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon Steven Fagien and San Diego Plastic Surgeon Val Lambos.
We are reconstituting the Juvéderm Ultra so that it is a thinner product that flows better into the small layers of the skin. As a result, we are able to use a much finer needle and inject right into the skin to plump out each individual fine line, as opposed the traditional method of going in under the skin with enough filler to stretch and smooth wrinkles from the inside out.
Scoop: Well that sounds intriguing. But why can’t I find anything about it on google?
Dr. Smith: Probably because there are few if any practices around the country using this particular application of hyaluronic fillers to smooth surface wrinkles on the face ~ we began using it at the beginning of this year. We are tremendously pleased with the results so far, particularly for the pucker wrinkles around the lips, but also for fine lines in the forehead, crows feet and in the “11’s” wrinkles at the glabella.  (Editor’s Note: That’s the area between your brows where everyone gets botox, just fyi. Which is not a filler, also just fyi, but can be used in combo).
Scoop: Wow. Cutting edge, right here in our little town, that’s very cool. And it’s called AIRBRUSHING because…….?
Dr. Smith: That’s our own name for the procedure. The doctors here recalled many conversations with patients who would come to office appointments with magazine photos of gorgeous celebrities -with smooth, flawless wrinkle-free skin- requesting “I want what she’s having.” To which we always had to reply….”well, she’s been airbrushed by the photographer. That’s not what we do here.”
It’s been difficult to deliver that kind of a natural, lineless look with the fillers and applications common to the industry. Now, with our “airbrushing” technique, we’re able to achieve the subtle appearance our clients want. You look better but not done. That’s our goal at Charlotte Plastic Surgery. I want you to have plausible deniability. The best work we do is the work that can’t be easily seen.
Scoop:Â So exactly how is it done?
Dr. Smith: We make tiny injections using a very fine needle and go literally wrinkle by wrinkle, line by line to fill in each individual line around the mouth, for example.  It takes high magnification and almost an artistic skill and precision to apply this filler technique. We’re pretty excited to be at the forefront of something so new and effective, and I believe we are the only practice in Charlotte and in much of the country doing this.
Scoop: But what about that blue tinge that I always read about with Juvéderm usage? I’m also nervous about that telltale sign.
Dr. Smith: Another benefit to the properties of the reconstituted Juvéderm Ultra we use for airbrushing is that this also thins out the crystals of the filler itself. This thinner filler avoids the risk of that blue appearance, a prism effect called tindaling, where the crystals of the filler reflect light back out and appear as a blue tinge on the skin. Tindaling is always a concern with regular Juvéderm, but not so with the lighter airbrushing mix.
Even more encouraging to us, the airbrushing process appears to be very stimulating to the collagen in the skin, creating a robust response such that patients see results months even a year later …. it appears that you don’t go back to baseline in the wrinkles.
Scoop: Sold. Well almost. Does it hurt? And how much does it cost?
Dr. Smith: We are able to fully anesthetize the area, and keep the patients comfortable during the procedure which does take longer than traditional filler injections, as we are going line by line with the filler. However, we are not making those deep, under the skin injections which some patients find painful.
Because airbrushing is more time consuming than a traditional injection, it can be more expensive, and we don’t price it just based on the units of filler used. Since we do these one by one, it depends on the area and how many wrinkles as well as how many syringes of filler are used, but a good estimate is about $1000 for your mouth pucker lines.
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So, there you have it. If you’ve been wanting to get those tiny lines take care of, but have been afraid of duck lips, fish face and showing up on a “Bad Celebrity Fillers” blog with Madonna, Melanie, Meg & More…..this new airbrushing technique at Charlotte Plastic Surgery sounds like it is just the ticket.  If you don’t tell, we’ll never know for sure. We’ll just be all…“Wait, you look great, what did you do? Did you cut your hair?”
