Cosmetic injectables are powerful anti-aging tools that can help reverse the clock by making your skin look smoother, tighter, plumper, and more youthful.
Two of the most popular cosmetic injectables we offer at Chasing Vanity Salon & Medi Spa are Botox and dermal fillers.
Both types can earn a role in your cosmetic treatment plan, but they’re quite different!
Let’s Start with Botox
Botox is a type of cosmetic injectable known as a neurotoxin. All this means is that its active ingredient, botulinum type A, helps safely disrupt your nerves to help calm overactive facial muscles.
Our experienced cosmetic injectors use Botox to treat dynamic wrinkles, which are wrinkles that come from your facial expressions. These wrinkles happen because of the movement of muscles in your face.
Every time you frown or smile, you can see how your skin moves with your muscles. When Botox is injected into these muscles, they are temporarily paralyzed to help keep your facial expressions and skin smoother overall.
What Botox Treats
Botox is an excellent anti-aging treatment for wrinkles in your forehead, eyes, and mouth areas.
Botox for Your Forehead
Botox treats a few different wrinkles in your forehead, including the horizontal lines that appear across your forehead when you raise your eyebrows. The severity of these lines will determine how many units of Botox you’ll receive.
Botox also treats frown lines, also called number 11 lines. Those are the lines between your eyebrows that develop when you express emotions like frustration and concentration.
Botox for Your Eyes
The main issue Botox treats when injected around your eyes is crow’s feet. These are the lines at the corners of your eyes that become more pronounced when you smile or squint your eyes.
Botox for Your Mouth
Botox is a great treatment for your mouth because its formula is concentrated enough to treat small areas without spreading outside the treatment zone. This is especially important around your mouth to make sure you maintain natural-looking, flexible movement.
Botox can treat small mouth lines around your lips that develop from pursing your lips. It can also help smooth out marionette lines.
How Is Botox Different from Dermal Fillers?
Botox works by immobilizing muscles to smooth your skin. In contrast, the main function of most dermal fillers is adding volume under your skin to plump it up and smooth it out.
Some of the most popular dermal fillers contain hyaluronic acid as their main active ingredient. Hyaluronic acid is a substance your body naturally produces on its own.
It’s a compound that helps your body and skin hold onto moisture to maintain hydration. In dermal fillers, hyaluronic acid is mixed with a few other biodegradable compounds so that the gel-like formula lasts several months before being absorbed by your body.
Dermal fillers are a bit more versatile than Botox since they can be injected into more areas. While Botox is limited to the forehead, eyes, and mouth, dermal fillers can be injected throughout your face, depending on your treatment goals.
Types of Dermal Fillers
One of the most popular dermal filler collections is Juvéderm, which is available in the following five formulations:
- Juvéderm Voluma XC
- Juvéderm Vollure XC
- Juvéderm Ultra Plus XC
- Juvéderm Volbella XC
- Juvéderm Ultra XC
Juvéderm and all cosmetic injectables are minimally invasive and cause little discomfort. The “XC” in the Juvéderm names indicates that the formulas contain a small amount of lidocaine to help increase your comfort during your procedure.
Each of the Juvéderm formulas is used to address unique patient goals and body types. Before your session, we’ll discuss which formula is right for you.
How Juvéderm Works
When injected into a treatment site, the Juvéderm formulas immediately release a plumping, volumizing formula that provides instant results.
Some of the Juvéderm formulas are structured enough to plump up denser skin around your cheeks and forehead, while others are flexible and soft enough to add volume while maintaining flexibility to your lips.
What Juvéderm Treats
Juvéderm cosmetic injectables can treat the following areas:
- Drooping, thinning skin around your jaws and cheeks
- Fine lines and wrinkles around your forehead, eyes, and mouth
- Thin lips for added augmentation
- Uneven chin structure
The possibilities and combinations of Juvéderm are endless, which is one of the reasons why it is such a popular dermal filler.
Botox vs. Dermal Fillers: Main Differences and Similarities
What are the similarities and differences between Botox and dermal fillers? First, Botox is a paralytic agent, while dermal fillers are volumizing agents.
Both Botox and dermal fillers are temporary treatments. After a few months, the formulas are absorbed by your body, and you will require maintenance treatments to continue your results.
Neither treatment requires downtime. You can immediately resume your day following your procedure.
Both procedures are quite fast, with appointment times averaging anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.
Dermal fillers like Juvéderm offer immediate results, while Botox can take a couple of weeks to show results.
Cosmetic Injectables in Grand Rapids, Michigan
You might be wondering which treatment is right for you: Botox or dermal fillers?
The answer could be both, neither, or just one or the other!
At Chasing Vanity Salon & Medi Spa in Grand Rapids, MI, we evaluate each patient individually in order to create a custom treatment plan tailored specifically for their treatment goals.
When you visit us for a consultation, we might determine that both Botox and dermal fillers have a place in your treatment plan.
The best way to know is to call us to schedule a consultation so you can start your anti-aging journey!