What do I need to get a nicer face?

[MouthHelp]

Recently turned 38 but i feel like i’ve aged a decade in the past three years. Started getting very down about my looks. I’ve always been plain but feel as though other things are happening now such as sparse eyebrows, thinning hair at the temples, having to die my roots every two weeks (not ready to go grey!).

I’m not stressing too much about hair just now as i’m still trying to grow it beyond shoulder length since getting lots of breakage three years ago trying to lighten it with a hairdresser.

My main focus for now is my mouth. I have exceptionally small features and my mouth embarrasses me. Very thin lips and the top one disappears when I smile. It turns up into the gum. I’ve been reading that a lip flip with botox might be better suited for this problem rather than fillers? does anyone have any experience of the flip procedure?

Whats upsetting me most is the weird flaps i’ve acquired at the sides of my mouth. The left one of far more prominent than the right. I feel as though my face is slack around the lower cheek area by the mouth and was wondering if fillers would get rid of these or at least make the lines less obvious?

Im a total beauty novice. I wear very basic makeup. Pretty much allergic to everything (my face blew up for about two weeks last year when i tried a lash lift and tint at a salon with my niece for her birthday!) so this is a big step for me.

I want to start researching what will improve the lips and lines issue. Lots of places near me with doctors which say they offer a free consultation but I doubt they’ll be impartial.

Thabks for any tips/advice. Please ignore the shiny skin - just put on some moisturiser!

Your lips are perfectly fine and filler will ruin them. You have great teeth and a lovely smile - I would kill for a smile like yours! Don't mess with what you have.

I think you have a lovely mouth and smile. Honestly. If I didn’t, I’d have scrolled past and not commented.

If you've got this level of angst about your looks at 38, you're in for a rough ride in 10+ years time when you really do start to get a slackening jawline and the beginning of jowls. You look great, honestly. Stop picking yourself apart.

I saw a stunning lady about 50 post a few years ago about loving the lines on her face as they were a map of everything she'd overcome in life and represented her wisdom and strength. It really resonated with me, her lines didn't detract from her looks at all and in fact made her more appealing. I've not been scared of the aging process since and actually feel sad for people my age I see wrecking their lovely faces (40). You look lovely, embrace it 🙌🏼

You've got a stunning smile, beautiful teeth, all of it absolutely lovely. Please don't mess with it. Looks amazing exactly as you are. Truly look inwards. Do some work on your inner thoughts.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your lips.

You have the most beautiful teeth!

Your lips aren’t thin! They’re lovely 😊 - lovely shape and size and a lovely colour. Moreover, you have beautiful teeth - I’m envious! 😀

Don’t let yourself pick holes in your looks. If you’re going to look in the mirror, make yourself find three good things about your face. Anybody, even the most beautiful woman in the whole world, can find something to torture themselves with. Don’t do it.

You are beautiful! How dare any ‘well meaning’ person comment. Tell them to fuck off! Your smile will light up a room so do not dull it xx from a 48 year old who is losing her youth but gaining expertise, wisdom and is so glad to be aging and alive x

As others have said you look lovely! Really fresh and natural with great skin and teeth. Honestly from your description I was expecting you to look 20 years older. Please don't mess around with fillers etc they can really look wrong. ❤️

You have a beautiful smile, great teeth and great skin!

Try retinol mousturiser as a start. A lip flip would help your top lip if you want more of “lower” look when you smile. I completely get the lack of confidence around a thin top lip as I was the same. I recently had 0.5ml of filler and despite people always insisting on here you can always tell, even my parents & best friend haven’t noticed mine. I only told my husband. Pick your practitioner carefully. I went to a nurse who was a dental nurse prior to nurse training. Lots of knowledge of needles & the mouth area and I didn’t even bruise. I don’t have that tell tale curled up look from the side either which I was very keen to avoid.
if you are going to go for filler, you can achieve a natural look and it’s done wonders for my self confidence.

Every so often a poster will come on here asking how to fix their faces. And they are always stunningly beautiful. You are no exception.

It makes me angry how perfect women are expected to look these days, and how everything and everyone conspire to make us feel insecure.

Your description of your face and the photos don’t match at all! At first I thought the photos were examples of what your hoped to achieve!

Please don’t inject crap into your lips. They’re really lovely as they are. Perfectly normal size. And your top lip doesn’t disappear anymore than usual when you smile (you know all top lips thin a bit when you smile, right? It’s just a result of the lip stretching).

OP, I feel for you because I hear the sadness in your voice. But I think you know the answer yourself here. You know that you are feeling a little low, and described it as 'an awful state of mind', said you used to be confident and content with your understated look. It will take a bit of work, but I would suggest working on your mindset and self confidence rather than your already beautiful face.

I assume your niece is a little younger than you are. In the kindest way possible, please don't set much store by what younger women think of your appearance. Generally in your teens and twenties you feel self conscious and can be very self critical. Plus women nowadays have the option of a multitude of tweakments to enable them to chase the ideal face (not the case 20 years ago). I think you know inside of you that you don't want to go down that route. It will never end.

Who cares if your top lip gets smaller when you smile? That's normal for plenty of lips. It's part of you. I think any friends who commented on it must be bonkers. You have an enviable skin, teeth and smile. The smile lines at the side of your mouth are beautiful. Please don't think otherwise!

I feel the same about myself.
When I saw your photo I honestly really thought you had a gorgeous smile

Absolutely agree!

Read your update, went back and looked at photos and tried to be more critical and no! Your mouth is perfectly nice, and I think lovely straight, white teeth is always a winner!

Okay. So the way I see it is, the way to you getting a nicer face is to replace your eyeballs.

The ones you've got are not working because your mouth, lips, teeth, skin, gums and smile are absolutely fine! In fact, nicer than fine! I promise you.

I'm not one for blowing smoke up a persons arse and I'd tell you if I could see what you meant but you're wrong! Get a good routine going for your skin to prevent as opposed to cure, drink lots of water and keep smiling because honestly, it's a lovely smile.

Your lips are a lovely shape, like a PP said, they are a perfect Cupid's bow. Really pretty. Do not mess with them!

And so what if they go thinner when you smile - that's normal and you have a lovely smile.

I'm a similar age to you and have also noticed slight lines at the side of my mouth (also one side more than another), but honestly do you know what helps loads? A) sleep and B) good old-fashioned "night cream" type moisturiser that costs very little. And C), cheesy but true, accepting that it's better to look like a well-groomed, well-presented woman in her 30s, than to look like a woman in her 30s who wants to look like a teenager.

Not to be patronising, but this is a self-esteem issue, not a beauty issue.

Edit: sounds like it's also a family and friends issue - how rude was your niece?! Wow 😲

Agree with PPs. In my opinion you have a purdy mouth. I wouldn't bother posting if I didn't think that. Seriously - you have particularly gorgeous teeth, very shapely lips, and I would have described the "flap" as a dimple.

Yup, agreeing with PP too, lovely mouth, such a nice smile and I am so jealous of your lovely gums, no recession at all, absolutely perfect.

You have a beautiful smile op. I fully understand how you feel however, and in fact I had a small amount of filler in my marionette lines last year as well as lip filler as I felt exactly the same.

I absolutely HATED the marionette filler, it completely changed the shape of the lower half of my face and I would never, ever do it again. I count myself extremely lucky that it has dissipated.

I am however really happy with the small amount of lip filler and will maintain that. It was about 16 months between top ups for me.

You absolutely do not need any injectables, but should you decide to proceed, please research carefully in advance. It was very very disconcerting for me when I didn’t like the results even though it was a tiny amount of filler, and it took a months for it to settle enough that I felt comfortable.

The OP isn’t asking for a load of uninformed opinions on cosmetic procedures 🙄 she is asking for facts, from people who have actually had experience of them.

OP, I’ve had a lip flip and it worked brilliantly to hide my slightly gummy smile. I now have just lip filler however, not much - just 1ml every 8-12 months, as i believe it does the same job and gives a more natural look than the lip flip - I look back on pictures and my smile looked a little stiff with the flip. You might prefer the more subtle look of the flip to the ‘plumped’ look of fillers however - you only know by experimenting. Always start small and build up. You do lose a little mobility in your upper lip from the flip, for about a month or so after treatments I couldn’t whistle for example, and drinking from a straw was tricky.
For the other things you’ve mentioned, getting your eyebrows microbladed works WONDERS. The eyebrows really are the ‘bra’ of the face. Take your time to find a skilled practitioner. I also have Botox in my frown lines, forehead and crows feet area every 6 months - it lifts the brows as well as reducing fine lines, so gives a fresher look when your brows have started to droop from ageing.
I’ve also had aqualyx/lemonbottle fat dissolving injections to slim and sharpen my jawline, if I could justify the cost I’d have lipo there.
Also if you feel your hairline is receding slightly, a fringe or drying your hair wrapped around a barrel brush held forwards and downwards in front of the face really helps.

I’m a few months away from 40 and feel great about my looks thanks to these procedures. I’ve just come back from a music festival abroad, and i must admit I felt really beautiful across the weekend. For someone who completely lost their sense of self and style after having a baby, that really meant so much to me. I was getting lots of attention from much younger men, of course cue loads of mumsnetters saying thats a silly and shallow thing to be happy about, but it made me feel young and free ❤️ there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look physically beautiful.

I've got to say I agree with everything previously said. You have a great mouth and lovely teeth.

My lips have also got very thin, and I've started using plump it, it burns like a fucker for a minute, but poutier lips last for hours. Highly recommend. Don't go down the filler route, you'll regret it.

I'm shocked that friends and niece would comment on your lips.

I was honestly expecting really thin lips but yours are not thin.

Lovely smile and teeth OP.

Yes what kind of friend makes well meaning comments on someone else's perfectly lovely lips? Get better friends. That last should be on an MN tshirt.