As I sat down to write this blog post, I couldn’t help but think how excited I was to tell this story. I’m sure by the title, “Not So Perfect Lips Become Perfect” you might be wondering what I mean. I think everyone has something about themselves that they feel insecure about or wish they could change. For me – it’s my lips. I was born with a small cleft lip and had surgery when I was two months old, but the outcome wasn’t perfect. I was left with a deep “dent” mark on my right upper lip caused by crying and the muscle tissue stretched.
It was a bit of struggle growing up with a cleft lip. People would stare at me like there was something wrong with how I look and would ask what happened to my lip. It was tough as a child growing up as I was being bullied by kids and told that I was ugly. I grew more self-conscious about it in my teens, where I wouldn’t be caught dead going out without having lipstick on! I used a lip liner, to outline my lips to even them out. I had to draw over my natural lip line to make it look even and a little fuller, back then I always wore dark lipstick for the longest time to make the dent and scar less noticeable. It was frustrating at times as I had to take my time drawing my lips with the lip liner to make it look perfect and there would be times that I would have a “bad lip” day just like a “bad hair” day where they wouldn’t turn out and I had to re do it again.

I was always into beauty and fashion when I was growing up and went for modeling auditions, but unfortunately I didn’t have much luck and always thought it was because of my cleft lip. It is really sad that we live in a world that we feel we have to look a certain way to be accepted by others. I would feel that I wasn’t pretty because of my cleft lip. It took some time, but I considered myself as “my own kind of beautiful” which makes me more of a unique person. I always kept that saying “be your own kind of beautiful” and “be different” in the back of my mind because it is the truth and really, it’s so much better to be unique!

Back in the days, I visited a few plastic surgeons to see if they could fix my lip or perhaps use a filler. Unfortunately, I was told by these plastic surgeons that they were unable to inject it with a filler because the scar tissue I have would cause it to look uneven and it wouldn’t work, so the only option was to do surgery. One of them told me that they would have to cut the left side of my upper lip to move some of the muscle tissue over to my right side to fill in that dent but I was told that there was no guarantee that it would look better and that you won’t know until after the surgery. I was just too scared to take that risk and I didn’t want it to look worse so I decided to leave it alone and just learn to live with it – by wearing lipstick all the time!
As I got into my 30’s I thought it was time to revisit with a really good plastic surgeon that would maybe do lip injections instead of a surgery to correct my cleft lip. My Mom had discovered the site, Real Self – where people would post reviews on doctors and treatments they received. There was a girl from the States with a cleft lip that had a “repair” done by injections and it totally looked amazing! I was so amazed with the before and after, it gave me hope that I could get the perfect lips I’ve been wanting.

A year ago, I found Dr. Cory Torgerson on the Real Self website. He is a plastic surgeon located in Yorkville in downtown Toronto. I went for a consultation and after looking at my lips he told me that he was able to do the injections for me instead of surgery – as the surgery would leave more of a scar. At my consultation, he said he could do the injections right then and there, but I was nervous and needed more time to think about it. I contemplated coming back another day to have it done, but after talking with Dr. Torgerson I felt very confident and had a good feeling about the whole experience so I decided to go ahead and have it done right there and then! I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – I didn’t feel any pain when he injected my lips. (Thanks for the numbing gel) After I had it done, I had a look at my lips in the mirror and I was amazed at how much better they looked! I know my lips will never look 100% perfect, but I can’t complain as it looks so much better than before I had them injected. I was so happy with the outcome – I took lots of photos to compare before and after. You can really see the difference and it looks so much better!

I recently had my lips injected again by Dr. Torgerson as it was a year since my first procedure. Depending on the area being injected , Teosyal can last 6-18 months and results are immediately visible. I wanted to maintain the shape and they look amazing! It has totally changed my self-esteem and I don’t feel self-conscious  as I did before. It’s made me feel like a new person in some ways – I now feel free to go out without lipstick. Some people may have concerns about these injections and if there are risks – Teosyal is Europe’s number one dermal filler. It’s 100% non-animal origin, biodegradable hyaluronic acid based dermal filler. Hyaluronic acid occurs naturally in our skin, it acts like sponge and retains large quantities of water to keep the skin soft and plump. Teosyal is the purest filler on the market resulting in less swelling and natural results. It also has a cumulative effect, so less product is required for touch up sessions.

I highly recommend Dr. Torgerson if you are considering lip injections. He is Toronto’s leading Cosmetic Surgeon and dermal filler expert. He is very warm ,friendly and makes you feel at ease . I am truly grateful for Dr. Cory Torgerson and I wouldn’t go to anyone else but him!

I hope my blog has inspired everyone……there is always hope….but remember-What makes you different, makes you beautiful! 💋