Walk down the street of any major city and you’ll find “medspas” and “clinics” on virtually every corner with price-fix point-and-plump menus that promise to enhance your pout, define your jawline, or get rid of your dark circles in 15 minutes flat. Filler is approachable. It’s essentially at your fingertips—you can make a same-day appointment, waltz in for a little Restylane, and pop out with a bag of frozen peas and new lips.
Such ease, while enticing, should give you a moment of pause. Do you really know who you’re trusting with a syringe and your face? “A lot of these places sell a cheek, a jawline, a lip—that’s not the right approach to filler,” says board-certified dermatologist and expert injector Dr. Shari Marchbein, who has had training on the intricacies of facial anatomy in medical school, dermatology residency, and for 16 years of active practice. “You rarely sell a particular part of the face. I’ll use one syringe of filler to treat the cheek, in front of the ear, and the jawline to create a harmonious lift and balance. Addressing just one area is when your face starts to look really overdone and sort of crazy.”
