Can I use filler for marionette lines?
Yes, dermal fillers can help with marionette lines. This, too, is a subject about which you should consult your practitioner.
Depending on how deep your marionette lines are, your practitioner may choose to use a thicker, longer-lasting type of filler to treat them. The advantage of thicker fillers is that they last longer than thinner fillers, so you won’t need to have the treatment repeated as frequently. The disadvantage is that thicker fillers must be injected deeper into your skin to avoid lumpiness, whereas thinner fillers can be injected closer to the surface of the skin without producing lumpiness.
Which filler your practitioner will use is likely to depend on your facial anatomy and the depth of the marionette lines. The practitioner may also recommend using fillers to augment your cheekbones, which may sound like a bizarre strategy for treating the lower face, but actually it works a treat, by raising everything below the cheek a fraction – and that may be enough to soften the appearance of your marionette lines.
Can I use microneedling for marionette lines?
Yes, clinical microneedling is a great treatment for stimulating the growth of new collagen in the skin. The tiny wounds created by the puncture marks made by the needles prompt a cascade of wound-healing substances within the skin, which nudge the skin into regenerating itself from beneath the surface. More collagen means skin that is more firmly supported from the inside, and which is better hydrated which means that it is plumper, too, and both of those factors will soften the look of the marionette lines.
Can I use laser for marionette lines?
Yes, laser is another option for treating marionette lines. Different practitioners prefer different types of lasers, but typical treatment would be to use a fractional laser to remove the damaged layers of skin in the marionette lines.
Fractional lasering fires the laser beam through a grid to create micro-channels of damage in the skin, which stimulate the growth of new skin. The laser treatment also stimulates the production of collagen, which gives your skin another boost.
Many practitioners use laser resurfacing and then follow up with dermal fillers, which boost your lasered-fresh skin from the inside.
How can I hide marionette lines with makeup?
Here are two main ways of minimising your marionette lines with makeup:
- Invest in a thicker sort of make-up primer. This will act like a type of cosmetic filler paste, and will literally fill in the lines and wrinkles on the face, creating a much smoother base surface on which to apply your normal foundation. These primers usually have formulas that include light-reflective particles so that light landing on the skin is refracted, which creates a slightly blurred effect, which also makes lines and wrinkles less obvious.
- Apply a lighter concealer to your marionette lines. Get some concealer that’s a shade lighter than your foundation shade. Make your face up as usual, but then apply the lighter concealer to your marionette lines. Blend in the lighter concealer gently with your finger or a brush; you’re aiming to create an optical illusion to counteract the shadow of the lines, but not to end up with a white stripe on your face.