OVER the LINE
SAY GOODBYE TO THOSE PUPPET-LIKE CREASES AROUND YOUR MOUTH
What are marionette lines ?
Do you remember the pop song Puppet on a String? Marionette lines are those grooves that run from the mouth corner to the chin, and are named after the same lines found on a marionette to help the puppet’s mouth move. Not so entertaining, though, when those lines become so deeply etched and drooped that they make us look sad and grumpy, even when we’re not.
What causes them?
Genetics and ageing – mainly the loss of volume in our face that accompanies the process of growing old.
“The skin sags as we lose volume from the supporting fat pads of the face and our bones – just like a tent sags as you remove the central supporting tent pole,” explains Dr Catherine Stone of The Face Place. “Gravity pulls this ‘extra fabric’ in the skin down, which creates the sagging effect.”
There are also muscles and ligaments at play. “We have a muscle that pulls the corners of our mouth down,” explains Dr Stone. “This muscle pulls down more as we age and makes the mouth look sad.
“Likewise, a ligament that holds the skin back when we are young becomes more like a peg as we age – holding the skin in place while the rest of the skin droops around it. On top of that, we tend to become more hollow on either side of our chin (the area in front of our marionette lines), which creates a shadow and makes the draping look more obvious.”
What can be done about them?
Dr Stone says that medical-grade skincare using vitamins A and C, as well as antioxidants and other skin nutrients, can help strengthen the skin and reduce the sagging effect as we age, however it can’t improve the structural changes in our bones and fat pads.
Cosmetic-wise, keeping those lines plumped up with a hyaluronic-loaded moisturiser, using a line-filling primer under your foundation and generally a lighter touch of make-up in this area will mean your make-up is less likely to settle into the creases and can make them look less obvious.
For a noticeable improvement, Dr Stone says the best treatment is a combination of injectibles – Botox and filler.
How would injectibles help?
“We can use Botox into the muscle to reduce its downward pull, relaxing it so the mouth corners lift up to help the face look happier,” she tells. “This can sometimes be enough of a change with a mild marionette line.”
A loss of volume is easily corrected with filler. “For mild marionette lines, the first stage would be to correct the hollowing in front of the marionette line,” explains Dr Stone. For deeper lines, where the skin is starting to drop over the fold, she suggests an “8 Point Lift” – a technique that uses filler to restore volume in the cheeks, jawline, temples and mouth corners. “It gives a lovely, gentle, natural-looking lift to the whole face.”
To correct deep folds with significant jowling, surgery may be a better option.