THE RISE OF THE GOLDEN JAWLINE

IT LOOKS TAUT AND ELEGANT FROM EVERY ANGLE... BUT IS THE PRICE OF A ‘PERFECT’ JAW REALLY WORTH IT?

Thanks to cosmetic treatments, achieving a more defined jawline is now possible – but is it really worth it?

Laura* is one of those women… less a head turner, more a head spinner. There’s the big, bouncy hair. The porcelain skin that looks as expensive as 1O-ply cashmere. And a tight, smooth jawline, which means she takes a 1O/1O photo from every angle.

Not that she’d believe you. For years, she hated her ‘big and wonky’ nose. Then there was the double chin she started to notice around the time of her 3Oth birthday: a stubborn little pocket of fat that wouldn’t budge, no matter what diet or skincare ritual she threw at it. There was a change in her profile, too – particularly acute when she was caught in pictures or selfies. The definition was a little ‘baggy’ around the edges. And once she spotted it, it was all she could see.

Laura is not afraid of ‘work’. She has dabbled in Botox, but nothing near her jaw. After all, jawline work is notoriously difficult. There are forums dedicated to those who have undergone jawline surgery – largely in Korea, where it is big business. They bemoan the lengthy surgery time, as well as the weeks of painful downtime afterwards. Mouths are wired shut. Many find it hard to breathe for weeks afterwards. They are not warned about the amount of mucus the body will produce post-surgery, or that a bleeding nose can be a gruesome side-effect. Only the very brave will attempt it.

And so facelifts and V-Line surgery (basically shaving down the jawline) have sprung up as alternatives. However, few reputable surgeons encourage facelifts for those under 5O. What’s more, while a facelift will improve jaw ‘sag’, it can also dramatically alter the face in the process. As for V-Line, it’s an option – but a painful one that involves cutting a V-shaped line from the bottom of each ear to the chin.

As demand grows for jaw work, however, surgeons have had to get smart. Laura went to see Dr Suha Kersh, an aesthetic doctor in Chelsea, London, to find out if liposuction or a non-surgical nose job could fix her profile and quickly found out there were other, more amenable solutions. For a start, Dr Kersh explained the answer to her ‘issue’ lay elsewhere – in ‘rescaffolding’ her face. Better still, all it needed was a few needle pricks. No surgery. No downtime.

The fix involved replacing lost volume in the cheeks to lift her face, while adding a little more in the jaw to refill (essentially pulling the sagging skin underneath back up into place). Relatively painless, the procedure involved a few needle pricks on the upper reaches of the cheeks, plus three in the chin, with canulas to guide the filler in. The result was subtle yet effective, with perkier cheekbones framing her nose and a lifted chin curving gently into her neck without interruption.

‘No one really noticed, not even my husband,’ Laura says. ‘But it’s restored my confidence and helped cure my turbulent relationship with my face.’

The hunt for the ‘golden jawline’ is now a major business. Men want more chiselled jawlines, while women want delicate yet ‘tight’ jaw areas. The major injectable companies are therefore scrabbling to meet these needs, investing millions to improve products specifically for the jaw area. Allergan, the leading producer of hyaluronic fillers, is pioneering this with its new offering: Juvederm Volux. This more robust formula (Volite is the lightest, often used in lips, while Voluma was previously the thickest, used in cheeks) holds its form, making it perfect for the jawline. ’Now there is a full palette for aligning the face,’ says Dr Sophie Shotter, based at London’s Cosmetic Skin Clinic. ‘You can be so exact with it, giving a sharper profile.’

Possibly the biggest innovation in recent years has been an update to an old technology: the facelift. Dissolvable threads can be woven under the skin, lifting jowls like an internal marionette for a ‘thread lift’. Results last up to three years and set customers back around £2,OOO, depending on how many threads are used. Providers claim the treatment can stimulate collagen, ostensibly offering both immediate and long-term lift.

However, there can be complications, dividing experts about whether they should be used at all. ‘Thread lifts are overblown and don’t work or create a lasting effect,’ says Lara Devgan, a plastic surgeon based in New York. A 2O18 study published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal found that 34% of 16O patients experienced complications, from redness to the threads becoming displaced.

The causes of what some refer to as a ‘jeck’ (jawline plus neck) tend to vary by age. In younger women, it’s due to a lack of bone or volume underlying the midface, jawline or chin. In older women, it’s caused by elastin breakdown and loss of fat and bone. ‘As we age, our bones shrink,’ confirms Dr Shotter. ‘So support for the surrounding skin disappears.’ When facial tissue isn’t supported structurally, it manifests as the dreaded jowls and loose skin under the chin and on the neck.

Treatment usually involves multiple approaches at once – such as lasers, tightening with heat and injectables – plus a healthy dose of realistic expectations. A necklift or facelift after 5O is still the gold standard. A top-notch practitioner, however, who relies on filler as their workhorse, must employ as much artistry as medical expertise – after all, an altered jawline, if done incorrectly, can radically alter the appearance of the face. The filler must be applied judiciously around the midface area or outer edges of the face before the jawline itself. For example, as the pad of fat just in front of the ear deflates, the face sinks and falls forward. Treating these neighbouring zones can be enough to lift everything back up. If not, filler injected deep into the dermis along the jawbone is the next step.

Tightening treatments for the chin and jowls are another way to make the jawline pop. Ultherapy, which (rather painfully) uses targeted ultrasound waves to encourage super-boosted collagen production, is an option but some doctors question its use on more than a tiny amount of laxity, as it might not be enough to effect long-term, visible changes. Another option is UltraCel, which combines radio frequency, ultrasound and microneedling. London-based doctor Dr Galyna Selezneva says, ‘It’s amazing for tightening the jawline.’ But starting at £1,5OO, it’s pricey for a non-permanent option.

This might be when a plastic surgeon steps in for lipo or removal of the buccal fat pad (a bump in the lower cheeks that can hang down). Dr Devgan demonstrated the 15-minute procedure on her Instagram recently, deeming it #oddlysatisfying. She says, ‘It’s popular among the celebrity and model set because it creates a chiseled-looking face.’

As for Laura, whose own experience was relatively pain-free, her pursuit for a sharper profile is done. ‘Just the smallest, most discreet tweaks have made the biggest difference,’ she says.