Lip Flip Before and After: What Actually Changes, and What Does Not

Search “lip flip before and after” and you get two kinds of photos: subtle ones where the upper lip shows a few millimeters more, and dramatic ones that are actually lip filler mislabeled. The gap between those explains most of the disappointment with this treatment. A lip flip is small by design. Understanding what it changes, and what it cannot, is the difference between a hundred dollars well spent and a hundred dollars spent on the wrong procedure.

What a lip flip does

The orbicularis oris is the ring of muscle around the mouth. It keeps the lips together and, when it tightens, curls the upper lip slightly inward. A lip flip places two to six units of Botox or Dysport into the top edge of that muscle, just above the lip line. The muscle relaxes, the upper lip rolls a little outward, and more of the pink lip shows at rest and when you smile.

That is the whole mechanism. Nothing is added. The lip is the same size; you see more of it.

The before and after, honestly

Before. A thin or “disappearing” upper lip, often one that rolls under when smiling. A gummy smile, where the upper lip lifts high enough to expose the gums. Or lips that look fine at rest but flatten in photos.

After, at two weeks. The upper lip sits a few millimeters more forward and shows more pink, especially in a smile. A gummy smile shows less gum because the lip does not lift as far. The effect reads as a slightly fuller, more relaxed upper lip rather than a bigger one. Friends notice you look rested; they do not notice you had a treatment.

What it does not change. Lip volume, lip shape, the lower lip, vertical lip lines, or asymmetry from a difference in lip size. If the goal is a visibly fuller mouth, that is filler, and no amount of Botox produces it.

	Lip flip	Lip filler
What it does	Relaxes the muscle so more upper lip shows	Adds volume and shape with hyaluronic acid
Visible change	Subtle, a few millimeters	Noticeable, adjustable
Best for	Thin upper lip that curls in, gummy smile, first-timers	Wanting fuller lips, defining the border, correcting asymmetry
Cost	$80 to $200	$500 to $1,000 per syringe
Lasts	2 to 3 months	6 to 12 months
Downtime	None	Swelling for a few days, possible bruising
Onset	5 to 10 days	Immediate, settles over 2 weeks

Who it works for

The lip flip works best on people whose upper lip curls inward or thins when they smile, and on gummy smiles. It is a good first step for someone nervous about filler, because it is cheap, temporary, and reversible by doing nothing for three months. It also pairs well with filler: many injectors use a flip to relax the lip and filler to add volume, so the filler is not fighting a muscle that pulls the lip under.

It works poorly on a lip that is genuinely thin at rest with no curl to release, and it does nothing for a thin lower lip. If your complaint is “I want more lip,” a good injector will tell you a flip is the wrong tool.

The first two weeks

You will see nothing for about five days. The relaxation builds to full effect around day ten to fourteen. In that window, some people notice a strange sensation when sipping through a straw, whistling, or pronouncing certain sounds; the muscle you use for those is the one being relaxed. This is expected, mild, and fades as you adjust, usually within the first week or two. Drinking from a cup is unaffected. If the sensation is strong, the dose was too high, which is a note for next time rather than a problem to fix.

There is no bruising for most people and no downtime. Avoid rubbing the area or lying face-down the day of treatment.

The gummy smile version

The lip flip has a second, less advertised use that is often its best one. A gummy smile happens when the muscles that lift the upper lip pull it high enough to show a band of gum above the teeth. Placing a few units into those elevator muscles, near the nostrils rather than at the lip edge, limits how far the lip rises. The smile still looks like your smile; it shows two or three millimeters less gum. For people who have spent years covering their mouth in photos, this is the treatment that changes how they feel about smiling, and it costs the same as a standard flip.

The two placements can be combined, and an injector who does a lot of lip work will ask what bothers you about your smile before deciding where the units go. If you have never been asked that, you have not had the full consultation.

When results disappoint

Three patterns cover nearly every unhappy lip flip. The first is expecting volume: the treatment was never going to deliver it, and the fix is filler, not more Botox. The second is too much product or product placed too low, which produces a lip that feels heavy, will not purse properly, and looks flat in a smile for six to eight weeks until it wears off. The third is judging the result at day four, before it has developed, and either giving up or asking for more. Wait for day fourteen. If it is subtle then, that is the treatment working as designed; if it is nothing at all, a small top-up is reasonable.

How long it lasts, and what it costs

Two to three months is typical, shorter than Botox elsewhere because the mouth muscles move constantly. Most people who like it treat four to six times a year. At $80 to $200 per treatment, that is roughly the cost of one syringe of filler across a year, for a smaller result that requires no commitment. Whether that trade makes sense is a personal call; plenty of people keep a flip going for years.

Pricing is usually a flat fee for the area or a per-unit price times a small number of units. Confirm which before booking, since a per-unit clinic charging for six units can be cheaper or dearer than a flat-fee one depending on the unit price.

Choosing an injector

The lip flip is technically simple and easy to overdo. Too many units, or units placed too low, produce an upper lip that will not close properly around a straw for weeks, or a smile that looks flat. Ask how many lip flips the injector does, what dose they start with for a first treatment, and whether they would rather under-treat and top up at two weeks than over-treat. The right answer is yes.

Compare lip flip providers and lip filler providers by city, with pricing and reviews, and read our lip flip versus lip filler comparison if you are still deciding between them.