Look Away Now: Needles Ahead! Jawline Contouring

For some reason, I had it firmly fixed in my head that jawline contouring uses Botox, so when I turned up to meet Dr Darren McKeown, the first surprise of the day was that he wasn’t going anywhere near me with a syringe full of Botox, but instead was using the filler, Juvederm. Jawline contouring is a non-surgical treatment that firms up the jawline – Dr Darren explained it as the thing you have when you don’t yet need a facelift (if indeed you were to consider such a thing) but have lost firmness around the chin and jawlines. I’d say that fits me perfectly well – I’m not sure if I’ll ever go the facelift route; I’ve always said I am happy to go with the ageing process as long as I can do it in the best possible way and a facelift seems counter to the ageing process in a way that a few tweaks here and there don’t. But ask me again in ten year’s time – I might have a completely different view! So, if you are regular reader of BBB you’ll know that I have regular Botox, the occasional filler, and most recently had my cheeks sculpted with filler which was an excellent ‘rejuvenator’ for the face. 

I’ve been curious to try the jawline treatment, and also to meet Dr Darren McKeown, who up to now has had a career as a plastic surgeon in the NHS. He’s been doing fillers and Botox as well for some considerable time, but it’s always a risk seeing someone new – especially with something as important as your face. He explained the procedure to me – and here’s where the surgeon training shows – he uses a canula instead of a sharp tipped needle to insert the filler because the jawline area is home to several important nerves, glands and blood vessels which he feels are at risk using a traditional sharp tipped needle because it could literally glide straight through a nerve, where as the blunt tipped canula would resist and push the nerves out of the way. A better option all round, I feel, as although fillers and non-surgical procedures are pretty well the norm, there are always some risks.


He inserted some local anaesthetic around my jaw – and then a whole whack of the stuff into the area between the bottom of my nose and top lip (is there a name for that place?? not sure…) which I really didn’t like, so he could add a bit of filler to the corners of my mouth to send them into a smile, not a frown. After that, and here come the gory pictures, he pushed the canula through and inserted the filler.

Fine needle (large) and micro-canula (small)

Canula going in…
Canula in..
My Fu Manchu Moustache!

Now, I might say at this point it was not the most comfortable thing in the world..there is a bit of rummaging as he pushes the canula around under the skin to deposit the filler in an even way. He spent about 10 minutes on each side ensuring they were both smooth and symmetrical. By the last injection I was swearing a bit and he had to remind me to breathe! However, the effect is brilliant,and in fact the most painful part was injecting the mouth corners. Within 20 minutes or so, my jawline was back to a tautness that is in keeping with the rest of my face – it looks completely natural and if I wasn’t telling X amount of people on my blog, I’d probably never mention to anyone that I’d had it done and they could just live with the illusion that I was looking ‘well’, which seems to be a stock response to a little work that isn’t blatantly obvious. Nobody can quite put their finger on what’s been done, but they know something looks better than it used to! And that is exactly how I like tweaks to be done – I don’t want pillow lips, bunny lines or a forehead you could skate on.


Jawline contouring is a very effective treatment in jollying up your jowls – I’d recommend it in a heartbeat – and mercifully can recommend Dr Darren too (how embarrassing if I couldn’t!). He’s a lovely, friendly and easy-going man who just ‘gets it’ about how women want their faces to look, and incidentally, has wanted to be a plastic surgeon since he was six years old. I forgot to say that before he started working on me, he drew lines on the lower part of my face with a black eye liner (I didn’t look silly or anything, honest, ahem) to be sure of a symmetrical result. The whole thing was over and done with in under an hour and the results are instant. I have to be honest and say the area is a little tender right now, but I had a meeting straight after the treatment and nobody could see any puncture marks or swelling. 

The treatment costs between £275 and £475 (remarkably reasonable if you do price comparisons) and the results should last about a year. Darren is also launching Naked Truth; a skin care line, about which I will post properly at a later date. http://www.drdarrenmckeown.com/


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11 responses to “Look Away Now: Needles Ahead! Jawline Contouring”

  1. Ali

    Lasts a year? That’s better than Botox isn’t it. I suppose depending on what your discomfort threshold is, it sounds like a fab treatment.

  2. Mrs D

    at 49 I’m now thinking about this and I will now look into this further as I just feel like I want to look like I’ve been on a good holiday not some shiny freak – sadly most women my age were the first adopters of Botox and are now addicts and the original pillow faces – I’m the only one who shows emotion !

  3. Charlie

    Sounds fab. I had to scroll past the pics so fast though and I doubt I’ll ever be able to afford it even if I could see past the injections in your face thing!

    I would love to though. I think I’d be more prepared to try forehead first, it strikes me as less scary for some reason!

  4. The bit between your nose and top lip is called the philtrum 🙂

  5. Anonymous

    Hi BBB, absolutely love love love your blog! Read it regularly and trust it a lot- its my beauty bible! However reading this post and the previous one about your cheek sculpting, and knowing that you have Botox done regularly, i just wondered what your true motives are for undergoing these treatments which seem quite harsh? Are the beauty lotions and potions not enough for retaining our natural beauty? Do you feel they are more effective alongside these sorts of treatments? I just hope you know that you can be completely and utterly beautiful without undergoing said treatments!
    Anyway i was just genuinely curious, completely understand if you don’t want to post this comment on the wall – its not meant as an attack to your blog though! all the best 🙂

  6. Hi Anon..glad you enjoy BBB! As a brief answer to the valid points you raise, partially it’s curiosity to see just what these treatments can do (I’ve never had jawline contouring before) and I suppose also it is a form of vanity. However, I’m all about a ‘natural’ look so never have anything severe and to be honest, as I have said quite regularly there is nothing that gives a botox-like effect better than botox! It’s a different sphere of beauty treatments not comparable really with facials or products. While I’m still a beauty writer, I will continue to be experimental, but once I move on?…who knows! I’ll probably never go near a needle again!

  7. Anonymous

    Ouch !!! I just can’t handle pain !

  8. OMG gross gross gross lol. Just put me off me blueberries and yoghurt!!

  9. Alex

    I cannot believe that you can put yourself through this! I literally want to vomit at the thought of someone sticking needles in my face. If it gets results then fantastic but personally I just don’t think I could handle it without a general anaesthetic. Give me a jar of face cream any day!

  10. You really are very brave – I don’t think I could do it and I am not sure that I care enough about how I look, although maybe I should!

  11. Tabitha

    He’s quite fab, isn’t he? I’ve been using the new products and love them, especially the mask.

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