Julie Horne RN on the power of lip treatments for patients

At the recent Inner Circle 2022 event in Switzerland, Dr Tim Pearce sat down to interview Julie Horne RN, co-founder of the Swiss Aesthetics Institute, founder of the Julie Horne Academy, and one of the world’s most well-known and talented lip injectors. She shared her story to success as a world class injector, multi-million-dollar business owner, and nurse – but admitted the 18-year-old her would not believe it!

Julie’s path to her career started as a teenager who was bullied for having very thin lips, something that made her feel awkward and very self-conscious, often choosing to hide her mouth behind her hand. As she turned 18, and after much research into a clinic in her home country of Sweden who could treat her, she realised how life-changing injectable treatments can be for an individual; the impact on her own self-esteem following lip fillers was dramatic and she knew that this was the career path for her.

In this blog, Dr Tim Pearce highlights some of the key discussion points from their lengthy chat, including how she approaches treating younger patients, as well as how lip treatments can have a profound impact on how a person feels about themselves, transforming their sex life, relationships, and confidence. You can catch up with the full interview as part of the Aesthetic Mastery Show hosted on YouTube.

Do you feel anxious about causing complications? Many clinicians feel so overwhelmed with the thought of causing a vascular occlusion that it stops them growing their aesthetics business. Dr Tim is currently hosting a webinar series to help you overcome your fear of complications so that you can uplevel your knowledge and increase your CPD-certified learning to build a successful aesthetics business. Sign up here >>

What’s your philosophy on treating younger patients with lip fillers?

Julie highlighted that patient selection is very important when considering treating younger patients, starting with a thorough consultation where you listen to their life story, find out what is bothering them, and why they are there in front of you seeking help, plus how they believe that you can help them.

The misconceptions surrounding Instagram lip filler trends and the young

It is at this point that you may discover that you are presented with an 18-year-old female who already has beautiful lips, seems confident, but is seeking to emulate a fashion they have seen on Instagram, such as the 1:1 lip ratio trend. Julie explained that this scenario is of great concern to her, and she would try to change the direction of the discussion to one of education, whilst trying to boost the confidence on the young patient away from this path.

As a specialist in lip treatments, with significant clinical and personal experience, she knows that she can advise a patient and try to convince them to love their own lips, rather than seek potentially unnatural alterations due to trends and fashions.

Similarly, if they are already confident in themselves, then Julie explained that she may have little to add to their psychosocial status by intervening with treatment, thus it might be a little unnecessary to start injectable treatments at such a young age, for little psychological gain. She would conclude by letting them go away and rethink their desires, but with the offer of coming back later to discuss again if they still feel unhappy with their lips.

How lip filler treatments can prove life-changing for a troubled younger patient

If, however, the patient is an 18-year-old female with very thin lips and with noticeable insecurities, the consultation could be very different. Julie noted that her own background allows her the empathy to read her patients and their energy, to understand their concerns, and issues with self-confidence stemming from their lips. If she believes that she can increase the self-esteem of such a patient, then she will treat, even in such a young person, as her goal is always to increase her patients’ confidence and make them feel better about themselves.

Dr Tim interjected and added that older people do not appreciate the powerful point of leverage in helping someone when they are young, explaining that Julie’s own experience aids her in helping people in the part of their life where they are building the most important foundations – forming the first relationships that hopefully become long-term relationships, building careers etc. – that all happens when you are young. He concluded that there is an argument that even if there is potentially some additional risk involved in treating younger patients, in many cases you can justify that risk because the outcome is so powerful for them, when it is done well.

How can lip treatments improve a patient’s sex life, kick-start their motivation to invest in themselves, and aid life-changing goals and transformations?

Dr Tim made the point that in the aesthetic sector, there is a debate surrounding ‘normal’ – are we, as aesthetic clinicians, making people look normal? In observing his patients, he has seen that when you correct one concern, it appears that a little light goes on in the patient’s head and they desire more, something a bit more than just normal. He invited Julie to talk about this desire for something ‘edgy’ or ‘sexy’ when it comes to lips, the part played by female psychology, and what she has learnt from her patients.

Patients want change, they want to look and feel sexy

Julie described her patient demographic as people who desire change, they want to leave her clinic with a noticeable change. At this point, Dr Tim asked if they are seeking something more than perfect-looking lips, but something more special, so they feel more emotions associated with their lips, including feeling sexy. As a male practitioner, he feels that he cannot ascertain this level of desire from his female patients, as it may be deemed inappropriate to question, however, he suspected that Julie’s patients open up more to her about their real desires, their want of feminine power, and their goals from lip treatment.

For a woman, lips are very powerful, stressed Julie; they are a very important sexual organ and feature on the face. Many women will focus their beauty routine and make-up mainly around the eyes, eyebrows, and of course the lips. We do so much with our lips; when you talk to a person you look them in the eyes and then you look at their lips, their mouth is moving so it is a focus.

Julie stated that she does talk a lot about sexuality with her female patients, noting it is an easier conversation for a female practitioner. The feedback that she receives when her patients come back for their second treatment, after 6-12 months, is that 90 per cent or more announce that they felt sexier and more confident, even if the small change achieved by the lip treatment was imperceptible to the average person the street, the effect on the patient when they looked in the mirror or applied make-up was significant.

This uptick in confidence can also influence their decision to have further hair and beauty treatments to go with their new ‘look’ and ‘feel’, plus it can have a dramatic impact on bravery levels when it comes to dating and forming relationships, with many reporting new partners when they return for their next appointment.

Lip filler treatments can have a transformative effect on patients

Dr Tim concurred that he also sees patients where the treatment has triggered them to reinvest in themselves, allowing them to transform.

Julie recalled an amazing story of a patient who came to see her – she was slightly overweight due to some challenging life experiences that led to comfort eating, which conspired to give her low self-esteem. She was about to embark on a weight loss programme, however, she lacked motivation and was also unhappy with her face, so she hoped Julie could assist.

After the consultation, during which Julie explained that the weight loss programme would also lead to volume loss in some of the facial fat compartments (so facial cosmetic treatment ought to be delayed), it was suggested that she could treat her very thin, M-shaped lips. The patient could then come back for a further facial aesthetic treatment consultation once she had completed her weight loss journey to her ideal weight. The goal of this suggested treatment was a subtle enhancement to kick start her motivation for weight loss, and the patient showed excitement.

Four weeks later this turned into a tearful telephone call of thanks from the patient, who was happy, boosted, and began inundating Julie with photographs and messages about her progress with weight loss. Julie believes that the small lip treatment helped to get her patient ‘over the edge’, to give her the motivation and drive to invest in herself and continue with the weight loss – aesthetic treatments can be a powerful thing, she concluded.

You can follow Julie Horne RN on Instagram for more insight from one of the world’s foremost lip filler experts. You can also find Dr Tim Pearce on Instagram if you have any questions or comments about treating lips.

Lip Filler Treatment & Complications

With all the conflicting advice out there about lip filler treatments – vertical or horizontal? needle or cannula? – it can be difficult to know how to inject to create the lips your patient desires.

If you are suffering from technique overwhelm, worrying about causing a vascular occlusion (VO), or panicking about injecting thin lips, then Dr Tim Pearce’s brand-new ultimate lip course is going to teach you the different techniques, anatomy, and skills you need to create medically beautiful lips.

→ 8D LIP DESIGN COURSE 

Aesthetics Mastery Show

Bullied Teenager to World Leading Lip Injector | Julie Horne’s Business Success Story.

To find out more, watch the Aesthetics Mastery Show, where Dr Tim asks Julie Horne what it took to become a multi million dollar business owner and world class injector whilst working as a nurse.

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Dr Tim Pearce eLearning

Dr Tim Pearce MBChB BSc (Hons) MRCGP founded his eLearning concept in 2016 in order to provide readily accessible BOTOX® and dermal filler online courses for fellow Medical Aesthetics practitioners. His objective was to raise standards within the industry – a principle which remains just as relevant today.

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