The Aurora Lift forms the basis of our advanced facial rejuvenation training – both for our team at Aurora Clinics, and our delegates at Cosmetic Courses.

It’s used by our trainers in their own clinics, and to date remains the best method our Clinical Director Adrian Richards has found to achieve natural results from non-surgical treatment.

It gives us a blueprint for treatment, helping us focus on the important areas to achieve the most natural and long-lasting facial rejuvenation.

So what is the Aurora Lift?

The Aurora Lift essentially involves looking at the face as an A-frame (see picture below) and treating it accordingly, using a combination of Botox and facial fillers.

A FrameWith age, facial volume migrates gradually southwards. This changes the shape of the face from the inverted triangle of youth, with its apex facing down, to the traditional triangle of middle age and beyond, with its apex facing up.

Using the A-frame concept, we’re able to focus on distinct treatment areas to effectively counter this ageing triangle inversion.

It involves subdividing the face into areas which lie along the limbs of an extended ‘A’. To achieve the most harmonious facial rejuvenation, we ask our practitioners and delegates to focus on these areas.

 Aurora Lift points for facial rejuvenationThe A-frame Zones for Facial Rejuvenation
  1. Glabella
  2. Cheeks
  3. Nasolabial Folds
  4. Marionette Lines
  5. Pre Jowl Salcus

Glabella

The apex of the A is located over the glabella. This is treated in most cases with our standard 5 point Botulinum toxin pattern. This involves a single sub-cutaneous injection over procerus and 2 into either corrugator.

We find that sub-cutaneous placement is more comfortable for the patient, produces less bruising and trauma and reduces the risk of toxin diffusion into orbit which can result in weakness of the eye muscles.

Cheeks

Working downwards, the next focus areas lie at the ends of the transverse limb of the A-frame – the cheeks.  Where possible, we ask clients to bring in old photos so we can assess their volume changes over time. Our aim is to restore their youthful volume, not add more than they had as this can produce an unnatural appearance.

We restore lost volume with filler within each of the fat compartments of the cheeks. Our preferred method of delivery is with a blunt-ended cannula rather than a needle, as we believe it gives us more control whilst minimising trauma.

Nasolabial Folds and Marionette Lines

Our next focus areas, along the limbs of the A-frame, are the nasolabial folds and marionette lines. Again our preference is a cannula, as there is only one point of entry and less trauma as a result.

Care must be taken not to add too much volume here, as excess volume in the lower face can age rather than rejuvenate.

Most patients treated with the Aurora Lift will also have toxin treatment to the depressor anguli oris muscle to upturn the mouth and reduce the amount of dermal filler needed.

Pre Jowl Sulcus

Finally, the base of the A-frame lies below the jowls. Again, our preference here is to use a moderate dose of toxin in this region to reduce the downward pull of the platysma on the jowls.

Find out more

At Cosmetic Courses, we teach the Aurora Lift at our bespoke advanced training sessions. Attend one of these hands-on training days and you’ll learn the principles of the A-frame approach, and how best to apply them to achieve harmonious pan facial rejuvenation for your clients.

For more information or to book a place on our advanced course, please contact the team on 01844 318317 or email [email protected].

 

 

Lip augmentation is back in the news, thanks to youngest Kardashian sister Kylie Jenner…

The teenage star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians has finally admitted what most of us knew already – her newly plump pout is thanks to temporary lip fillers, not lip liner after all.

The revelation didn’t go unnoticed by the British public. In the 24 hours after she confessed, UK clinics saw a huge spike in enquiries for the procedure, with some reporting a staggering 70% increase.

While people clamouring for treatment creates huge opportunities for us as aesthetic practitioners, it can also raise some interesting dilemmas.

Whenever there is massive demand for a treatment, it’s vital that we keep our wits about us.

As practitioners, we’re constantly engaged in a kind of balancing act. On the one hand, we want to give our patients the results they’re asking for. But on the other, we have to consider the results that would be best for them.

Fortunately, most of the time, these tend to be in alignment. But problems can arise when they are not. And lip augmentation is a classic example of a treatment where careful judgement is so vital. 

Age-appropriate lip augmentation

Age-inappropriate lip augmentationFull lips are attractive because they convey youth. So replacing lost volume (or adding it for younger patients with naturally thin lips) is a reliable way to give a face more youthful vigour. 

But the goal, as with any cosmetic enhancement, is to stay within the limits of what’s appropriate – particularly for a patient’s age.

Our aim with lip augmentation should always be to leave our patients with full, attractive but – crucially – age-appropriate lips.

No matter how our patients clamour for lips like Kylie Jenner, Angelina Jolie et al, we have to keep our professional integrity and be willing to say no if it won’t be right for them. 

That’s why learning the proper technique is only part of the equation when it comes to training in lip augmentation.

Bespoke lip augmentation training

Successful lip augmentation is nuanced, takes the patient’s facial features and their age into account, and has clearly defined outcomes from the beginning.

With this in mind, at Cosmetic Courses we’ve developed a bespoke training course completely devoted to lips. The intensive four-hour session focuses on age-appropriate attractiveness, covering both advanced technique and desired outcomes, based on the ‘Aurora Lip Analysis’ pioneered by our Clinical Director Adrian Richards.

During the session, you’ll learn the specific Aurora cannula technique developed by Adrian Richards, which uses a blunt cannula and only one entry point. This innovation makes it less painful for patients, with a far quicker recovery time owing to the reduced trauma and bruising.

If you have some experience of lip fillers and would like to advance your skills and become a more authoritative practitioner in this rapidly growing area of aesthetic medicine, our bespoke lip course will give you all the extra confidence you need.

For more information on our bespoke lip augmentation course, or to book a place, please contact the Cosmetic Courses team on 01844 318317 or email [email protected].

If you’ve trained with Cosmetic Courses and are considering pursuing further training – did you know you can get a discount by referring a friend?

Read on to find out more about our referral scheme…

Discount aesthetic courses

We’re very proud to say that most medical professionals who train with us at Cosmetic Courses choose to return for further training.

To date, we’ve trained over 3,000 doctors, dentists and nurses from around the globe. Of those, 72% have decided to come back and supplement their learning with additional aesthetic courses.

Because we know that training can be a costly business (especially if you want to learn a wide range of treatments), and also to thank our delegates for their loyalty, we run our own referral scheme.

Aesthetic courses at Cosmetic Courses

If you’d like to receive a discount on a further training course, just refer a suitably qualified friend or colleague to Cosmetic Courses and you’ll both receive a discount on your courses.

The perfect opportunity to build on your skills and help kick-start a friend’s aesthetic career.

How does the discount work?

It’s very simple. Everybody who completes a course with us will receive a refer a friend voucher to take away. When one of your friends books and pays for a course with us, they’ll receive a 10% discount.

In addition, when you book your next course with us you will also receive 10% off your course.

Conditions of use

Needless to say, any friend you refer must be a qualified dentist, doctor, nurse, surgeon or other medical professional. If you’re at all unsure whether they may qualify, contact us and we’ll be happy to advise.

The voucher is redeemable against any of our programme of aesthetic courses, so whether you’ve trained in basic Botox and fillers and would like to progress onto our advanced course, or would like to boost your practice with some new rejuvenating treatments, the voucher is your friend.

** Please note – the voucher can only be used once and must be brought along to your course when you attend. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Cosmetic Courses may cancel or vary the scheme at any time.**

Cosmetic Courses, established in 2002, is the UK’s most established aesthetic training provider. To find out more about our refer a friend scheme, or any of our aesthetic courses, call the team on 01844 318317 or email [email protected].