Anti-wrinkle injections or dermal filler? The difference, explained.

Ask ten people what 'having something done' means and you'll hear anti-wrinkle injections and dermal filler used as if they were the same thing. They're not. They work in completely different ways, on different layers of the face, and they suit different concerns. Knowing the difference is the quickest way to understand what might genuinely help you, and what won't.

It starts with the lines themselves. Broadly, the lines on your face fall into two groups.

• Dynamic lines appear when you move: the horizontal lines when you raise your eyebrows, the vertical '11s' when you frown, the fan of crow's feet when you smile. They're made by the small muscles beneath the skin folding it, over and over, every day.
• Static lines are there even when your face is completely still. Over the years, repeated creasing, a gradual loss of collagen and elasticity, sun exposure and changes in volume all leave their mark, and some lines stay put at rest.

Many faces have a mix of both. A forehead line might only show when you move in your twenties and be faintly visible at rest by your forties. Which kind you have, and how deep it is, makes a big difference to what will work.

Anti-wrinkle injections relax specific facial muscles so they can't contract as strongly. With less pull from beneath, the skin above creases less, and dynamic lines soften. With regular treatment, many people find their lines stop deepening, which is why it's often described as preventative as well as corrective.

The treatment itself is quick: a few precise, tiny injections that most people describe as a quick scratch. Nothing changes straight away. The effect builds gradually over the following days, which is why a review is booked at around two weeks to check your result and fine-tune if needed. As the effect wears off over the following months, movement returns gradually.

Done well, it shouldn't look frozen. The dose is tailored to the strength of your muscles and the look you want, so you keep your expressions, just softer. A 'frozen' finish isn't for everyone, and it's never the starting point.

Dermal filler doesn't work on the muscles at all. It's a smooth gel made from hyaluronic acid, a substance your body already makes, which holds water and helps give skin its plumpness. Placed precisely beneath the skin, filler adds volume where it has been lost, or shape and definition where you'd like a little more.

Because it adds something rather than relaxing something, filler shows straight away. There's usually some swelling for a few days, sometimes a little bruising, and the final result settles as that calms down. It lasts longer than anti-wrinkle injections because your body breaks the gel down slowly, over many months, and it lasts longer in the cheeks and chin than in the lips, which are always on the move.

At Aesthetics by Gwen, filler is used for three areas: the lips, the cheeks and the chin. The aim is always balance with your own features, never an overdone look.

Here's how the two compare at a glance. Timings are typical rather than guaranteed: every face, and every result, is a little different.

A simple way to think about it: if a line mostly appears when you make an expression, anti-wrinkle injections are usually the place to start. If your concern is about shape, fullness or support, such as thinner lips, flatter cheeks or a softer chin, that's where filler comes in.

• Lines across your forehead when you raise your eyebrows→Anti-wrinkle injections
• Deep '11s' when you concentrate or frown→Anti-wrinkle injections
• Lips that have thinned or lost their shape→Lip filler
• Cheeks that look flatter than they used to→Cheek filler
• A chin that sits back from your profile→Chin filler
• Tired, crepey skin under the eyes→Neither: an under-eye skin booster, which hydrates rather than relaxes or fills

Some lines sit somewhere in between, and some concerns have more than one cause. That's exactly what a consultation is for.

Because they work so differently, anti-wrinkle injections and filler aren't really rivals. Plenty of people have both, usually for different areas: anti-wrinkle injections to soften forehead and frown lines, for instance, and cheek filler to restore volume that has gradually softened in the mid-face.

If both are right for you, Gwen will talk you through the order and the timing. Your plan is built around your goals and your budget, and there's never any pressure to do everything at once. Starting with one area and seeing how you feel is a perfectly good plan.