Photo: Thinkstock

The long-running campaign to eradicate wrinkles has taken a new, sci-fi turn. LaVív, an injectable wrinkle filler made from your own skin tissue, has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of smile lines. The procedure requires removing small pieces of skin from behind the ear with a circular blade called a punch; the skin is then shipped to a lab where the fibroblasts (collagen-making cells) are multiplied and frozen until you're ready to have them injected back into your face. Three injection sessions (three to six weeks apart) are necessary, and results last six months.

LaVív is being called a custom-made, more natural approach to line filling (you're simply using your own skin cells, after all). But only one of a half-dozen dermatologists we spoke with is planning to offer it. Because LaVív is more invasive, time consuming, and expensive than the fillers already available—and hasn't been shown to last longer—doctors aren't that impressed.

Bottom Line: This concept could inspire a new generation of wrinkle fillers in the next several years, but for now it's a work in progress.

Keep Reading
How do women really feel about the way they look?
How to fight back against wrinkles
Beauty after 40: 5 mature beauty gurus tell all