Younger Lips Without Cosmetic Surgery

We all crave a luscious pout – beautiful, rosy, plump lips that shout youth and vitality. Unfortunately, lips tend to thin naturally as part of the ageing process, as decreasing collagen and fat reduce your lip’s natural plumpness.

In addition, the skin around the mouth becomes dry and lined and the wrinkles cause lipstick to “bleed” in an unsightly fashion. Older lips also look generally dryer and duller, as skin tends to lose moisture as you age.

However, there are several tricks you can employ without resorting to cosmetic surgery, which act as effective anti ageing solutions and help to give you younger looking lips:

Top Tips For Younger Looking Lips

To prevent lipstick feathering and bleeding into lines around your mouth, use a lip liner which creates a barrier around the edges of your lips and helps to keep the lip colour within the boundaries. But steer clear of strong, harsh colours which can come across like a clown mouth! Instead, choose a clear, wax-based lip pencil or one in a natural hue that matches your natural lip colour.

Alternatively, if you are wearing a strong lipstick (e.g., bright red), choose a lip liner which matches your lipstick colour exactly, so there is visible transition from lipstick to lip liner. Some cosmetics companies provide pre-matched duos of lipstick and lip liner.

Another way to prevent feathering and lipstick bleeding into lines is to lightly dust some powder above the lips. This helps to keep the area dry, which then helps to prevent feathering.For thinning lips, create the illusion of a plumper pout by using tinted lip balms. These help to give a pouty effect without the “teenage look” of lip gloss.

Another way to fake fullness is to use your lip liner to draw a line just outside your natural lips, following the natural contours of your lips. Then fill in the space between the line and your lips with the pencil and then apply lipstick over the entire area.

Alternatively, you can achieve a similar effect with lipstick by first applying foundation, or concealer of the same shade, on your lips until just beyond your lip’s natural edges; next cover your lips with lipstick but go slightly beyond your natural borders, into the area where you have applied foundation. However, this takes skill and practise to achieve a natural effect.

Applying a dab of shimmery lip gloss to the centre of your top and bottom lips gives the illusion of plumper lips as the light reflecting off the gloss will make your lips appear more full. If you have really thin lips, then you may want to consider applying gloss over the entire area.

Keeping Lips in Tip Top Condition

If your lips are dry and flaky, they will look thinner and more wrinkled than they actually are. So if you have chapped, dry, flaky lips, find a lip-specific exfoliant with very gentle (round) exfoliating particles which will gently remove the flakes. You can also try using a toothbrush and gently going over the lips in a rotating motion. Don’t forget to follow with an application of nourishing lip balm.

Lip balm is the key to keeping lips smooth, even and full. Opt for a rich balm overnight to deep-condition your lips and a tinted balm during the day, so that you can enhance your looks while conditioning your lips.

For a more intense treatment for dry lips, you can try using a special plumping lip conditioner which contains retinol. This will help to soften and smooth out creases, although note that retinol can irritate skin and the skin on the lips is especially thin. Apply the treatment just before going to bed (following gentle exfoliation) and preferably, choose one that is sticky and viscous in texture, rather than solid and wax-like.

Don’t forget sunscreen on your lips as the skin here is very delicate and thin – and can be prone to cancer (one of the early signs of which is very dry, flaky patches on the lips). Nowadays, many lip balms and even lipsticks come with SPF included, so opt for one of these as part of your daily beauty regime.

Sunscreen will also help to slow down the wrinkles and fine lines around the mouth which lead to lipstick bleeding. Like many aspects of skin and beauty care, prevention is better than cure – so wear sunscreen to protect your lips from UV radiation and smear lip balm on regularly to moisturise your lips and protect them from the elements.