Flaky, dry lips reflect less light, making them appear smaller and duller. An easy way to enhance your lips is to scrub away dead skin with a toothbrush.
Dermatologist Bruce Bart likens our lips to a sponge, telling SHAPE: “When exposed to moisture, they absorb water and plump up. When dehydrated, they dry out and shrink.” The result: that too-tight feeling that often accompanies chapped lips.
Plus your lips don't have any oil glands to keep them moisturized or protected from the elements, like the rest of your skin does,” says Clinique Colour Pro and London-based celebrity makeup artist Florrie White. “Also, when your lips are dehydrated, they look deflated and smaller.
Whereas the rest of the face may not show signs of getting older until patients reach their late 20s to 30s, lips can begin to lose important volume starting in the late teens. As the process continues and the mouth loses collagen, the lips can begin to flatten out and appear much thinner in just a few short years.
HYDRATE: It is vital that you keep your lips hydrated by drinking enough water. Drinking sufficient water will help you get plump lips. Also, use a good lip balm with SPF.
Well, quite a lot, as it turns out that full and sumptuous lips are the most preferable lip shape of them all — but according to a global study, there's one key trait that distinguishes the perfect pouts from their equally plump, yet sub-par, counterparts.
The change in size of your lips is most likely associated with your weight gain. If the fat was transferred from your abdomen your lips can enlarge as your abdomen enlarges with weight gain. Other factors can be the use of hormone replacement therapy or oral birth control which may lead to weight gain.
“Staying hydrated and promoting the production of collagen by drinking [plenty of] of water, getting eight hours of sleep, taking a probiotic, taking a multivitamin, and using an SPF in your lip products when outside will help [keep your lips looking full],” Patel says.
This is simply a natural part of life—we all get older, and our bodies change because of it. One area this happens that people frequently notice is the lips: With time, they lose volume and become thinner.
Preventing Lip Thinning
Quitting smoking. Wearing sun-protective lip balm (SPF 15+) when outside for extended periods. Wearing a moisture-sealing lip balm when the air/climate is dry (look for products with beeswax, petroleum jelly, or paraffin) Staying hydrated.
Well hydrated lips naturally appear fuller and bigger. You can use a nourishing lip balm and reuse it throughout the day whenever your lips feel dry. Apart from this, don't forget to drink enough water to stay hydrated from the inside. Your lips tend to get drier when your body is dehydrated.
Chronic lip biting can cause swelling, rawness and sores. Repeatedly biting the same area can even cause fibromas to develop.
The skin on your lips is prone to cracking and untreated chapped lips may bleed and cause pain and stinging. You can treat your bleeding lips at home with an ointment designed for lips specifically.
Chapped lips can get infected, as bacteria can enter through cracks and abrasions. This is known as cheilitis and must be treated by a doctor. We all suffer from dry, chapped lips at some point. And in most cases, careful attention and prevention are the keys to getting your lips looking and feeling better.
Based on what these online people said, we now know that the most attractive faces are those with a lower lip that's about twice as big as the upper lip; and an overall lip size of about 9.6 percent of the total area of the lower third of the face.
Fortunately for your thinning lips, there are dermal fillers available that can pump them back up. The two primary products we offer, Juvéderm® and Restylane®, both use hyaluronic acid as the active ingredient.
Understanding Aging Makes Beauty Timeless
Figure 1: In guys, the maximum upper lip thickness is reached around age 16, whereas it maximizes at 14 in girls; however, it begins to thin in both sexes after age 16.
Gently exfoliate with a scrub designed for the lips, applied with a toothbrush. Brush in small, circular motions to help get the blood flowing in your lips, which will give them more natural volume and a healthy, rosy colour. Not only will your lips look naturally fuller, but you'll remove all the dead skin cells.
According to Dr Marisa Coen in her essay for The Science of Relationships, fuller lips have long been desired by women because, as evolutionary psychology suggests, they signify strong mating potential. “Facial features serve as a cue of attractiveness,” explains Coen.
As we age, the decreased production of new collagen and elastin molecules make lips appear thinner. They lose the vital subdermal structure needed to remain full and plump. Lack of moisture is another cause for premature thinning of lips.
The main structural protein in your body is collagen. It is responsible for the elasticity of your skin, giving it strength and volume. As you age, your body's production of collagen starts to slow down, which leads to sagging and reduction of volume in areas of your face, like your cheeks and your lips.
The study polled over 1,000 people in 35 countries. Of those polled, 60% said they found a symmetrical, 1:1 top to bottom ratio the most attractive lip (think Scarlett Johansson). The next highest-rated, according to the poll, was a larger bottom lip compared to the top lip (like those rocked by Kylie Jenner).
1. Angelina Jolie. She has, without a doubt, the sexiest pout in the history of lips. In fact, there are online tutorials for women on how to get lips like her.