Beauty basics: the perfect pout

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Press your lips together. Do they feel soft and springy like a ripe tomato or are they more like the sun-dried variety? The Australian climate leaves many of us dehydrated, and our lips are one of the first places it shows since there are no sebum glands to protect against moisture loss. Without enough water lips will appear to shrink into themselves and look dry and chapped on the surface. Give them a good head start by drinking plenty of water, regularly.
Also, give lips a gentle scrub from time to time. Simply wipe them with a towel every so often or use a specialised lip-exfoliating product such as Leaf & Rusher Beverly Hills Tx Lips, $35, for a soft resurfacing and extreme hydration.
Because there are fewer pigment-producing melanocytes in your lips than other parts of your skin, they have little self-defence against UV damage. And this, we all know, can lead to skin cancer. So protect yourself by wearing a lip balm containing an SPF, such as Blistex Daily Conditioning Therapy with SPF 20, $4.95, or Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15, $28.
Magnify your mouth
Instant fixes: You can give your lips a plumper look with a little bit of make-up trickery. Glosses will reflect light and make them appear larger. If lipstick feathering is your problem, make-up artist Lores Giglio suggests “placing the gloss in the centre of your lip, on top of your favourite lip liner and lipstick. This way it will pick up the light, without seeping into the creases.” Lores says that when choosing a lip colour, try to avoid darker lipsticks, as they are more noticeable when they bleed.
Sally Hansen Lip Inflation Extreme, $19.95, gives you a pretty, glossed finish and it contains cinnamon extract, which increases blood flow to the lips and produces a slight swelling reaction. On first application it feels a little warm, but quickly cools down to a comfortable level. Hyaluronic acid and a marine collagen complex keep lips moisturised and minimise the appearance of fine lines.
There are also primers you can apply before ordinary balm or lipstick to achieve a plumping effect, such as DuWop’s Lip Venom, $40. If you’d prefer to avoid any tingling sensation, LipFusion, $65, available from Mecca Cosmetica, works with your body’s moisture to enlarge lips.
Long-term solutions: Dr Steven Liew from the Shape Clinic, Sydney, says lip enhancements are becoming more socially acceptable. In the past two years he has seen a 20 per cent increase in the amount of patients asking for lip enhancements.
Hyaluronic acid fillers are a popular way to increase lip size as it’s a naturally occurring substance that can be re-absorbed into the body. Restylane, Juvederm and Esthelis are all brands of fillers that contain hyaluronic acid. The cost depends on where you go, what you need done, and how many areas you want treated. Expect to pay from $350 for Restylane, and from $600 for Esthelis and Juvederm. The length of time they last varies from three months to one year, depending on the individual.
Ironing out the creases
Instant fixes: Dryness, cigarette smoking, pollution and normal wear and tear can etch lines in and around your lips. To smooth these out, Lores likes to use Benefit’s Dr Feel Good invisible face balm, $51, around the lips. “It is a matt and colourless primer that you can wear either alone or under make-up,” she says.
Longer-term solutions: L’Oréal’s Age Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium, $30.95, is great to wear under lipstick as it smooths and refines the appearance of fine lines, plus it may improve them over time.
Bergman Beauty Care Injectables @ Home, $249 for 15 treatments, is a hyaluronic acid-based serum and can be used on the lips, frown lines and laugh lines. The cheeky syringe-shaped packaging makes it easy to apply and prevents any wastage. But don’t worry, there are no actual needles involved!
Chanel Précision Ultra Correction Lip, $75, promises to correct lines on and around the lips, including the marionette lines that extend down from the corners of the mouth to the chin. It contains vitamins A, C and E, which enhances skin tone; centella asiatica extract, which helps collagen production; and a formula called adhesioderm, which firms the skin by strengthening the bonds between the epidermis and the dermis. Beauty consultants recommend you also try it on your glabella lines (vertical brow furrows).
Dermal fillers smooth out folds that cast shadows and give your face a sagging look. Facial contouring can make a surprising difference to the overall look of your lips and your face. Talk to a cosmetic physician for more information.
Defining lines
Instant fixes: As we age, our lip borders tend to disappear. Using a waxy lip pencil is one way to prevent lipstick from bleeding into fine lines. Becca Nude Liner pencil in Nougat, $42, is a double-ended pencil with a wax liner on one end and a natural colour on the other.
To give lips more definition, try dabbing highlighter in the middle of the cupid’s bow, or use a concealer or highlighter around the mouth.
Longer-term solutions: Boosting the philtrum columns, which run vertically from nose to lips, with a filler makes them more prominent and your lips younger looking. Cosmetic doctors can also sharpen the vermillion border (lip outline) with injections where the lip edges meet the face. This is a great solution for feathering.
Perfect symmetry
Instant fixes: Many of us have a top lip smaller than our bottom lip, and some have lips that are slightly askew. You can adjust the look with one of Lores‘s correction tips: “Use a sharp pencil lip liner on the outer edge of the smaller lip or side of the lip that needs to look thicker. Be careful not to draw too far outside the line as it can look fake.” If you’re worried about drawing too much attention to it, use a colour the same as your natural lip colour, and it will work as a camouflage. Then apply your lipstick on top.
Longer-term solutions: Cosmetic physicians can add filler to the thinner side and, if lips are crooked, they can use a product such as Botox to give a more symmetrical appearance. Speak to a cosmetic doctor to find out more.
Going smaller
Instant fixes: While many of us wish for bigger lips, you may want yours to appear smaller. Lores suggests you “apply concealer to the outer-edge of your lip, in the same shade as your foundation. Don’t go lighter as this will only highlight the area and make it appear bigger. The idea is to blend your face colour into the edges of your lip.” Dry, matt formulas will have the most staying power. Try Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Lip Duo, $48. “Follow by applying colour, not quite reaching the outer edge,” says Lores.
A natural lip colour will downplay large lips and, if you concentrate on eye make-up, you’ll take the focus away from your lips.
Minimising lip hair
Instant fixes: If you have dark hair on your upper lip, there are many ways to remove it. Although waxing works very well on eyebrows, it can irritate a sensitive upper lip and encourage pimples. Then, you need to wait up to three weeks for the hairs to grow long enough to wax again.
Depilatory creams give a cleaner finish because they dissolve the hair below surface level – try Nair Facial Hair Remover Cream, $5.86. Bleaching is a good solution if the hairs are neither long nor thick. Try Andrea Crème Bleach Face, $18.95.
Longer-term solutions: If you want to take some serious action, intense pulse light technology, laser and electrolysis can all treat upper lip hair. Or ask your doctor about prescription hormone treatments.
Find out more
It’s best to contact a cosmetic clinic directly, as you probably won’t find the brand of filler on a clinic’s website or in their brochure. The fillers we mention here are classified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration under a schedule with strict codes on advertising.
Visit www.immersivemedical.com for information on cosmetic procedures or to find answers to your questions. Also see www.wrinkle.com.au for more information on facial wrinkle and lip rejuvenation procedures or to locate a specialist clinic near you.

Words: Erin Whitty. Photography: Gavin O'Neill. Make-up: Amanda Redgrave