Smile… it improves your face value. We may have heard that age-old proverb many times, but very few of us pay attention to our lips, which add that special something to our smile. A perfect pair of lips should be, in profile, a gentle S-shaped curve between the lips and the chin, with a 4-mm depression between the two. If one were to draw imaginary vertical lines from the iris of the eyes, the edge should match that of the lips for the ideal size. The upper lip should match that of the lips for the ideal size. The upper lip should be no more that 75 per cent the size of the lower lip, which ensures that lips look pouty even if they aren’t full. Fall short of these requirements and your mouth will seem disproportionate. Still, you can change the way your lips look. But before you go off to measure your lips in millimeters of you should know that the ideal lips shape has gone through quite a few changes over the centuries. The tiny rosebud mouth was fashionable in the 19th century. The 1920s brought in the concept of thin-lipped beauty with a slash of lipstick, while the sex symbols of the 1950s popularized the pretty pout of bow lips, red and glossy, a la Marilyn Monroe. Lip looks have gone from shimmery to natural, with the current must-have being pink, glossy, pouty or natural, nude and wide.
Lip life
Lips come in all shapes, sizes and colors – thick, thin, uneven, dark or pale. When you are young, your lips tend to be plump and healthy red or pink color. As you age, your lips become thin, narrow and droopy as there is a loss of muscle tension, as well as the degeneration of underlying supporting layers of tissue and fat. If you are a smoke, continuous smoking will make your lips dark and easily prone to wrinkles and pucker lines. The texture of the lips worsen as well, making them rough and unattractive. With age, bleed lines tend to appear around the edges, resulting in the bleeding lipstick syndrome.
No Gain Without Pain
But how does one camouflage imperfect lips? Lip surgery is one of the most common look altering procedures. Cosmetic surgery can be used to correct asymmetrical lips and plump up thin lips. And it’s not just the models and actresses who are opting for it. In today’s appearance-conscious society, the average middle class woman doesn’t mind paying to better the way her lips look. While a slight pout can be attractive, the surgeon must be careful not to overdo it, or it will look very unnatural. Which is why it is imperative that you choose a surgeon who is well qualified and experienced if you opt to go under the knife.
Create An Illusion
If you want to change or improve the way your lips look, but don’t want to go under the knife, there are numerous make-up tricks that you can use. If you have wrinkly lips, use a light reflecting lipsticks which reduces the appearance of wrinkles. If your lipstick tends to bleed into the little lines around the side of your mouth, don’t use dark shades, which make the tendency obvious. Use glossy or liquid lipstick instead that will fill in the lines. And once the lipstick has been applied, use a sealant to help the color stay on for hours without smudging or bleeding.
Today, there is a slew of products in the market that remove dead skin from the lips and even diminish the appearance of ugly wrinkles above and around them. Temporary lip plumbing products can make your mouth look fashionably bee-stung without any help from needles. And you will have more reason to smile with your improved face values.